She shrugged as if he could see her, as if his back wasn’t still toward her. “Sure.”
His head moved up and down in a semblance of a nod. “Good.” He turned on the faucet and rinsed out the pan.
Maddie knew the uncomfortable silence was absurd. Especially since they were two reasonably intelligent, middle-aged adults who, mere hours earlier, had not been awkward together even though they had been naked.
“Rex.”
“Maddie.”
They spoke each other’s names simultaneously. Maddie laughed. Then Rex did, too. He turned off the water, and Maddie took off her jacket. Then they faced each other, the only things between them the small table, the counter, and a whole bunch of jumbled feelings, at least on her part, and maybe on his, too.
“I was worried about you,” he said softly, so Grandma wouldn’t hear.
“I’m fine,” she whispered. “Sorry I dashed out like I did. I guess I was startled.”
“By me?” He dried his hands and walked around the counter and the table so they were closer.
She laughed again. “No! I was startled by me! I was totally out of my realm. I’m only a girl from the hills.”
His cinnamon eyes sparkled like sugar on a ginger cookie. He smiled a crooked smile.
She wished he hadn’t done that; it caused a ribbon of warmth to swell inside her.
“I told you,” he added, “it’s not an everyday thing for me, either. But neither of us seemed to have wanted to be somewhere else, doing something else. And it wasn’t like it was planned.”
Of course it hadn’t been planned, she wanted to say. He hadn’t even known she’d show up at his door. She moved to the opposite side of the living room, in case Grandma had her oyster-shaped ear pressed to the door.
He followed her. “I kind of thought that you liked … it.”
“I did. It was nice. But it’s not a good time for me, Rex. I’m not looking for a relationship. My life is beginning to start over—so I don’t think it’s fair to either of us for me to get involved right now.” She sounded like a damn textbook therapist. Or the confident woman she pretended to be.
“I get it,” he said. “Can we at least be friends?” The sparkle in his eyes faded a little.
“Wearefriends, Rex. I don’t know what Grandma and I would do without you.”
He gestured toward the oven. “For starters, you might not be having scallops tonight.”
She laughed a faint laugh. “See? We are definitely friends.”
“Good friends?” The half smile widened. “Because I’d like that, Maddie.”
She knew what he meant. She could not say no. But she could not say yes. “Maybe in time?”
“It’s a deal.” He glanced at his watch. “But right now, it really is time for me to earn a living.” He grabbed his plaid flannel shirt from the back of the sofa, started to button it, then stopped. “Wait. Before we got distracted this morning, you said you wanted to ask me something. Was it important? Or can it wait?”
She pressed her lips together, then shook her head. “It was nothing major. I figured it out after I … left.” Her words sounded awkward. Maybe he hadn’t noticed. But as much as Maddie knew it was too soon for a relationship, she was grateful she was still levelheaded enough to make her own decisions.
If the aftermath of her morning with Rex had taught her that, it had been worth a few awkward moments.
“Arnie’s Bait and Tackle is closing,” Maddie told Grandma.
It was long past dark. They were wrapped in toasty shawls, sitting on the front porch of the cabin, an LED lantern on the end table between them.
“How’d you hear that?”
“Last night at the potluck. Two men were talking about it. I didn’t ask their names.”
Grandma snickered. “Old men, I suppose. When it comes to gossip, they’re worse than old ladies.”
