14 Valentine Place (18 page)

Maddie exhaled a gust of air that ruffled her bangs. “I told you. He wanted to play a game of chess.”

She chuckled. “I don’t think the game he’s interested in is chess. The game of love, maybe?”

This time Maddie was the one who chuckled, but without humor. “I’m not sure he and I have the same rule book when it comes to that one. In fact, I’m positive we don’t.”

“He’s definitely not the kind of guy looking to
make friends with a woman before he gets romantically involved with her.”

“If that’s a dig at Jeffrey…” she began.

“Just the truth, Maddie, dear,” Krystal said placatingly, draping an arm across her forehead so that the sleeve of her robe covered her eyes.

“I’m comfortable with my relationship with Jeffrey.”

“Maybe that’s the problem.”

“I didn’t say there was a problem.”

She lifted her arm to stare at Maddie. “You’re attracted to Dylan. Isn’t that a problem?”

“Not if I don’t act on that attraction.”

“Why wouldn’t you?”

“Because Dylan’s like a hummingbird. He goes from flower to flower, always in search of something sweeter.”

“Uh-huh. That’s the attraction. He’s a real bad boy.”

“Exactly. The kind of man I avoid.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t avoid this one. You know what Mae West said—a woman has to love a bad man once or twice in her life to be thankful for a good one.”

“I don’t think I need that particular life lesson, thank you.”

“Looks to me as if you may be too late to stop it.” She pushed herself up from the love seat and headed toward the door. “I feel lousy. As fascinating as this conversation is, I’d better go back to bed. I hope I can get up for dinner. It could be very interesting.”

Not if Maddie had anything to say about it. As soon
as Krystal had gone, she reached for the phone and dialed Jeffrey’s number.

“Have you been out? How are the roads? They’re not too bad? Great. I’m coming over to make you dinner.”

D
YLAN SPENT MOST
of the afternoon in his mother’s office, going over an estimate of materials needed for a future project. But he found it difficult to concentrate. His thoughts were on Maddie and how sweet she’d tasted. Just thinking about her made his body ache with longing.

Despite her protests to the contrary, she’d wanted him to kiss her. When it was over, she’d told him that she wasn’t looking for
that
kind of excitement.

He smiled. It definitely had been exciting. There was no denying the chemistry between the two of them. He didn’t know what kind of a relationship she had with Jeffrey, but Dylan would bet that the English professor didn’t leave her breathless the way his kisses had.

He, on the other hand, had a pretty good idea how to win her heart. For that was exactly the part of her he needed to reach. He needed to convince her that there was more to a relationship than being comfortable.

He closed the file on the concrete estimates and reached for the yellow pages. He found the listing he wanted, then picked up the phone and dialed the number.

“Are you open? You are, but you’re not making deliveries? No problem. I can walk.” He grabbed his
coat, pulled on his work boots and went out into the cold.

Besides plowing the driveway, Shane had shoveled the walk in front of the house, as had the rest of the neighbors. Getting to the floral shop was easier than Dylan had expected it to be. Picking out the right flowers for Maddie, however, was much more difficult.

He decided on a colorful mixture that included exotic-looking tiger lilies and traditional carnations. He smiled to himself as he watched the florist put together purples, oranges, reds and yellows in a combination that reminded him of Maddie—vibrant and exciting. He wondered what she would say when he gave them to her.

He never found out. When he got back to the house, he discovered a note on the kitchen table. It read, “Dylan, I’m having dinner at Jeffrey’s. The casserole Jennifer prepared is heating in the oven. All you have to do is take it out when the timer rings. If you need help, Jason told me he’ll be home for dinner.”

Dylan crumpled the note and tossed it in the waste-basket. He was tempted to do the same with the flowers, but then he realized that just because he couldn’t hand the flowers to Maddie personally, it didn’t mean he couldn’t give them to her.

He climbed the stairs to the second floor and set the box outside her closed door. He was about to leave when he heard a voice.

“If those are what I think they are, they should probably be in water.”

He turned to see Krystal standing in the doorway of her room. She had on a bright pink robe that covered
her from head to toe and a pair of pink slippers that had bunny heads on their toes.

“Your mom has several vases. Want me to find one for you?” she offered.

“Are you up to it? Maddie said you weren’t feeling well.”

She dragged a hand over her hair. “It’s the flu. I suppose I look like a wreck,” she said on a nervous giggle.

“Not to me you don’t. You look like someone who’s kind enough to offer to help a person in a similar predicament.” He motioned to his injured shoulder. “I’m not full speed, either.” He gave her a smile of understanding.

She came toward him. “Then maybe we can help each other.” She swung the sash on her robe as she stood before him, as if it were a lariat. “Here’s the deal. You help me downstairs, and I’ll find that vase and put those flowers in water for you. I can also put them in Maddie’s room.” She smiled slyly. “I have a key.”

He returned the smile. “You have a deal.” He scooped up the flowers, then allowed her to loop her right arm through his left one before escorting her downstairs and into the kitchen, where he sat at the table while she tended to the flowers.

“It’s too bad Maddie’s not here to see how beautiful these are,” she said as she snipped stems and placed them in a crystal vase filled with water. She sniffed a purple hyacinth appreciatively. “They smell good, too.”

“You know Maddie pretty well?”

“Well enough to know when she’s running away from something.”

“And what would she be running away from?”

She gave him a coy look. “As if you don’t know.”

Dylan smiled knowingly, then sobered. “Unfortunately, the last thing I wanted to do was to send her running to the poet.”

“You mean Mr. I’ll-give-you-all-the-space-you-need,” she said in a disapproving tone.

“You don’t like him?” he asked, wondering if he’d found an ally.

“Jeffrey? He’s nice enough, but somebody should light a match under the man.”

So he’d been right in his initial assessment of Maddie’s boyfriend—Jeffrey might know poetry, but he didn’t understand women. “He shouldn’t need a match. He’s got Maddie.”

“Exactly my point,” Krystal said, jabbing at the air with the stem of a carnation. “You know, as lovely as these flowers are, I’m afraid they might make her run even faster.”

“Then I guess it’s a good thing I’ve got long legs. I don’t do too badly when it comes to racing,” he told her with a smug grin.

“I bet you don’t.”

“Anybody home?” a man’s voice called out just moments before Garret stepped into the kitchen.

“It’s a good thing you’re here,” Dylan said as his brother looked at Krystal and then at him as if sizing up the situation. “Krystal’s not feeling well.”

“It’s just the flu,” she answered, then jabbed a fin
ger in Dylan’s direction. “He’s the one who needs the attention.”

“Not true,” Dylan interjected.

“I tend to agree with you, but I wouldn’t want to face Mom if I didn’t make sure everything’s okay,” Garret said, his eyes on Krystal. “Are you sure it’s just the flu?”

Dylan could see that Shane was right. Garret may have wanted everyone to think he’d come over to check up on him, but the truth was he’d wanted to see Krystal.

She nodded. “A couple of people at work had it earlier this week. Maddie gave me some over-the-counter tablets this morning that seem to have helped.”

Garret walked over to the sink, where she stood arranging the flowers. “Sometimes over-the-counter works just as well as anything I could prescribe. Are you feverish?”

“I don’t think so.”

He pressed the back of his fingers to her cheek. “You’re warm. You shouldn’t be out of bed.”

“I know, but I hate staying in bed on a day off. I’m going crazy cooped up in my room.”

“I know the feeling,” Dylan piped up.

“And I’m hungry,” she added.

“You’re welcome to have some of my dinner,” Dylan spoke up. “Jennifer sent over a hot dish. It’s in the oven.”

She smiled gratefully. “Thanks, but I think maybe I should just go back to bed. You don’t need my germs around while you eat.”

Garret continued to stare at her. “I can bring your dinner upstairs to you.”

“I can’t let you do that,” Krystal told him, oblivious to the signals Garret was sending her. “You put in all those long hours in at the hospital. You don’t need to wait on me during what little time off you have.”

“We could get Jason to take a tray up to her,” Dylan suggested, which had his brother shooting a nasty glance his way. “I’d offer, but as you can see—” he gestured to his sling “—I’m short one hand.”

“Please. I don’t need anyone waiting on me,” Krystal insisted then promptly sneezed. “Oh! Excuse me.”

“You really should be in bed,” Garret repeated.

“All right, but first I have to finish arranging these lovely flowers. It would be a shame to see them wilt after Dylan walked through all that snow for them.” She put the final stem in the vase, then wiped off the bottom with a paper towel. Then she looked at Dylan and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll put them in a place where they’re sure to be noticed.”

She padded out of the room, carrying the vase.

As soon as she was gone, Garret confronted him. “You didn’t waste any time, did you?”

Dylan straightened in his chair. “What are you talking about?”

“Hitting on Krystal.”

He patted the chair next to him. “Quit looking like a bull ready to charge a red flag and sit down. I’m not hitting on Krystal.”

“I suppose the flowers were to cheer her up because she’s not feeling well,” he said on a sneer.

“The flowers weren’t for her. I bought them for Maddie, only she’s gone, so Krystal offered to put them in water,” Dylan explained.

If he’d expected Garret to be appeased, he was wrong. “Maddie? Why are you giving her flowers?” he asked, his eyes narrowing to even tinier slits.

“Maybe because she’s been nursing me for the past two days,” he answered, not wanting to admit the true reason. If he did, he knew Garret would have reminded him of Jeffrey’s existence. He didn’t need the reminder. “They’re simply a thank-you.”

His words didn’t chase the suspicion from Garret’s face, but his brother did sit down at the table. “Where is Maddie anyway?”

“Over at her boyfriend’s.”

That finally seemed to placate Garret.

“You want to stay for dinner?” he offered. “There’s more than enough.”

Garret shrugged. “Sure. You could probably use an extra pair of hands.”

“And you can make sure that Krystal gets dinner in her room,” Dylan said with a sly smile.

He tried to look innocent but failed. “I can take a tray to her.”

“You’ll make the sacrifice, eh?” Dylan said dryly. “Hey—what’s with this, little brother? I’ve been home almost a week and I need Shane to tell me that you’ve had your eye on her? Why didn’t you just say something that day we had lunch at the hospital?”

“Because I haven’t got a snowball’s chance in hell
of getting her to look twice at me. Do you know what kind of guys she dates? Those guys who spend more time at the gym than they do at work and have arms the size of my head. She’s not interested in a tired and wimpy resident whose idea of a good time is eight hours of sleep.”

“You’re not wimpy,” Dylan argued. It was true that of the four brothers, Garret had the slightest build, but he was in no way a weakling.

“You, Jason and Shane all have Dad’s physique. I had to take after Mom’s side,” he said on a note of disgust.

“Yeah, the ones with all the brains,” Dylan reminded him. “None of Dad’s relatives are doctors. And what makes you think Krystal doesn’t value brains over brawn?”

He gave him a look that said,
Are you kidding?
“Have you talked to her at all?”

“No, but maybe you should. If you want her, go after her,” Dylan urged him. “If you want some advice, I’d be happy to—”

He cut him off. “Just forget it. I don’t need my big brother helping me get a woman.”

Just then the timer rang. “That’s dinner.” Dylan raised his arm in the sling. “I’m at your mercy.”

That brought a smile to his brother’s face. “If you think you are now, wait until I help you with your exercises.”

Dylan liked the easy camaraderie that followed. It reminded him of what life had been like when they’d been kids and on kitchen duty together. Jason didn’t come home for dinner, but he did return about the
same time that Shane stopped over. When it looked as if Jason was about to bolt rather than listen to his brothers try to convince him to stay in school, Dylan suggested the four of them play cards.

To his surprise, they all agreed to a friendly game of poker. One of the ground rules was that there be no discussion of any issues that might cause a difference of opinion. It was the first time Dylan had had a chance to enjoy the company of his brothers as adults, and he found he liked the experience.

By the time Shane and Garret left, it was after midnight and Maddie still wasn’t home. Dylan sat up watching music videos with Jason, waiting to hear the sound of her pickup in the alley.

When his youngest brother went to bed and she still wasn’t home, he accepted that she was spending the night with Jeffrey. As he lay awake on his makeshift bed, he chastised himself. What had he thought? That just because they were friends and they had a nonserious, companionable relationship that she didn’t share a bed with him?

The truth was he’d hoped that was the case. He punched his pillow and tried not to think about her with another man.

Moments later, he heard a key in the lock, followed by a door opening and closing. Then footsteps on the stairs. So she hadn’t spent the night with Jeffrey after all. A smile spread across his face and he closed his eyes.