Annie's Answer (18 page)

“What a lovely
young lady,” one socialite said to Nathan with feigned sincerity. “Where did
you find her?”

Annie managed
to smile although she knew when she was being patronized.

“I got lucky,”
he said, turning to the man beside her to ask about his champion show dogs.

“If you ever
want a pup from one of my dachshunds, let me know. I occasionally get one I
can’t show—ears wrong, little things that make them ineligible. But
they’re still champion stock and great pets.” Obviously Nathan had touched on
the man’s favorite subject.

“I’ll keep it
in mind,” Nathan said.

After what
seemed like ages, people filled the tables for the dinner service to begin.
Annie was surprised to find herself alone with Nathan at a small side table.

“Don’t you
have to eat with your guests?” she asked as he seated her.

“Dad makes it
a point to have a separate table so it doesn’t look like he’s favoring certain
clients. It works well for me. I want you all to myself.”

Annie didn’t
know how to respond.

She was
overwhelmed by the variety of gourmet dishes arriving at the table in a steady stream.
The meal began with a shrimp cocktail and a small loaf of homemade bread
brought to the table on a small wooden cutting board.

“Little
chickens,” she said with delight when the main course was served.

“Capons with
wild rice.” He said it in such a gentle way she didn’t feel corrected.

Every time she
looked up from her plate, Nathan was looking at her, absentmindedly eating but
totally focused on her. She met his deep blue eyes and didn’t feel at all
self-conscious.

“It’s
delicious.” Maybe that was true, but she was so lost in his gaze it hardly
mattered what she was eating.

Dessert was
chocolate cheesecake with fresh raspberries, so rich and delicious she savored
every bite even though she was already full. Before she finished, Nathan stood
and tapped his water glass, putting the attention of all the guests on them.
Annie dropped her fork, unable to finish with so many people watching.

“On behalf of
my father and me, thank you all for coming. He is really sorry he couldn’t be
here, but I’ve been designated to act in his stead in giving out the golf
awards.”

Annie had no
idea what it took to get one of the little trophies a waiter brought to their
table along with gift certificates for golfing items on sale in the pro shop.
She didn’t even try to follow the banter about handicaps, waterholes, and
missed putts, but Nathan’s poise, humor, and good nature held her spellbound.

“I have to
work the room,” Nathan whispered to her as the black uniformed servers started
clearing the tables.

He had to say
a few words to all his clients, but he kept her by his side, taking her hand as
they moved from group. When the small orchestra began playing on a riser at the
far end of the room, he led her to the dance floor.

“You dance
like an angel,” he said as she circled the floor in his arms.

“Only because
you lead so well,” she said. “I have two left feet.”

“Don’t do
that.” His voice was serious.

“Do what?”

“Put yourself
down. You’re the most beautiful woman in the room, not to mention the sweetest
and nicest. When I give you a compliment, I mean it.”

She didn’t
know whether to argue or thank him. Instead she said nothing, letting herself
enjoy every moment in his arms.

When other men
cut in—which they did more often than she liked—he stepped away
gracefully. Only his eyes betrayed his reluctance.

“How long does
the party last?” she asked when everyone present went out onto a balcony to
watch the sky light up with fireworks

“Until the
last guest leaves, but that doesn’t mean we have to stay. I’ve done my duty. No
one will miss us if we sneak off after the fireworks.”

Instead of
following the crowd to the balcony, he took her hand and led her outside.

“There’s a
bench in front of the pro shop. We can sit and watch—alone.”

When the sky
lit up with a brilliant display of sparkling light, Annie became aware of a
number people on a swell of ground to the right. The country club invited the
whole town to come watch, and she vaguely remembered sitting there on a blanket
when she was young and her father was still alive. It was a bittersweet moment,
but Nathan’s arm around her shoulders was wonderful comfort.

“Let’s beat
the crowd,” he said, taking her hand and leading her to his car as a huge
patriotic display, red, white and blue, concluded the fireworks program.

When her eyes
got used to darkness again, she looked up at the sky. The distant stars were
every bit as beautiful as the fireworks, and she silently thanked God for this
moment of perfect happiness.

“Did you have
fun?” Nathan asked as he drove toward her house.

“Yes, I did. Thank
you.”

“I’m the one
who should thank you. You made a tedious obligation into an evening to be
remembered.” His voice was soft and mellow, even a little dreamy.

“Your father
should be proud of the way you handled the party.”

Nathan’s laugh
sounded ironical. “He expects it.”

Annie had
never been more reluctant to have an evening end. Nathan stopped in front of
her house and released his seat belt, but he made no move to get out of the
car.

“Annie.” He
leaned toward her and gently put his hand on the back of her neck.

Slowly, ever
so slowly, he moved closer.

She was
transported to another world when his lips touched hers.

“You are so
lovely,” he murmured, kissing her again until her lips melded with his in one
perfect kiss.

Annie put her
hands on his shoulders while they kissed again. She suspected all evening this
would happen but unsure what it meant. Was Nathan only thanking her yet again?
Did he routinely kiss his dates good night? Did he have a clue how she felt
about him?

Tomorrow he’d
just be one of her bosses again in a job she needed to buy her flower shop.
Would he even remember this conclusion to the evening?

Doubt made her
freeze up. She couldn’t share casual kisses with a man she secretly loved. In a
sudden moment of panic, she backed away and threw open the car door, only
vaguely aware of Nathan saying her name.

She sprinted
toward her front door, but her mother’s golden slippers finally failed her. A
heel came loose with an audible cracking noise, but rather than stop, she
kicked it off and got to the porch with one shoe on and one shoe off.

When the door
closed behind her, she didn’t look back to see whether he was following. The
shoe could lie on the lawn until tomorrow. She’d gone from extreme happiness to
painful doubt in only moments, and she didn’t know how she’d ever be able to
face Nathan again.

When Annie
woke up early the next morning after a restless night of strange and quickly
forgotten dreams, the first thing she did was hurry outside in her robe. It
would be much easier to explain the broken heel on her mother’s shoe if it
weren’t lying on the front lawn.

It was gone.

She checked
behind bushes and in the street by the curb. The shoe was nowhere to be found.

Maybe a dog
had carried it away. Or possibly an early-morning runner had spotted it lying
in the light dew on the grass and put it on the porch as a kindness. But the
shoe wasn’t on the porch, nor could she see it in their neighbor’s yards on
either side.

There was only
one other possibility, an embarrassing one. Maybe Nathan had followed her and
picked it up.

After an
uncomfortable breakfast with her mother who was eager for details about the
party, Annie was deliberately slow about leaving. Hopefully Nathan would be
gone when she got there. She had no idea what to say to him when the memory of
their kisses was still so fresh.

She needn’t
have worried.

When she
joined Mattie at the kitchen table, she was quick to tell her Nathan was bogged
down with work and had left early.

“Come see the
plans for my house,” she said enthusiastically. “Are you still up for a trip to
the mall after all your partying? I have my heart set on green towels for the
bathroom, but not just any dull green. I want them the same shade as corn when
it first pokes up through the earth.”

Annie’s heart
went out to her. In spite of excitement about her new little house, Mattie
still missed her Iowa farm and house. If she could recreate some of her
memories in decorating her prefab, Annie was willing to shop anywhere with her.

For a woman
who’d been through a tornado and suffered an injured ankle, Mattie had an
amazing store of energy. They didn’t get back to the house until mid-afternoon,
and Annie almost looked forward to the slower pace at the pancake house.

“Let’s have a
glass of iced tea,” Mattie said as they returned loaded with packages.

“Sounds
great.” Annie left the purchases on a table in the foyer and gratefully
followed her to the kitchen.

When they were
sitting across from each other and sipping Mattie’s favorite orange-spice tea,
Mattie looked at her with a serious expression.

“We need to
talk.”

Annie braced
herself, sure she was no longer needed as a companion. Mattie could get along
perfectly all right on her own now.

“I have a
confession,” Mattie said. “I’ve succumbed to envy.”

“Oh?” Annie
had no idea where this was going.

“I’ve envied
my new friend Grace. She gets to spend time in that lovely teashop, talk to
people, and make new friends. Being old is so much nicer when a person can be
helpful.”

Annie waited
while Mattie sat very still, perhaps searching for a way to say what she wanted
to say.

“I hope you
don’t think I’ve been highhanded,” she said apologetically. “I didn’t want to
bring this up until I was sure it was a possibility. As it is, I’ve been making
Nathan work double time doing all my business.”

“What are you
talking about?” Annie asked, on the edge of her chair expecting something bad.

“I’d like to
be your partner in the flower shop.”

Annie’s mouth
opened but no sound came out.

“I know this
comes as a shock to you, but I can be an asset. I did the books for the farm
for years, so you wouldn’t need to hire an accountant. And I’d love to work
behind the counter a few hours a week like Grace does.”

“I don’t know
what to say,” Annie managed to blurt out.

“Well, don’t
say anything until you hear the rest. It would still be your business. Nathan
and I have talked to the owners, Mr. and Mrs. Polk, and we think a thirty
percent interest would be about right. It would cover the down payment, and I
wouldn’t have any trouble co-signing a loan for the rest. You could use your
savings as start-up money—and frankly, the place needs some sprucing up.”

“Why would you
do this for me?”

“Oh, dear, you
haven’t been listening. I’m doing it for me. I can’t abide the thought of
sitting out the rest of my life, however many years the Lord gives me. And I
know nothing about the flower business, so you’d still be the boss.”

“I have to
think about it.” Annie was torn between seeing it as a wonderful opportunity
and worrying Nathan was behind it, wanting to help her without seeming to.

“Of course,
you do. I wouldn’t want a partner who leaped into things without mulling them
over.”

“Do you mind
if I leave now?” She had to thrash this out with some one whose advice she
could trust: her grandfather.

“I know I’ve
thrown a lot at you, but I didn’t want to say any thing until Nathan helped me
work out the details. But don’t worry that Nathan is doing anything but giving
me advice. I sold a three hundred acre farm when my Tom passed away, and the
house was well insured. Call it my new hobby if it makes you feel better.”

“I’ll….” Annie
stood, unsure whether to hug Mattie, cry, or run away. “I’ll get back to you.”

“Well, I’ll
see you Monday. Nathan is taking me to see my cousin Mandy this weekend. She’s
in a nursing home in Cleveland, so we’ll be staying over at a motel.”

When Annie
stepped out of the cool interior of the Sawyer house, the sun was so hot she
felt dizzy. Or maybe she just couldn’t take in everything Mattie had said to
her. She had to sit in the car for a few minutes before she felt able to drive.

When she got
home, her grandfather was in the kitchen shucking sweet corn for their dinner.

“I’m grilling
tonight,” he said cheerfully. “Chicken kabobs with onions, mushrooms, and red
peppers. They finally got some corn at the market, although it’s maybe too
early to be at its best.”

“I don’t have
time for dinner,” she said, her mind far from food.

“No, of course
not. I’m going to send a plate with you to warm during your dinner break. They
do have a microwave at that pancake place, don’t they?”

“Gramps, my
so-called break is fifteen minutes, but I doubt I get that tonight. Since Marie
quit, I’m training a new girl. It’s like working alone. She tries, but things
come hard to her.”

This wasn’t
the conversation she needed to have with her grandfather.

“I have to
talk to you,” she said so urgently he gave her his full attention.

When she’d
explained Mattie’s offer, she waited expectantly for his counsel.

“Sometimes the
Lord work in mysterious ways.…”

“Yes, Gramps,
but what should I DO?”

“Listen to
your heart,” her grandfather said. “How do you feel about Mattie?”

“I’ve grown
fond of her,” Annie admitted. “She can be gruff, but inside she’s a very good
person.”

“So you could
work with her?”

“Yes, but
should I let her invest in my business? What if it fails and she loses her
money? How could I live with that on my conscience.”