Out of Her League (23 page)

“
So much for every dream I
’
ve ever had,
”
Joe muttered as he pulled into the parking lot of Oak Grove
’
s only grocery store.

The one thing he
’d discovered joy in was cook
ing. Go figure. Someone had to do it
, and the shop
ping, and the cleaning. He could hire a housekeeper, but why, when he really didn
’t mind the work? Be
sides, he didn
’
t want anyone hovering about and in
terfering with the small amount of time he did get with Toni.

That she seemed to enjoy what he prepared and was proud that he wasn
’
t all thumbs in the kitchen made Joe continue to hone his newly discovered homemaking skills. In fact, whenever Toni caught him at something domestic, she smiled as though he was doing something clever and cute. He lived for those smiles.

Joe especially liked the grocery store. All that stuff to pick fro
m, so many choices, so many pos
sibilities. He puttered through the place at least twice a week.

“
Hey, Joe!
”
called the produce manager.
“
Need anything special today?
”

“
Got any portobello mushrooms, Frank?
”

“
You Italians, you always want the best for the sauce, eh?
”

“
Only the best makes the best,
” Joe agreed ami
ably. Frank had become the closest thing Joe had to a friend around here. The others all seemed to have their circle of friends from childhood and no one seemed eager to add
Joe to the mix. Probably be
cause they figured he
’
d be gone soon enough. He doubted his reputation helped, either.

Joe contempl
ated the mushrooms, then the to
matoes. He had his hands full of zucchini, when someone smashed into his cart.

“
Oops, sorry. Oh, Joe.
”

He looked up to find Evie staring at him in shock. He smiled, truly pleased to see her, which was a bad thing, he knew, but right now he felt so lonely that he needed one little ray of sunshine—even if it was the forbidden woman of his dreams.

“
You shop?
”
she asked, her face and voice filled with amazement.

“
Sure. I find it...
”
He searched for
a word to describe his enjoyment of the process.

“
Irritating? Ho
rrifying? Time-consuming? Point
less?
”

It was Joe
’
s turn to look amazed.
“
I was going to say soothing. Enjoyable. A barrel of fun.
”

“
Ha! You
’
re joking right?
”

“
No. I
really
like it.
”

“
What is there to like? You spend a ton of money, then you come home and everyone says,
‘
There
’
s no food around here.
’
Or,
‘
You bought the wrong thing.
’
Or they complain there
’
s not enough of one thing, or n
ot the right things to make any
thing. Then in less than a week you have to do it all over again. I loathe grocery shopping. I never figured you
’
d be doing it.
”

“
If not me, then who?
”

She frowned.
“
Don
’
t you eat out a lot?
”

He could tell by her expression that she recalled the last time they
’
d seen each other when not at a ball game. Bertolusi
’
s. The scene of his first, but not his last, disastrous date. Since he didn
’t want to dis
cuss that, Joe ignored the implication.

“
Eating out all the time wouldn
’
t be good for Toni, even though she eats at your house more than mine.
”

“
The more the merrier. Toni helps me out.
”

“
She does?
”

“
Sure. The twins love her. She keeps them out of my hair. And Adam
’
s.
”

“
I
’
m glad you
’
re enjoying her.
”
Joe immediately wished he could take back the comment; he sounded cranky. But what was said was said. He shrugged and placed the zucchini he most admired in his cart.

Evie tilted her head.
“
I suppose you
’
d like her back once in a while. I apologize for monopolizing her. She
’
s a great kid.
”

“
So you don
’
t want to keep her away from your baby boy anymore?
”

“
I doubt anything I say or do would change that. They seem pretty stuck on each other.
”
She looked about as happy about it as Joe was.
“
Right now, I prefer the devil I know over the devil I don
’t. Be
sides, if they
’
re in my living room, I can keep tabs on where they are and what they
’
re up to.
”

“
Devious.
”

“
A mother
’
s middle name.
”

They smiled at each other—companionably, like friends. Joe enjoyed it.

Evie glanced into his cart and her face reflected confusion.
“
You cook?
”

“
Once again, someone has to.
”

“
I figured you for a TV dinner kind of guy.
”
She held up her hand.
“
I know—not good for Toni. But where did you learn to cook?
”

“
From a book.
”

“
You can do that?
”

“
What? Read?
”

There must have been enough lingering anger in his voice to reach
her, because she appeared embar
rassed.
“
I didn
’
t mean that.
”

“
I know. It
’
s just...
”

“
Everyone thinks you
’
re stupid because you
’
re a football player?
”
He nodded.
“
Frustrating, isn
’
t it?
”

“
What would you know about it?
”

“
Just because I
’
m a girl, everyone wants to put me in a slot I don
’
t want to be in.
”

“
Like?
”

“
Teach home ec rather than phys ed. Or coach the girls
’
softball team, not the boys
’
baseball team. What
’
s the difference?
”

“
Girls aren
’
t boys.
”

“
Really? I wish I
’
d known that before I raised three sons.
”

“
Touché,
”
Joe said.

“
Joe Scalotta speaks French? Stop the presses.
”

“
Please, don
’
t. I
’
v
e had enough press for one life
time.
”

“
Me, too.
”
She indicated with a toss of her head that they should continue on.
“
If I have one more microphone shoved in my face, I
’
m going to scream into it.
”

Joe smiled at the image as he grabbed a loaf of Italian bread. Evie grabbed three loaves of generic wheat bread.

“
Our teams are tied,
”
he observed.

She shot him a glance.
“
So I hear,
”
she said dryly.

Not surprisingly, that was all anyone talked about—at the drugstore, in the barbershop, on the news. He wished someone would grow a duck-shaped potato or something and get him off the lead at nine.

“
Mrs. Larson looks ten years younger,
”
Evie went on.
“
This is a coup such as she never dreamed of. I played right into her hands, losing my temper like that and making the bet.
”

“
So did I. They weren
’
t going to go for it until I opened my big mouth.
”

“
So back out.
”

“
I thought you didn
’
t want me to
‘
give
’
you the job?
”

“
Quitting isn
’
t the same as giving.
”

“
I can
’
t quit.
”

“
Sure you can.
”

He sighed.
“
Not anymore. My boss at OGCC thinks all this publicity will be good for the school. I didn
’
t know it when I came here, but if I can
’
t turn the football program around, there won
’
t be one. I want that job. I trained for it. I
’
ve wanted to be a teacher and a coach since I was a kid.
”

“
Me, too.
”

Joe glanced at Evie. She stared at him with a se
rious, contemplative expression on her face—almost as if she
’
d never seen him before this moment.

“
I
’
ll be good at that job,
”
he told her.

She nodded.
“
And I
’
ll be a good varsity coach. Much better than you.
”

Her attitude made Joe
’
s teeth grind. He didn
’
t want her job. But the way she kept on insisting he couldn
’
t handle it made him see red.
“
Do you really think it
’
s in your children
’
s best interests for you to take another job?
”

She had been holding a can of ravioli. When she threw it into the cart with more speed tha
n neces
sary, he flinched.
“
It
’
s none of your business what
’
s in my children
’
s best interests,
Wildman
.
”

With that she pushed her cart down the aisle as if she were driving a bumper car and disappeared around the corner. A smash and a curse had him shaking his head.

Temper, temper. She certainly had one. Why did he suddenly find that so appealing?

Evie
drove
directly
from the grocery store to the house, and while Adam and the twins dragged the bags inside, Evie and Toni threw the perishables into the fridge and freezer, then left the canned goods on the counter to be attended to later.

She only lost one gallon of milk when Benji and Danny decided to make an assembly line and toss things from one to the other between the car and the kitchen door. It was absolutely amazing how far a gallon of milk coul
d splatter when it hit the pave
ment. NASA shou
ld do a study on the physics in
volved.