Coming Home to Love (Lakeside Porch Series Book 2) (20 page)

“Give him another month. But there’s no reason a few of you can’t bring a meeting to him. Phil has come by a couple of times already, and Joel does well with that. He’s able to sit up in a chair for an hour.”

“Riding in a car’s a lot harder, isn’t it?”

Gianessa exhaled something between frustration and disgust. “A lot. He should have gone in medical transport for that doctor’s appointment yesterday. Joel insisted he’d be fine, and Justin went right along with him, and neither of them would let me come because they knew how much I wanted to talk to you about a car. They’re a mighty force when they combine.”

“Couldn’t talk them out of it?” Tony still thought she should have stepped in.

“I stopped trying when I sounded like a shrew, even to my own ears.” She shook her head. “Apparently they had to learn that lesson the hard way. No harm done to Joel, but he won’t make that mistake again. And Justin was really scared. I was surprised at how much it affected him.”

“Why?”

“Justin’s larger than life. It’s easy to think he doesn’t have feelings.”

Tony decided they’d gotten personal enough. “You going to have dessert?”

“Just coffee.” Gianessa grinned at him. “You’ve got your eye on that pie, don’t you? Go wild. Ice cream, too.”

“You’ve cured me,” Justin praised.

Gianessa pressed her head back, deeper into the pillow, and teased him. “I didn’t know there was a cure.”

“Correction, I know there’s no cure, but you’ve made my body strong again. Are you pleased with that?”

“I’m very pleased with your body and pleased that you share it with me. I’m sure all your lady friends are excited and delighted about your body.”

“No, I have only one lady friend,” he said, tracing his finger down her bare breast and watching the nipple pop up. He sucked it for a moment and relished her intake of breath. “I like giving you pleasure.” Justin buried his face between her lush breasts.

She gave a throaty laugh. “How do you feel about giving me a break for sustenance?”

Justin groaned.

“I happen to know there is a box of chocolate-covered strawberries in your refrigerator. And I’ll fix us salads with that cheese you like.”

He licked her other nipple and reluctantly sat back on his heels. His eyes roamed over the feast before him. “If we must.”

Gianessa twisted and reached for the robe on the floor beside the bed, and he planted a kiss on her backside.

“While I’m fixing salads,” she said with a sly wink, “you can fiddle with that new espresso contraption of yours.”

Justin laughed. “I’ll make us
doppio con panna
to pair with the strawberries. How does that sound?”

“Delicious. I’ll reward you in some decadent way once I am fed and jazzed on your espresso.”

Gianessa assembled ingredients for their salad. Lettuce and peppers. Avocado, poached chicken, and a container of goat cheese. Justin went into the cupboards for rice vinegar and olive oil. Gianessa snipped some fresh basil. Justin reached for the salad spinner and handed it to her, then selected a knife and started cleaning and dicing the peppers and the avocado.

After the salads, after the strawberries, while they lingered over the sweet espresso drinks, Justin asked her, “What do you like best about a weekend like this?”

“You mean dinner and breakfast and a day we spend together?”

He held his glass mug with both hands and nodded. “For example, I like sharing the Sunday
Times
and time for sex and time for cooking and anything else we think of.”

“I like that you’re easy to be with and fun to do things with.” She dimpled when she smiled. “I like the way we move together. Not just the sex, which is glorious, but when we cook, too, and in everything we do. And I like the way you study the crowd at a restaurant and tell me what you see. It’s always different from what I see. And you care about what I think and what I need.” She sipped the espresso. “Tell me more about what you like.”

He set down his mug and reached for her free hand. “When we’re out together, I like the way you study people’s bodies. I imagine you’re thinking how you could help them be well. Is that what you’re thinking?”

Gianessa nodded and rewarded him with an appreciative smile.

“That’s extraordinary for me, to be with someone whose orientation is giving. And you tell me what you need so I can give to you, in my own way.” He touched the dimple that still showed on her face. “And I like it when that dimple comes out.”

She chuckled. “Why?”

“Because it tells me you’re happy.”

“You’re right. How did you find the restaurant we went to for dinner last night?”

“I had a meeting recently with two college administrators, and I asked my secretary to find a classy restaurant with gluten-free choices. She found Gusto’s, and I liked it. I thought you would, too.”

“So what did these college types talk about?”

“Financial concerns, mostly, and the marketability of new programs and the fit with jobs and professions.”

“Did they like your ideas?”

Justin chuckled. “They think my consultant is a clown. But when I spoke my mind, told them my ideas, they listened and agreed.”

“What is with you and this clown consultant?” Gianessa asked with a musical laugh. “You always smile when you say how lousy he is. Did you hire him to fail?”

Justin raised his eyebrows. “I didn’t say that.”

“I’m right.” Gianessa raised her hands in triumph. “You’re setting something up, and he’s the fall guy.”

Justin blustered comically. “Why would you even think that?” He placed both hands flat on the table and leaned toward her.

She jabbed a playful finger at him. “Because you’re a master strategist, and you wouldn’t tolerate a fool in your employ, would you? Unless he’s serving some purpose. Justin Cushman, what are you plotting?”

He laughed. “You’ll just have to wait and see, darling.”

She pointed the finger again. “There, you did it again. You knew I would go off on a tangent about ‘darling,’ and you deliberately slipped it into the conversation so I wouldn’t ask you any more questions about this chess game you’re playing at the college. Right?”

Justin laughed.

“I’m right, I know it.”

“What do you have against ‘darling,’ darling?”

“You know perfectly well.” She sat back in the chair and crossed her arms.

He shook his head with a look of pure innocence. “You have yet to tell me. Is it all about me being a chauvinist?”

“You are, but that’s not what bugs me about it.”

“Tell me.”

“No, it’s too hurtful. I don’t want to spoil our lovely time together.”

Justin’s eyes narrowed and he watched with dismay as the happy sparkle left her beautiful face. “Les called you that, didn’t he, and it’s too painful to remember your marriage. Is that it?”

“He never used it as a term of endearment. He used it sarcastically throughout the divorce, and it was like a slap in the face every time. I hate it.”

Justin felt like he had been slapped himself. “I’m sorry, Gianessa. I had no idea. I won’t do it again.”

“Thank you.”

“What would you like me to call you?”

She shook her head and reached a conciliatory hand across the table. “I’m sorry, Justin. I hate when that bitterness comes out, and I apologize for taking it out on you.”

He captured her hand in both of his and pressed it gently.

She put on a smile. “What do I want you to call me? I don’t know. We’ll find something.”

“Sexy lady? Chickadee?”

She was laughing now, pushing away his suggestions by waving her free hand.

“I know. Dimples.”

“Oh god, no, Justin.” She tossed her hair and scrunched her face at him.

“Perhaps sweetheart. I’ve always liked sweetheart.”

Gianessa tipped her head from side to side.

“I’ll work on making sweetheart part of my vocabulary.” He brought her hand to his lips for a kiss. “What will you call me?”

The dimples were back now. “Dude.”

“Yes, now that’s dignified for public gatherings of college administrators.”

Her eyebrows peaked with interest. “Are you planning to take me to such gatherings?”

He sat back, his face serious now. “I’d like to, Gianessa. Er-sweetheart.”

“Very cool, dude.”

She dissolved into laughter, and he joined in. When they had laughed themselves out, Justin made a proposal. “I’ve been wanting to go over to the Cushman grounds with you. It’s about half a mile, through Overlook Park, and this is a good day for it, with the sun shining and the snow packed down to a few inches. If the groundskeeper is around, we can take a turn through the mansion and identify some items to keep before I open it to an estate sale. Are you game?”

“Yes, I can try out my new boots.”

“I want to know what you think of the place.”

Gianessa laughed. “I’m not going to make you an offer on it, dude.”

“You’re getting good at snow tromping,” Justin teased.

Gianessa took her eyes off the snow in front of her feet and laughed up at him. “Tromping. Is that what we’re doing?”

“Keep up this pace and you’ll break a sweat in no time. We’re crossing onto the grounds now.”

“Good, because I’m dripping.” She stopped for a moment.

“It’s because you’re wearing that down coat.”

“So cross-country skiers don’t wear down coats?”

“You’re a quick study, Ms. Dupioni.”

“And hot.” She took one more step.

“And how. Or did you mean your coat is too hot for tromping?” He turned toward her. “You can unzip, you know. That’s a two-way zipper—top and bottom.”

“How do you know so much about my zipper?”

“Hello, folks,” a voice called, and a man emerged from a border of shrubs uphill from them.

Gianessa turned quickly and lost her balance. Justin caught her and stood firmly beside her as the groundskeeper approached them.

“Marcus, always good to see you on the job.”

“Mr. Cushman. Nice sunny day.” He nodded to Gianessa. “Miss.”

“I’ve decided to have an estate sale within the month, Marcus. I’d like to go through the place before that to mark items for the family.”

“No problem. I can let you in shortly, if you give me a few minutes to check the lights and clear the snow off the steps.”

“We’ll be somewhere on the grounds.”

“Nice view up by the birches. Always thought that’d be a good home site.” He pointed diagonally uphill a hundred yards. “There’s another site beyond the house where the tennis court is.” Marcus touched his hat and trod toward the house.

“A man of few words,” Justin said quietly.

“He lives on the grounds?” Gianessa unzipped and flapped the front of her coat to cool herself down.

“He and his family. There’s a gatehouse along the drive.” He pointed vaguely toward the trees to the southwest. “Marcus patrols the grounds, monitors the security system and troubleshoots the house. Old houses spring leaks, in a manner of speaking, and Marcus is always on the lookout.”

They trudged uphill to the grove of birches. From this vantage point, Gianessa saw the old mansion, a little downhill toward the lake, squatting behind its windbreak of evergreens. She shivered and wrapped her coat tight around her.

Justin chuckled. “Ghastly, isn’t it?”

“I was expecting it to be like the Manse.”

“Joel was lucky with his family home. It has grace and charm. The Cushman mansion is the heaviest of Romanesque style, ugly pink sandstone exterior and depressingly dark inside.”

“You were right. A pink elephant.”

“It’s coming down.” His thunderous voice conveyed how a momentous decision it was for him.

He has struggled with this
. “That sounds like a final decision. Are you comfortable with it?”

He nodded and moved away from her. She watched him pace off fifty feet before he turned back to her. “There’s a beautiful view up here, and Marcus is right.” He came beside her and touched her hair. “What would you think about a home situated on this spot?”

What is he asking?
Was he thinking about them living here together? Marrying and spending the rest of our lives together?
Yes, Justin, yes.
But she took his question at face value for now. She looked out at the lake, deep blue in the afternoon sun. “It’s breathtaking, isn’t it? Now I can really see why they call it a ‘finger lake.’ Even from your place, I hadn’t seen how far to the south it goes.”

“It’s about twenty miles from Tompkins Falls to the south end. Two miles wide at its widest point.”

“Is there a town at the south end?”

“A pretty state park and waterfall, and a seasonal town with shops, ice cream, and a service dock for boats. We’ll go there when the weather improves.”

“You’ll take your camera,” Gianessa guessed.

“How do you know about my photography?”

“I saw the camera hooked up to your laptop. You’ve never shown me your work.”

“I will. It’s just for fun.” He waved toward the pink mansion. “Marcus is giving us the all-clear. We’ll check out the other house site first and then go in by the front door.”

When they reached the old tennis courts, Gianessa asked, “Are you thinking Joel and Manda will build a house here?”

“I like that thought. Both of us, Joel and me, living on the grounds, the old pink elephant cleared away.”

“Which site do you prefer?”

“Up there, near the birches. I always loved that view of the lake.”

“This view is not as striking, but it’s a gentler slope.” Gianessa stood with her hands in her pockets. “I can see Joel and Manda’s children playing on the lawn.”