Caught in the Current (Pacific Shores Book 2) (15 page)

Justus jogged after it.

Oh boy, she was a mess. Her bottle of Chloroquine was next. Hand sanitizer. Lotion. Tylenol. Small hairbrush. Compact. And then triumph! She pulled the huge wad of keys from a very bottom corner where they’d lodged under a couple bottles of fingernail polish. “Found them!” She held the set aloft.

One of his eyebrows quirked up. “You were having trouble finding those?”

Her face heated again. “Yes. I have a lot of junk in here.”

He held out the receipt and eyed the assortment of things on the hood. “I can see that.”

Hurriedly, she stuffed everything back into the depths of her purse and clicked the unlock button on the fob.

He beat her to the door and pulled it open for her. When was the last time a guy had held a door for her? Much less went out of his way to open one? “Thank you,” she said as she sank into her seat and swept her skirt in after her.

He dipped his head. “It’s the least I could do.” He bent down and made sure he had eye contact before adding, “Especially since you called me calendar worthy.”

She gasped and felt flames wicking up her cheeks.

He gave her a quick wink, tapped the roof a couple of times, and then pushed her door shut. As it clicked into place, it blocked out the sound of his soft chuckles.

Chapter 12

Nerves had Marie’s hands trembling as she smoothed the fabric of her sapphire-blue sheath sundress for the umpteenth time. She angled this way and that in front of the mirror. Was it too much? He’d said Fisherman’s Wharf, which was one of the nicest restaurants in town. She rolled her eyes at herself and turned away from the mirror, grabbing up her dangly cubic zirconium earrings. “Alyssa! Are you ready? We need to leave in just a couple minutes.”

The bell rang at that precise moment.

She closed her eyes and inhaled slowly. Was she really going through with this? Was it selfishness on her part? Pressing a hand to her stomach, she hurried toward the door. The answers to those questions were yes and yes. But, so help her, she hadn’t been able to bring herself to reverse her answer once she’d given it. And maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as she feared. Maybe Reece was right. She believed the Truths Reece had read to her from the Bible that said she was a new creation. She just didn’t have much faith in the kindness of other Christians to accept them.

She breezed past Alyssa in the living room and snapped her fingers. “Alyssa. TV off, sweetie. And grab your jacket.”

She swung the door open.

Reece wore a dark brown suit with a forest-green necktie nestled against a lighter green shirt. The combo made his eyes even more vivid and attractive.

She swallowed.

His gaze waltzed over her, and a sparkle lit his features. “You look amazing.”

“Thanks. You too.” She cleared her throat and glanced over her shoulder. Alyssa still hadn’t moved. “Come in. I just need to grab Alyssa. Taysia is going to meet us in the parking lot at Fisherman’s Wharf to pick her up. I hope that’s okay?”

“Of course.”

She felt the soothing comfort of his presence at her back as she stepped over and turned off the TV.

“Mom! I’m watching that!”

Marie’s eyebrows jumped up. “And I told you to turn it off and get your jacket. You get to go to Uncle Kylen and Aunt Taysia’s tonight.”

“I don’t want to go!”

Teeth pressed together, Marie tossed Reece an apologetic look and moved to pull Alyssa’s jacket from one of the pegs by the door. “I’m sorry. You don’t have a choice tonight. I told you that.”

“Mom!” Alyssa kicked out her feet and flopped back on the couch, stiff as a driftwood log.

Marie pinched the bridge of her nose. Alyssa had been grumpy and contentious since Marie had told her Dan wouldn’t be coming back to see them anymore. She’d made sure to point out it was an issue between Dan and her and not any issue he had with Alyssa, but still the battles had raged all week.

Any moment the stiff-as-a-board pose was going to morph into all-out kicking and screaming. Marie blinked hard. This was not the way she’d wanted to start her evening, nor the way she wanted Taysia and Kylen to have to spend theirs.

Reece stood quietly by the door, hands clasped behind his back in that casual pose of his, watching her, a soft expression on his face.

“I’m sorry,” she mouthed.

He shook his head in a don’t-worry-about-it manner and then pointed from himself to Alyssa with a raised brow. Asking her permission to step in.

Relief coursed through her and took some of the stiffness from her spine. She was most definitely willing to let someone else try to deal with the stubbornness of her tyke. Heaven knew nothing she’d tried all week had made any difference.

Reece strode over to the couch and stood over Alyssa with his arms folded. He gave her a stern look. “I believe your mother asked you to do something. Get up and go get your coat on. Now.”

Alyssa looked shocked. She sat up, her little feet dangling over the edge of the couch. Then she bit her lip, a touch of embarrassment pinking her cheeks. But after only a moment, her little chin lifted and she fisted her hands. She assessed Reece as though sizing up just what consequences she might face if she rejected his order. “I. Don’t. Want. To.” Challenge glittered in her brown eyes.

Reece turned a questioning look on Marie. And she could tell he was asking if she was okay if he took it a step further.

She gave him a nod and a what-else-can-we-do sweep of her hands.

Quick as a blink, Reece picked Alyssa up, set her on her feet, and squatted down to look directly into her face. “When you are told to do something, you do it, young lady. Get your coat on. I’m watching you on Monday, and there will be no TV when you’re at my house that day because you didn’t listen to your mom right away.”

Alyssa’s mouth fell open and big tears filled her eyes, but to Marie’s surprise, she turned and buried her face against Reece’s neck, blubbering into his shoulder.

Giving Marie a sardonic smile, Reece scooped Alyssa into his arms. “I’m sorry I’ll have to do that. But it’s important for you to learn to obey. Otherwise one day when your mom asks you to do something, if you don’t do it right away, you could get hurt.” He rubbed Alyssa’s back and cupped the back of her dark little head, then winked at Marie over her shoulder.

“I’m sorry!” Alyssa sniffled into his shoulder. “Can I watch TV at your house, please?”

Reece wore such a look of compassion Marie felt tears prick her eyes. “Not on Monday, I’m sorry. But next time I hope that will be a reminder to you to listen.”

“I will!” Alyssa wailed.

“That’s my girl.” Reece set her on her feet and squatted before her. Carefully he wiped away her tears, then chucked her under her chin. “Let’s get your coat on, huh?”

Alyssa nodded and moved immediately to do so.

Marie held her pink Cinderella coat open and swung it around Alyssa’s shoulders when she slipped her chubby arms into the sleeves.

Coat on, Alyssa turned and flung her arms around Marie’s neck. “I’m sorry, Mama.”

Marie closed her eyes and pressed a kiss to one soft cheek. “Thank you, baby. I love you. Let’s go meet Taysia, shall we?”

“Yes!” Alyssa was back to her bouncy, boisterous personality in the blink of an eye, and she bounded out the door ahead of them.

Marie reached out and squeezed Reece’s hand when she passed him as he held the door for her. “Thanks for stepping in. She’s been a bit of a bear for the past few days.”

Reece’s cheeks puffed out, and he leaned forward to whisper. “Let’s just hope I can resist those big brown eyes when they beg me for a movie on Monday. This is going to be one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”

Marie chuckled and gave him a wink. “I totally know the feeling. One look from her and I’m a saucer of melted butter. Which is probably why things have gotten as bad as they did this week.”

“Well, next time hopefully she’ll remember the lesson.”

Marie nodded. But what her mind fixated on was the fact that he planned to be around for a while.

Taysia was waiting for them in the Fisherman’s Wharf parking lot and hustled Alyssa into her car with the promise of the latest Disney princess movie from Redbox.

Alyssa leapt for joy and clambered into the backseat to secure her seat belt around her booster. Taysia waggled her fingers and her eyebrows at Marie when Reece wasn’t looking.

Marie wrinkled her nose and made a face, only to glance over and discover Reece’s attention had returned to her and a huge grin had sprung up like a crooked sign.

She felt the heat that crashed over her.

His grin softened to a smile of appreciation. He leaned close. “I’ll have to make it a point to catch you doing things that embarrass you more often.”

The heat burned hotter. “Why?”

One callused finger skimmed over the curve of her cheek. “Because this pink is absolutely enchanting.”

The breeze picked up and whipped a strand of hair across her eyes. She glanced down, feeling the joy of being with this man puddle just under her heart. Her gaze couldn’t stray from his for long. She sought him once more. “Being around you could be really good for a girl’s ego. I better keep you close.”

His eyebrows pumped twice, and he bent forward to whisper in her ear. “If that’s all it takes, I promise to tell you how beautiful you are every day for the rest of your life.”

With that he placed a hand to the small of her back and ushered her into the glass foyer of Fisherman’s Wharf.

The maître d’ led them to a table in a curtained alcove on the deck, and Reece held her chair while she sat. He slipped his hat off and hung it on the back of his chair.

The sun hung low on the horizon, splashing bright slashes of crimson across the smooth, rippling, inky surface of the Pacific. The breeze touched the torches at each corner of the deck and toyed with the orange flames. Marie watched the smoke dissipate into the gray-blue sky, feeling Reece studying her. She allowed her attention to fall on the man across the table, still hardly able to believe she was here across from him. She reassessed her decision to agree to this and found she was thankful for the curtained alcove, and it wasn’t for the intimacy their little enclave afforded them, but because it was less likely Reece would be seen with her. They could leave with his reputation still intact. A little stone of dread nestled deep inside her. Was this the way it would always be for her? Always wondering how his association with her might hurt him?

She forced her mind from the dark worries and sipped her ice water. “Thank you for bringing me here. It’s beautiful.”

He tipped a nod but assessed her thoughtfully. “Something is bothering you; what is it?”

She brushed away his question and flipped open her menu. “I’m fine. What are you ordering?”

She was thankful to see Reece slowly reach for his menu. At least he’d decided to drop the probing. He probably wouldn’t like the direction her thoughts had wandered.

The numbers on the menu came into focus, and her eyebrows rose. She’d known from hearsay and from what she’d seen of the restaurant so far that this place was nice, but not how nice, apparently.

“Order anything you like.”

He seemed attuned to her every thought. She swallowed and forced herself to skim the menu. She was going to quit worrying over every little thing and try to just enjoy this evening.

When the server returned and set a small loaf of sourdough bread with a portion cup of butter in the middle of the table, Marie’s stomach rumbled in anticipation. Reece ordered a New York strip steak, medium well, a baked potato, and a Caesar salad. Marie chose the herb-roasted salmon with mashed potatoes and selected the salmon chowder soup for her first course. She closed her menu and refused to think about the fact that their meal tonight would have cost her a week of painting for Mr. Meyer, if she were responsible for paying.

Reece made small talk about his week as he sliced the bread and handed her a piece. She smoothed a little of the butter on the warm, soft interior, and her interest perked when he mentioned Dakota meeting his friend Justus.

Reece chuckled. “The tension was so thick we could almost have made a curtain out of it. And by the way, Dakota told me she wasn’t interested in me, just so you know. But not before I told her I was interested in you.” He watched her, apparently wanting to ascertain her reaction.

Marie wondered if Dakota had stated her lack of interest just to make him feel better after his declaration. Guilt once again reared its head.

Reece bit off a chunk and tipped her a look. “She wasn’t just saying that because I told her I was interested in you.”

Marie pressed her lips together and allowed herself to really look deep into his eyes for the first time that evening. How was it he could read her so well?

He dusted his fingers and swept his attention over the horizon. “So tell me what you’ve been up to for the past four years?”

Marie drew patterns in the moisture droplets on her water glass. “At work Taysia has trained me to teach several of the classes now. I really love that. Especially after…Alyssa. I don’t know what I would have done without Taysia and the ladies at Mom’s Gym during that whole time. God really used all of that in bringing me to Him.” She shrugged. “Other than work, I’m just a mom.”

The corner of his mouth twitched. “I don’t think anyone is just a mom. And you’ve done an amazing job with Alyssa.”

“Thank you. And what about you? Did you enjoy your time at Deschutes Rejuvenation?”

He nodded. “Very rewarding. Very draining. Very thrilling. And very discouraging. There were a lot of peaks and valleys to working there. I worry about my friend Justus because he puts everything into those boys, and I’m afraid he needs a break and isn’t seeing it. I was really glad to see him even taking a couple weeks off. Surprised, really. Been praying for him a lot, lately.”

That statement filled her with warmth. She loved how he cared for those around him. “And your dad? How is he?”

A weariness settled over his features, and she was sorry she’d brought it up. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No. No. He’s just…not doing so well. But we’re thankful for every extra day we have.”