Sweet Baklava (12 page)

Nick wanted to remind her that He'd brought the two of them together as well, but after what she'd already said, it might sound like he was pressuring her, so he didn't.

"Have you ever thought about doing wholesale only?"

"No," she said as she slowly shook her head. "I don't ever want to lose touch with the retail customers. I love having people come in to let me know what they're looking for. I've learned that if one person likes something, there are probably hundreds—maybe even thousands—of others who would like the same thing."

"You're a good businesswoman, Paula." He stopped at a light and turned to face her. "I'm proud of you."

Her face turned a flaming shade of red. "Thanks, Nick. I'm proud of you too."

The second he stopped the car in her driveway, she opened the passenger door and stuck one leg out. "I can find my way to the door by myself."

"I know you can, but you didn't even give me a chance to act like a gentleman."

"You don't have to prove anything to me, Nick."

"I know. So what time will you be home tomorrow?"

"Why?" She stood by the door, leaning over so she could see him.

"The mall, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember. I was just testing you to see if you did."

He laughed. "Right. What time?"

"All depends on Alexa. Do you think she'll be free to work tomorrow?"

He pulled out his cell phone. "Give me about three seconds and I'll find out."

Paula sat back down in the car while he called his cousin. Alexa answered right away.

"Of course I'll work for her."

"Your mama doesn't mind if you leave her for a little while?"

She laughed. "She'll be glad to get rid of me. I'm driving her nuts."

Nick winked at Paula and nodded. "Good. Plan to close the shop."

"You and your woman got something planned?"

The expression on Paula's face let him know she'd heard. "Yes, Paula is going to the mall with me to help me pick out some stuff."

"Good, cuz when it comes to stuff, your taste is in your mouth."

Nick laughed. "Thanks, Alexa. Remind me to do you a favor sometime."

"You're welcome."

He clicked his phone off and stuck it back in his pocket. "She'll be there as long as you need her."

"Yes, I heard." She stood back up and waved then closed the car door.

Nick watched as she walked up the front porch and went inside. Once he'd turned the corner, he pulled his phone back out and punched in the number of his buddy back at the base.

"Hey, Nick. What's up?"

"Would you mind checking something for me?"

"Sure. Just a second." Brock covered the mouthpiece and mumbled something Nick couldn't hear. "Okay, so what do you need, buddy?"

"Can you find out the details on getting into base housing?"

"Why? Are you getting married or something?"

"You gonna interrogate me?"

Brock howled. "Is it that girl you used to talk about all the time?"

"Never mind. I should have known better than to ask you."

"Hey, man, don't be so touchy. I'll find out. What all do you want to know?"

They discussed what Nick was asking. After Nick got off the phone, he worked on a plan. There was no doubt in his mind that he and Paula were meant to be together, but now he had to find a way to persuade her. If it took leaving the Air Force before he was ready, so be it. However, with her wholesale business doing so well, she could work it from anywhere.

Now all he had to do was convince her of that.

S
o how was your date last night?" Alexa asked when Paula walked into the shop.

"Good. What are you doing here so early?"

"I wanted to make up for bugging out on you yesterday." Alexa held up a slip of paper. "Good thing I got here early because you got another big wholesale order."

"I never intended to go into the wholesale business, but now that's what's paying the bills." Paula glanced at the order and lifted her eyebrows. "Are you sure you got the numbers right?"
After all, being a night person and getting up this early . . .

Alexa bobbed her head. "Positive. I asked the guy to repeat the numbers, just to make sure."

Paula crunched the numbers in the computer and looked back at Alexa. This order would pick up where the last one left off and leave her in the black for the next six months.

"God is amazing. He's watching us."

"Then let's give Him a good show. I have something you might be interested in." Alexa pulled a small vial from behind the counter and shoved it toward Paula. "Smell this."

Paula stepped toward her, leaned over, and sniffed. "Yum. What is that?"

"It's the special almond extract that Mama gets from Greece. I thought maybe you'd want to consider using it in one of your candles."

Alexa's thoughtfulness touched Paula. "I just might do that."

"You can name it Alexa's Almond Cookies." She replaced the vial. "I'm not saying you have to. It's just a thought."

Paula smiled. "And a wonderful thought at that. Do you think your mother would mind giving me the name of the source?"

"If you use my name, I'm pretty sure she will."

"I don't want to do anything to upset her," Paula said.

"I'll ask. But in the meantime, I need to get this back to the bakery. She doesn't know I took it."

"Why don't you do that now before we get busy?"

Alexa pulled the vial back out and scurried to the door. "Be right back."

By the time Alexa returned, Paula had taken another wholesale order over the phone. She needed to train more people to make candles and soaps or she'd have to put some skids on the orders.

"Alexa, do you know anyone interested in producing some product for us? It needs to be someone with a kitchen big enough to handle a lot of candle and soap molds."

Alexa thought for a moment and nodded. "Some people at the Senior Center were looking for ways to make money, according to my mother's brother, who does some of their maintenance. I can ask them."

"Great idea. They have a big kitchen there too, don't they?"

"Yeah, for all those dinners they have."

"The only thing is I have to know they'd be committed to meeting deadlines."

"I don't think that'll be a problem, but I can ask."

The rest of the day was busy for Paula. Between an increased number of walk-in customers and charting out an action plan to fill all the wholesale orders, she lost track of time. When she glanced up at the clock, she blinked.

"It's closing time already."

"Oh, that's something else I wanted to talk to you about. I think you close your shop too early," Alexa said.

"You do, do you?" Paula planted her fist on her hip and looked at Alexa. "When do you think is a good closing time?"

"An hour later would be good."

"Do I hear any volunteers to work that extra hour?"

Alexa's lips twitched into a closed-mouth smile as she raised her hand. "That would be me."

"So are you proposing working here on a regular basis now?"

"If that's okay with you. I talked to Mama about it last night after she got home from the hospital, and she thought it was an excellent idea."

"Good. You're hired as a permanent employee. You can work afternoons until closing."

"Perfect. I never did like the early morning hours at the bakery, but that's when we did most of the baking."

"Since I'm a morning person, this will be perfect."

"What time do you want me here tomorrow?" Alexa asked as they prepared to leave for the day.

"Since you want to work late, why don't you come in after lunch?"

Alexa lifted her handbag and slung it over her shoulder. "I'll stop off at the Senior Center on my way here and talk to them."

As soon as Alexa left, Paula locked up and went to her car. Nick planned to pick her up as soon as she got home because he needed some help at the mall. She couldn't imagine why. He'd always had impeccable taste in clothes. Much better than hers.

Nick was parked at the curb in front of her house, waiting for her. He got out of his car and joined her on the porch. "Took you long enough to get home."

"Wanna come in?"

"Do you need to go in?"

She thought then shook her head. "Not really."

He gestured toward the car. "Then let's get going."

All the way to the mall, he seemed nervous. Each time he pulled up to a red light or stop sign, he looked at her with the oddest expression—as if puzzled. He was up to something. She would ask, but if he wanted to tell her, he would have already. And she was too tired to try to dig anything out of him.

When they arrived at Countryside Mall, he got out, opened her door, and cleared his throat. She took his hand and noticed that his palm felt damp. This was a first.

They started out in one of the larger department stores, where Nick wanted to look at household items. "I thought you lived in a barracks."

"I do, but that might change someday."

Her suspicion grew even stronger. "This isn't about anything specific, is it?"

"Paula," he began then shook his head. "I feel like such a klutz."

She laughed. "You are hilarious, Nick. And you're all mixed up. You're the graceful athlete. I'm the klutzy nerd."

"Well, if you wanna know the truth, I've always wanted to be the nerd. It seems like a whole lot more fun."

Paula cracked up. "I guess being the town golden boy must present a lot of problems . . . like stress and high expectations. The expectations have to be killer."

He didn't respond, so Paula stopped and tugged at him until he turned to face her.

"What's going on, Nick?"

His shoulders rose and fell as he inhaled a deep breath. He cupped her face in his hands. "Paula, I love you, and I'll do anything to keep from losing you again. I want us to be together forever."

Now she was speechless. When she tried to talk, her voice came out in a squeak.

He smiled. "And that's one of the things I love most about you. You're so confident, controlled, and unpretentious that when you're like this, I know it's not an act." He dropped his hands from her face and rubbed them across his shirt. "I've made you sound like a squeaky toy."

She cleared her throat. "It's not the first time."

"No, but in the eighteen years I've loved you, I can count the number of times on one hand."

"Okay," she said, trying to sound unfazed, "so now what?"

"Wanna go look at rings?"

Paula stared at him, dumbfounded. "What did you say?"

"All I said was—"

"I know what you said."

"Well?" He took both of her hands in his. "Do you?"

Paula allowed the shock to fade a few seconds before shaking her head. "I don't know if that's such a good idea."

"So you're saying you don't love me?"

"I'm not saying that."

The corners of his lips twitched. "I remember back a long time ago when you and I talked about eventually getting married. You didn't seem opposed to the idea then. And we talked about it again yesterday. Have you changed your mind in the last twenty-four hours?"

"C'mon, Nick, a long time has passed since we first talked about getting married, and our conversation last night was hypothetical. We're older now. We have responsibilities."

"Yes, and that's all the more reason for us to make our situation more permanent—either way."

"This isn't an ultimatum, is it?"

Nick hated begging anyone to do anything, and that's exactly what this felt like to him. "No. Where did that come from?"

"The way you worded it . . . when you said either way."

"I didn't mean it like that."

"Why do I feel like we're always arguing now? It didn't used to be that way."

"You're only half right. We never used to argue, and we're not arguing now. I'm just trying to do something I should have done a long time ago."

She pulled her hands out of his. "So you're planning to get out of the Army and stay here?"

He couldn't help but laugh. "How can someone so perfect otherwise keep getting the Army and Air Force mixed up?"

"Just answer me, Nick. Are you getting out of the Air Force or not?"

Nick tightened his lips and slowly shook his head. "It's not that easy. I have to wait until it's time for reenlistment, and I can make a decision then."

"Okay, then, let's get this straight. You want to give me a ring before you go back, which has us in a long-distance relationship until you decide you're ready?"

That did sound pretty bad. "Now that you put it that way, I guess I can't ask you to do that."

"Oh, you can certainly ask, but I'd be a fool to go along with it."

"And you're certainly not a fool. If anything, I am for even considering getting engaged."

"No, Nick, you're not a fool." She reached up and placed her palm on his cheek. "You're a very sweet, romantic man who stole the heart of the nerdiest girl west of Tampa."

Nick laughed in spite of the ache in his chest. "A romantic man who loves the sweetest, prettiest girl in the entire universe. I guess I am a fool for that, huh?"

"No, not at all." She blinked then glanced around. "In case you haven't noticed, we've attracted a bit of attention."

He looked over his shoulder in time to see a couple quickly glance away. "Ask me if I care."

"Can we go someplace else and discuss this?"

"You want to talk about it some more?" A sliver of hope rose in his heart.

"Maybe that was a bad idea."

"No, it's a great idea." He pointed toward a bench about forty feet away. "How about we talk over there?"

"Um . . . Nick, do you realize that's right in front of a jewelry store?"

"So? If I can talk you into marrying me, we won't have to go far."

She gave him a gentle shove. "No wonder you get your way so much. You don't give up, do you?"

"Hey, watch it. I'm fragile."

"Right." She rolled her eyes but accepted his hand when he reached for hers.

They sat on the bench and watched a group of pierced, tattooed teenagers stroll by. One of the girls did a double-take and smiled at Nick. He recognized her—she was the daughter of one of his father's employees.

"Hi, Carmen," he said.

"Hi, Mr. Papadopoulos." Her hard-edged look softened. "I didn't know you were back."

"I'm just here on vacation. It's good to see you."

"C'mon, Carmen," one of the boys said. "Jimbo's mother's picking us up by Dillard's, and we're already late."

Carmen waved then turned back to her friends. Nick thought he heard some swear words, but he didn't want to assume anything. "I wonder if we ever came across like that."

"Nope." Paula shook her head. "You were the Tarpon Springs Sponger hero, and I was the scrawny little groupie running after you."

Nick cracked up. "I don't think so."

"Okay, so now where were we?"

"We were talking about getting engaged and riding off into the sunset."

"All the way to the . . . Air Force base, right?"

He grinned. "Yep. What's wrong with that?"

"You're stubborn as a mule, Nick. You already know how I feel about stability. It's the most important thing to me."

Even more important than him obviously. If he could, he'd turn in his resignation right then just to be with Paula. "You know, being married to me has some stability . . . at least it does in my book."

Paula nodded. "Good point."

"Tarpon Springs will always be home, no matter where we are."

"I wonder if part of what you're feeling is the absence-makes-the-heart-grow-fonder thing."

"Run that one by me again?"

"You know," she said. "I'm not there, so you think about how things used to be, and you fantasize about how we could go back to that and—"

"Whoa, wait a minute. I don't do that."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. What I feel is very real. It's just that in the past the timing never seemed right. I thought maybe . . . well, perhaps . . ." He blew out a breath of exasperation. "Never mind. It was a bad idea, anyway." He stood and pulled her up. "Ready to go home?"

"Sure." She gave him a little resistance when he started walking toward the mall exit. "Since we're here, let's go take a look at those rings. Just for grins, okay?"

Nick could be with Paula for the rest of his life and still never figure her out. So he decided not to even try. "Fine."

"That one's pretty," she said, pointing to a small solitaire.

"You don't think it's too plain?" He thought about his mother's ring with the ornate scrollwork and diamond chips flanking the monster-size diamond in the middle. "How about that one over there?"

She lifted her eyebrows and made a funny face. "Not in this lifetime." She held out her hands. "Can you picture that honker on these stubby fingers? Whoo boy, that won't work for me."