“It’s stuffy and pretentious, and there’s usually cheap wine and smelly cheese.”
She leaned over and bumped him with her shoulder. “How can I resist cheap wine and smelly cheese?”
“Your being there will make it bearable for me.”
“I take it you would do things differently if you owned the gallery?”
He nodded. “Hannah thinks I should just open up my own, but it’s not that easy.” She waited for him to go on and after a moment, he did. “As it is, Oak Hollow can’t really have two galleries...well, maybe it could if the two galleries were radically different from each other. But as long as Dez has his gallery, I can’t open another.”
“You could somewhere else.”
“I want to be close to Hannah.”
“You are close to Hannah.”
“Geographically as well as emotionally.” He turned and looked into her eyes. “Does that make sense to you?”
“I’m all about emotional and geographical proximity.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” He set the jar on the porch, debating.
“Because?”
“So we could do this.” And this time he kissed her, only it wasn’t brief or tentative. It was the sort of kiss that burned through him, the sort of kiss he hadn’t had since Allison’s death. He broke away, not wanting to think about his late wife while kissing Zoe. It wasn’t fair to her.
And he wasn’t sure it was fair to Allison, either.
Zoe stared at him with wide eyes. Then she startled him by climbing onto his lap, wrapping her arms around him, and kissing him so deeply, he forgot about Allison, Hannah, or the neighbors who could be watching over the hedge. The only thing he could think of was the kiss searing through him and curling his toes with pleasure.
#
“OKAY, THIS TIME ITis a date,” Zoe told Mildred. They both stood in front of Zoe’s open closet, but Mildred was much more interested in her bath than she was in Zoe’s wardrobe. Zoe rifled through the clothes on the hangers, considering.No, no, no, nope with an extra helping of nope sauce.
Her phone buzzed. Courtney.
“I need you,” Zoe said. “Bring cute outfits, preferably ones that will fit me.”
Moments later, Courtney and Laurel arrived, each bearing a laundry basket full of clothes. “You didn’t tell me the occasion,” Courtney said, sounding breathless.
“There’s a party at the gallery,” Zoe said, holding the door for her sister.
“Will the lush be there?” Courtney deposited the basket on the bed and motioned for Laurel to do the same.
Zoe closed the door, hoping Ethan hadn’t overheard the conversation. “Probably, but I’m not worried about her.”
“Mom, can I go and see if Hannah can play?” Laurel asked.
“Sure, sweetie,” Courtney said. She waited until Laurel had disappeared through the door before she continued. “Just because he’s not interested in her doesn’t mean she can’t cause problems.”
Zoe perched on the side of the bed and rifled through Courtney’s basket of clothes. “I’m not even sure he’s all that interested in me.”
Courtney began to pull clothes out of the basket and lay them out on the bed in ensembles. “Girl! Please! Has he kissed you?”
Zoe’s cheeks grew warm.
Courtney chortled. “Tell me! Tell me everything!”
#
