When she pulled up on the left side of Mila’s Spanish-style home, frost sparkled on the tiered fountain in the front patio. Several wrought iron lanterns gave a welcoming glow to the area surrounded by a low rock wall.
Mila came out the carved front door with a coat over her pjs. She hurried toward the truck, her moccasins whispering across the smooth flagstones.
Tracy climbed down and met her by the waist-high wall. “Were you listening for me?”
“I was. Mom asked if the three of us wanted to go into town tonight. Clem’s hired a new band and tonight’s their first gig. I told her we’d decided to get out our old yearbooks and wallow in nostalgia.”
“We should do that sometime.”
“We will. Just remember you’re supposed to be reminiscing tonight.”
“Okay. I’m sorry you had to cook up a story.”
“It’s actually the truth. Our yearbooks are piled on the coffee table ready to go. We’ll take some videos to show you later. You’ll feel like you were there.”
Should she be? Doubts began to crop up. “Mila, is this the dumbest thing I’ve ever done?”
“Not dumb. You’ve talked it out with us and with him. You’ve thought it through and made a decision. I’m amazed I never noticed you have a crush on him. You’ve hidden it well.”
“Hid it from myself, too. Like Claudette said, I wasn’t supposed to have a crush on him, let alone let it take over my life. The last six weeks have been hell. Time to burst the fantasy bubble.”
“Guess so. But if you expect a rude awakening, I’m not sure that’s what?—”
“Oh, it won’t be awful. But it can’t possibly live up to the wild expectations I’ve created in the past few weeks. And that will be for the best.”
Mila smiled. “Good thing you didn’t say that to my brother.”
“I did sort of say that to him this afternoon. Just so he knows I won’t be upset if—why are you laughing?”
“Let me get this straight. You told him you’ve managed your expectations and you’ll be fine with an average experience?”
“More or less. What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing’s wrong with it, except you’ve just invited him to turn on the afterburners.”
“Really? Wouldn’t he be relieved that the pressure’s off? I mean, the guys I’ve dated would have been. Except for Sean. He?—”
“You know what, we need to talk about him later. I’m getting the picture, but we can go into it another time. Like lunch on Monday.”
“Sure, we can do that.”
“You’d better head on up there. Adam has a fire going. I can smell the cedar smoke. “
“Me, too. Don’t have too much fun without me.”
“Don’t worry, we won’t. As for you, have as much fun as you want. It’s only one night.”
“Yep. Oh, and… um, tomorrow morning I’ll just head on home, okay? I?—”
“Understood. You’ll need time to process. I’ll meet you Monday at the Raccoon at… twelve or twelve-thirty?”
“Twelve-thirty’s good.”
“See you then.” Mila turned and scurried back toward the door. “Brr. Cold out here!”
Was it? If so, she was oblivious. Mila’s comment keep looping through her mind as she took a bag of food from the passengerside of the truck, closed the door and started back around the tailgate.You’ve just invited him to turn on the afterburners.
Mila seemed to think he’d take what she’d said as a challenge, not reassurance. Perhaps her previous experience with men hadn’t prepared her for Adam. That thought made her pause and catch her breath.
