The relief which had come in with Sandra had driven home how isolated he’d let himself become. After his marriage to Paige, things had turned awkward with his friends. With her gone so much, his buddies would invite Eb to go out with them, but they’d done single-guy things which hadn’t felt right for him as a married man. Except she’d rarely been in Huckleberry Falls, so he hadn’t fit in at the few ‘couple outings’ some friends had invited him to. After Paige had taken the baby, he’d pulled back from everyone.
Until last December, when he’d met Sandra through work and she’d taken him under her wing. It had taken him a while to see it for what it was—an overture of friendship. Eb could only hope she wouldn’t find herself overwhelmed.
* * *
“Sorry about the interruption.”Sandra hurried back to Eb and Rue. “Walt has a ton of guest appearances next week, and we needed to finalize a couple of things.”
“Will you go with him?”
“I always do. It’s the crazy season for his wife’s business, so she can’t come with us. It’ll be the first time he’s gone anywhere without Linda since they got married.” Sandra sighed. “He’s going to be a major grump. But I’ll worry about it next week. It’s not quite time for dinner, but I’m hungry. Are you?”
“Yes!” Rue lifted her head from Eb’s shoulder.
“Do you like peanut butter and—” She broke off. “Sorry, but did her mother leave any notes about food allergies?”
“I like peanut butter.” Rue’s voice softened to barely a whisper as she added, “Mommy gives it to me with crackers when she wants me to be quiet.”
Eb’s eyes narrowed as he asked the child, “Are there any foods that make your tummy hurt or your skin itchy?” She shook her head. “Well, then, I happen to know there’s a little sandwich shop with peanut butter and jelly on the menu. It’s near the glass blowers.”
“How do you blow glass?” Rue asked, her face adorably scrunched in confusion.
“With pipes. It’s how they make art out of melted glass. They recycle the wine bottles from the restaurant that way.” Eb grinned, a light of enthusiasm in his eyes which Sandra had never seen before. “We’ll have to stop there after we get our food to see if they’ll do a demonstration. It’s really quite amazing.” He said to Sandra, “I hope you’ll join us.”
“I’d love to.”
Sandra let them lead the way, unable to shake her surprise at how different Eb was with Rue. All these months, Sandra had thought she was working with one kind of person, and then he was turning out to be something else. Was the change only because of Rue’s arrival? It would certainly be enough to bring out hidden parts of anyone’s personality.
Or—and she mentally squirmed at the thought—had she misjudged him from the beginning? Even the wordjudgemade her uncomfortable. In the beginning, he’d reminded Sandra of herself, and she’d assumed he’d put himself into a rut just like she had. How arrogant of her to think he needed her help. It was humbling. And yet, he did need her help, and she was glad to be there for him.
Eb Grinchly was much deeper than she’d realized, and Sandra found herself intrigued. Did she suddenly find him attractive because he had a daughter? Her hand went automatically to her abdomen, but she clenched her fist and dropped it to her side. Shewasn’tenvious.
But he was her friend, and she’d do what she could to help. And if he didn’t want it, she’d back off. But the poor man was definitely out of his league. And the sweet little girl chattering enthusiastically as they approached the row of shops deserved a parent who wouldn’t toss her away when she became inconvenient.
Eb held the door open for Sandra and waited for her to enter the sandwich shop. She nodded her thanks and made a face at Rue as she stepped past them, already pulling out her wallet.
“I hope you’ll let me pay,” he said. “Though I’d love to take you to dinner sometime.”
“Oh, I’ve got this.” Only then did his choice of words sink in. He’d like to take her out to dinner?
“Put it on my bill,” Eb said quietly to the worker. She must have known who he was because she nodded and wouldn’t look at Sandra.
“Fine, and thank you. I’ll have the yogurt parfait.” Sandra moved over to the bakery section of the little store and paid for some cookies. She gave him a smug smile as she joined him at his table.
Eb shook his head, but he grinned at the minor battle of wills. Had she ever seen him smile before? Likereallysmile? And dang, but it lit up his face in a way no other expression had. Plus, it was doing things to her heart rate, reinforcing his hotness. How long had he been hiding this part of him? Since Paige left?
“Are you going to share your cookies?” Rue asked, giving a wistful glance at the package in Sandra’s hand.
“I plan to, Miss Rue, but only for people who eat dinner first.”
“Yay! Jeanie always says I eat good, so I get a cookie.”
“Me too.” Sandra took the chair on the child’s other side.
They talked little as they ate, but Rue’s merry chatter didn’t make it necessary. Eb appeared lost in his thoughts, but he listened enough to his daughter to answer any comments needing a response. Sandra tried to remember if she’d noticed this from him in their past interactions. It would be an excellent skill for his job. Like her, he likely needed to juggle a lot of mental details, and from her experience with him, he was good at it.
When they’d finished eating, they went to the glassblowing shop, and the place immediately captivated Rue. The older man asked her questions as he blew and spun and shaped a Christmas ornament. Eb and Sandra both had to hold the child’s hands to keep her from getting too close.
“I wish I could have it,” she said wistfully to herself as the man put the finished globe into what he’d called a curing oven.
