By the time the laundry was done, I had to start getting ready for my big night out. What to wear, what to wear, I thought while shaving. Most of the time, I use a good electric shaver, but on special occasions, I always go back to my Gillette Fusion. Not that I necessarily considered tonight a special occasion. I just hadn’t had a really good shave in a while, that’s all. In the shower, I decided on a pair of olive green casual slacks, a brown and green checked Nautica shirt that Dennis had given me on my last birthday, and topsiders with no socks. Checking myself out in the upstairs hallway mirror, I realized that Laura Fleming would have no choice but to throw herself upon me. Well, that’s what she gets for letting Angie set her up on a blind date.
Driving over to Angie and Simon’s, I realized that I’d never gotten around to my nap. Oh, well, perhaps tomorrow, I told myself, as I parked on the street outside their house and got out of the 4Runner.
Nervous energy? Me?
Never.
Chapter 26
Angie and Simon have a two-year-old Voyager, which was parked in their driveway, and a Buick Skylark, which I guessed was in the half of their garage that wasn’t filled with bikes and golf clubs and soccer balls and roller skates and softball equipment and . . . well, enough stuff to stock a couple of decent-sized flea markets. Next to the Voyager was a new-looking white Chevy Malibu with tan leather upholstery. I assumed it was Laura Fleming’s.
It was a fairly warm evening, with the temperature around sixty-five degrees, and I figured everyone would be on the patio, so I walked around the side of the house to the backyard. I could hear voices as I reached the corner of the house, and by the time I opened the gate in the fence, Pepper was there to greet me. After ruffling the hair on his neck and giving him the chew-toy I’d brought along, I latched the gate and turned toward the patio. Simon was standing at the built-in gas grill by the door to the kitchen, and Angie and another woman were sitting in two lounge chairs off to one side.
The first thing I noticed about Laura Fleming was the intelligence that emanated from her very being, her culture and class and sophistication . . .
Oh, all right. The first thing I noticed about Laura Fleming was her body. When I got my first look at her, she happened to be turning to put a glass of iced tea on the table behind her, and it would have taken a much stronger man than moi to have ignored the way that that movement stretched the long-sleeved navy knit pullover she was wearing. The shirt was tucked into a pair of white slacks that fit the curve of her hips rather well, I thought. She was wearing white tennis shoes with no socks, allowing me to observe her ankles, which were very slender and attractive. I have long held to the theory that slender ankles are a sure sign of great legs, and I was willing to bet that Laura Fleming’s legs would do nothing to dissuade me from that position. I noticed the medium-length brown hair that framed her face, the high cheekbones, the slightly upturned nose, and the brown eyes that looked directly at me and made my knees just the least bit wobbly. When she stood to say hello, I saw that her figure was very well distributed along her 5’7” frame.
“Well, speak of the devil,” Angie said. “Laura, this is Jeremy Barnes. Jeremy, Laura Fleming.”
“Hi,” I said, and I’m proud to say that my voice didn’t break even once.
“Hello, Jeremy,” she said.
And then she smiled.
There was something about that smile, a hint of . . . what, I wasn’t quite sure, but I felt certain that if we’d been anywhere near a body of water, she could have launched a ship or two.
I would have been perfectly happy to just stand there and look at her the rest of the night, but the spell was broken by the sound of the kids racing out of the house.
“Jeremy!” shouted Abby, as she flung herself at me. If I hadn’t caught her and swung her up into my arms, she’d have banged headlong into my stomach. Close behind her was Matt, who was too old for such nonsense, of course. He did manage to end up with his arms around me, though.
“Jeremy,” he said, “don’t you think it’s really, really cruel for parents to have a family barbecue and send their children off to the far corners of the earth?”
Angie laughed as she said, “Two blocks down the street is hardly the ends of the earth, bucko.” Looking at me, she added, “I called in a couple of markers with the parents of their best friends.” Turning back to the kids, she said, “And when I first suggested to you guys that you stay overnight with Eleanor and Jeffrey, you were all for it. It wasn’t until you heard about the cookout with Jeremy that you suddenly got homesick.”
Glancing my way again, Angie said, “Simon and I thought we’d make this an adults-only evening. What do you think?”
The kids looked at me hopefully. They know what a sucker I am for those looks, and I almost gave in, but then I caught a glimpse of Laura Fleming. She had a bemused look on her face, as if she were saying, What’ll it be? The kids or me?
I put Abby down and scowled at her and her brother.
“Beat it, urchins!” I growled. Then I knelt beside them and whispered, “Next month, I’ll take you to the zoo and let you buy all the souvenirs you want and eat all the junk food your tummies can hold. Deal?”
“Yay!” they shouted, as they ran back inside to
