Chapter Thirty-Two
Col straightened the lapels of his jacket, using the reflection in the glass facade of the restaurant in order to do so. Fortunately, Miller had provided all of them with what he had deemed to be wardrobe staples, which meant that Col paid special heed to what Aylwyn was told to wear, and found the similar items in his closet.
After spending last night in Katie Cooper’s room, mired in his anguished thoughts, Col knew he could not bear it if she was out with that blondWaryeorthis evening as planned. It would be torture beyond compare, envisioning her alone with him, laughing at his japes, entwining herself in his arms, joining the soft curves of her body with his—
Col was here now, his compulsion leading him to practicing—for him a heretofore unheard-of level of — deception, in order to forestall that very agony. He had told an untruth to hisBrodher,and pushed aside the pangs of his conscience in doing so. He’d informed Aylwyn that he had heard from Katie, and she felt unwell tonight, and would not be able to attend their “dinner date”.
There was an expression that he had learned from Miller, that had been ascribed to a wielder of words with a fearsomeWaryeor’s name — Shakes a Speare —that “All is Fair in Love and War.”
He did not know if this waslove, but he certainly was at war with whatever forces kept driving him towards Katie Cooper.
A war that he kept losing.
He was pacing again, on the flat surface outside the restaurant, filled with nervous energy fueled in parts with the deception and the excitement of seeing her again. And the fear that she might not look upon seeing him with the same pleasure, if she truly preferred Aylwyn.
He stopped to examine his clothing again, to confirm it was exactly as Miller had advised. Dark jacket, cotton shirt that buttoned down the front and was pushed inside his even darker jeans. Black leather shoes that had been polished to a dull gleam. In the pocket of his jacket he carried a leather wallet that had cards much like the ones that he could use at the Faire. These he would hand to the serving-folk at the end of the meal, as he did to the florist who had sold him the trumpet-flared blooms that were wrapped elegantly into a cone.
“Just for tonight, Col,” she had said. “Call me Lily.”
He would never forget it, and so he had brilliantly hued Calla lilies resting against the crook of his arm. He couldn’t recall ever holding flowers before, let alone readying to offer them to a maiden.
Then again, there were a lot of firsts. Like lying to hisBrodher, saying that Katie Cooper could not make it that evening and would reschedule. Another first, uncaring of the consequences of that lie. He cared more that he would be the one with her that night.
Another wave of nerves swept through him, and he turned to pace again. He met with her startled eyes.
“Col?”
By the Grace of She who Grants Abundance, Katie Cooper was lovelier than he remembered. He was slammed with a wave of desire, and all of the words he had practiced, the charm he had hoped to evince failed him. “Here,” he uttered, thrusting the bundle of lilies at her.
Her eyes fell on the blooms as she took them in her arms. “Lilies,” she whispered.
“Pretty,” a child’s voice chimed in beside her. Col looked down.
There was a child to either side of Katie Cooper, staring at him.
Lily was stunned. Floored. Speechless. Well, except for the “Col?” that squeaked out of her.
She thought her eyes were playing tricks on her, forming a mirage of what she had been obsessing over all day, whenever her attention wasn’t drawn to the twins or the other kids. Or when she wasn’t fretting over the bad news she had gotten, that the twins’ mother was not getting released as expected.
Rika had come into Staff Childcare, pulling Lily aside to let her know that although the surgery itself was fine, Rosa needed to stay overnight at the hospital for observation and more tests. The Human Resources Director didn’t elaborate, only letting Lily know what the situation was, and confirming that Lily would still be onboard with taking care of the kids, albeit alone. TraceyAnn had been hovering around the entire time, of course, gleaning as many details as she could possibly hear.
Lily had to mask the worry in her voice when she told the kids. To her relief, they treated it as more time with Katie.
It had made her even more determined to bring them with her this evening, and possibly the next night as well, until their mother was safely home.
Even TraceyAnn had been nice enough to suggest that she take the kids straight back to the trailer after the dinner, instead of coming back to Staff Childcare afterwards. She had heard enough to feel sympathetic, and probably to gossip to Luna, who couldn’t hobble away fast enough on crutches.
Lily had looked forward to seeing Aylwyn, thinking that he would probably be most readily at ease with the two kids. It would be an early night, anyway, as she would have to get the two kids into bed.
But when she first saw the broad shoulders, the brush cut auburn hair, the height on the man facing the restaurant that had been selected for tonight’s one-on-one, she couldn’t help the little flare of hope that it was the person she had been thinking of, wishing that she were meeting.
And then the man turned around, and it was Col. Col carrying a bouquet in the crook of his arm that she had run her hands over not that long ago….
A bouquet of flowers that she shared a name with. A tangible memento of the night that they had shared, when in a rash, impulsive moment, she had begged him to call her by her real name.
Lily.
He had remembered. That meant the world to her.
