Kade set the tray on the counter. “I can’t wait to see Mack.”
I stepped closer to take in the smell of warm cakes. They looked delicious.
“They’re diabetes friendly,” said Kade. “Your dad can have as many as he likes.”
I blinked at him, surprised by his thoughtfulness. Then, overwhelmed with a rush of gratitude, I grabbed him in a hug, lifting onto tiptoe to kiss his cheek.
At least, that’s what I meant to do.
But I took him by surprise as he was starting to step forward. We crashed together, our bodies colliding, and my kiss landed on the corner of his mouth instead of his cheek.
With an embarrassed laugh, I jerked back. “Sorry. That was supposed to be a thank you kiss, not a sexual assault. I don’t know what I’d do without you, and I just want you to know…” I trailed off, blushing. Our awkward collision shouldn’t have been a turn-on. What was wrong with me?
Kade was grinning. “Message received, and you’re welcome.”
“Um.” I readjusted my glasses, which had been knocked askew. “I’d better help Dad’s group come in.” Rushing to the front door, I took a moment to take a breath and calm my beating heart.
After moving into the assisted living center, my ridiculously outgoing father had organized regular brunches at the café for the residents who were mobile enough to be wheeled in the door. They ate at Mack’s Place at least three times a week, and they weren’t exactly model customers, occasionally getting drunk on smuggled alcohol in a clear breach of liquor laws, but I looked forward to their visits.
As usual, my father was first off the bus, propelling his wheelchair determinedly toward the café while the nurses unloaded the rest of the residents behind him.
“What did I see about you and Kade Lennox getting engaged?” Dad demanded as he reached the door.
I’d been about to bend and hug him. Instead I reeled back in shock. “What?”
I would have expected the isolated population of North Korea to hear the news of our fake engagement before my technology-challenged father.
“The lady on morning television was talking about it. She said she’s interviewing Kade on Saturday.”
“Mona from the Morning Show,” supplied the resident in the wheelchair behind Dad’s, a bald man called Reg, who’d seemingly become one of Dad’s best friends the day he’d moved in.
I opened my mouth and shut it again, lost for words.
Our fake engagement had been on TV?
Tugging out my phone, I searched for Morning Show Mona, and found the segment quickly enough. Mona was around fifty or so, a hugely popular presenter with a relentlessly upbeat show and a stunning smile.
“On Saturday I’ll be interviewing TV chef Kade Lennox,” she said into the camera. “Rumor has it he popped the question to a woman from his home town.”
A picture of Kade and me appeared on the screen behind her and I groaned. It was the photo Carlotta had taken of me wearing coveralls, with half my hair coming loose from my ponytail and dirty marks on my face. Kade had been wiping a smudge from my cheek, and I was gazing up at him like a smitten teenager.
“Congratulations could be in order,” continued Mona. “But I don’t see a ring on Natalie’s finger. You’ll have to tune in on Saturday morning to find out if she said yes.” She dropped a slow wink that seemed to question the likelihood of any sane woman turning Kade down.
The segment finished as Kade came out of the kitchen behind me.
“Mack!” He crouched to give Dad a hug. “Great to see you again.” When he straightened, his expression was sombre. “I was sorry to hear about your wife’s passing.”
“Yes, we miss her terribly. Now what’s this I hear about you marrying my daughter?”
I rolled my eyes toward heaven. Mom was probably up there giggling at the predicament I’d gotten myself into.
“Dad, we’re not really engaged,” I said firmly.
Reg tsked. “Are you calling Mona a liar? Because I’m going to need you to take that back.”
“We pretended to be engaged.” Kade opened the door wider, helping some of the other residents to come in past us. “Somehow the news got leaked to the media, but it’s not real. We’re not getting married.”
Dad harrumphed. “That impossible. Mona wouldn’t say things that aren’t true.”
“The news is the news,” agreed Reg. “You can’t argue with Mona.”
“Don’t you think Kade and I would have told you if we were really engaged?” I asked.
He squinted at Kade. “What’s that on your face, then? Is it my daughter’s shiny lipstick?” Dad turned to Reg. “Does that seem like a friendship thing to you, Reg?”
“Looks like those two were up to some hanky panky.” Reg shrugged. “Far as I can see, Mona was dead right.”
Great. Dad’s eyesight was so bad, he sometimes made me shout the newspaper headlines at him to save him having to squint at them. But apparently he had the vision of an eagle when it came to picking out the faint smudge of lip gloss our kiss-collision must have left on the side of Kade’s mouth.
“You’d better claim your spot at the head of the table before someone else takes it.” I motioned Dad inside with a sigh.
As he and Reg wheeled themselves in, one of the nurses bringing in the last of the residents stopped to greet me.
“Congratulations you two,” she exclaimed.
I groaned. But before I could deny it, Kade thanked her, shooting me a resigned look. He was probably right, and it’d be a waste of breath trying to set everybody straight.
“I’ll bring the food out.” He moved toward the kitchen, and the nurse watched him go.
“You’re so lucky, Natalie.” She straightened the front of her uniform. “If I were ten years younger…”
“How’s Dad been the last couple of days?” I asked.
“Oh, your father’s amazing. He’s a real people person, isn’t he? Everyone just loves him.”
I turned to watch my father wheeling himself around the table, exchanging
