NOT What I Was Expecting (5 page)

I knew I had the
right to be here.  I had a library card.  My problem was that I knew the real
reason I was here, and it made me feel about 14 years old and very jumpy.  I
looked at CeCe to see if she was feeling it too.  She flashed me an excited
conspiratorial smile.  When she gets that look on her face things never go
well.  This was a big mistake.  My head said get out before you humiliate
yourself — again.  My heart said just one little peek-a-loo won’t hurt.  To be
completely honest, it could be another part of my anatomy that wanted to get a
peek, but that’s too embarrassing to contemplate, so I’ll go with heart.

CeCe grabbed me by
the arm and dragged me into nonfiction.  “Okay,” she said in an excited whisper. 
“The addition is on the second floor, so we have to figure out how to get up
there.”

“No, we do not,” I
whispered back.  “I thought you just wanted to take a little look, not run into
him.  No, no.  Too obvious.  I’ll feel like an obvious idiot if he sees me here,
so you have to get on with it and then we can get out of here.  And by the way,
you’re enjoying this way too much.”

“Of course,” CeCe
whispered.  “This is just like when we were kids, and I wanted to get a look at
Mike Mendelson.  Remember?  So fun.”

“That’s the
problem CeCe.  We were kids, and now we’re adults and should be ashamed to do
this.  How pathetic does this make me?” I whisper whined.

“Oh, lighten up,” CeCe
insisted.  “It’ll be fun and besides, I can’t wait to get a look at the guy
that flipped your switch with one bump.  No offense Maggie, but you can be a
hard case.  You’re so picky you won’t give really great guys a shot with you. 
Remember that well-off, good-looking dentist?  You wouldn’t even give him a
chance.”  CeCe gave me the hands-on-hips, you-know-it’s-true look.

“It was nothing
personal,” I explained patiently.  “He smelled like a dentist’s office.  Yuck. 
Brings up bad memories.”

“You’ve never even
had a cavity,” CeCe pointed out eyeing me through slits.

“That’s not the
point.  Smelling him every day would make me think of hearing that drill in the
next room.  Not my idea of a good time,” I said as I tried to keep my lip from
curling at the thought.

 “So what did Luke
smell like?”  CeCe asked smiling and moving close, like we weren’t already
whispering.

“He smelled like,
uh,” I struggled with finding words to describe it.  How do you describe a
smell you can’t remember, when everything you can remember about the experience
leaves you feeling the warm and fuzzies (which is no small compliment when the
experience left you deposited on your derriere).  That’s not a smell.  “— like
something that I can’t describe, because I don’t know what it smelled like, but
it was really good.”

I could see the
wheels turning in CeCe’s brain as she tried to get what I was telling her.  Long
pause.  “That helps me not at all,” she said finally as she gave up.

“I know.  I’m
sorry, but I don’t know how to describe it.”  Reliving that encounter had me
back on board with trying to take a small innocent little look at him from a
distance.  No big deal.  “Okay.  Let’s do this,” I said.

CeCe made the
motion of clapping her hands together real fast, although they never touched. 
“I’ll do some recon,” she whispered conspiratorially.  “I’ll just casually walk
over to the children’s section under the balcony.  That’ll give me half the
length of the library to spot anything interesting up there.  Wish me luck.” 
She zoomed out of the aisle before I could say anything.

“Do not stare,” I
whispered loudly after her, although I knew it would do no good.  I watched her
as she strolled so slowly and casually towards the children’s books that
anybody could see she was casing the place.  Unfortunately, there was also the
fact that checking out the balcony meant looking up while you’re walking.

“CeCe!  Look out!”
I whisper shouted, but she was too far away to hear.

Wham!  She slammed
into a tall metal garbage can.  They both toppled over onto the floor.  For a
minute it looked as if they were wrestling with each other, but since the trash
can wouldn’t fight back, I suspected CeCe would win – eventually.  Thank
goodness she wore her navy pants today.  A skirt would have been much worse,
and I should know.  CeCe finally struggled to her feet and gave the garbage
receptacle a light kick.  She glanced back at me and gave me a small nod, as if
to say things were well in hand.

Oh, yeah.  I could
see that.

There were a few
snickers from people nearby, but thankfully the commotion was not enough to
draw anyone’s attention from the second floor balcony.  The casual stroll was
taking forever, but finally CeCe made it to the children’s section under the
balcony.  She immediately flattened herself against the wall, put her hand to
her chest, and flashed me a
Whew, I made it!
smile.

I smiled back. 
You gotta love her.

CeCe suddenly started
making all these wild motions with her hands.  She was pointing and waving as
she mouthed something.  What IS she trying to say?  He must be up there, or
what’s up with all the wild motions?  But what IS she saying?  I couldn’t stand
it.  I had to know.  So I decided to just take my own little casual stroll and
ask.

I checked out the
balcony.  All clear.  I was going in.  My stroll was swifter but every bit as
casual as CeCe’s.  I was doing good.  Definitely pulling off inconspicuous. 
Cool as a cucumber.  About halfway to CeCe I glanced back up at the balcony,
and there was Luke standing at the rail, staring right at me.  All my casual
immediately left me, and I turned into super dork.  I froze to the spot and
just stared at him.  I hoped my mouth wasn’t open, but I honestly couldn’t tell
you.

My brain was
supposed to be working on the calm, cool, casual image I wanted to project, but
instead it was thinking that he had changed his clothes.  Now he was wearing
jeans and a green t-shirt that said
Smile, trees love you
.  Where does
he shop?  Because his shirt is incredibly flattering, my brain continued as it
disobeyed me.  I can never find anything that fits me that nicely.  Wow, he
must work out or something.  His navy shirt this morning didn’t really do
justice to his muscles, but they’re kind of hard to miss in that t-shirt. 
Which reminds me, maybe I should join a gym.  He’s in really good shape.  I
mean, that is an awesome flat stomach.  Of course if I joined a gym my stomach
could be flat like that.  Yeah, that’s all I was really thinking when I looked
at him.  I needed to get an exercise program and build a little muscle.  Probably
not as much as him because he has LOTS of muscle.  LOTS.

As he leaned over
the rail, he waved and smiled. I should have lost the deer-in-the-headlights
look I knew I was sporting. I should have fluttered my fingers and grinned back
at him, but hormones are powerful things.  Who was I, Superwoman?  I sensed
that if I looked up
swoon-worthy
in the dictionary, I’d see his picture
smiling back at me.  I just stood there and stared until he motioned something
to me.  It appeared to be “wait there, while I come down.”

He turned and
walked away from the railing toward the stairs.  My hormone induced paralysis
quickly turned to panic.  Oh no, oh no, oh no!  Just please don’t humiliate yourself,
Maggie.  Take a deep breath, turn on the charm, and use your words.  You can do
it.  Whatever you do, don’t pee yourself or drool.   Fortunately, that little
pep talk went on inside my head and didn’t leak out of my mouth.

Before I knew it,
he was standing right in front of me.  I didn’t know how he could smile as if
he were glad to see me after the lovely impression I’d made earlier.  It must
be my imagination.

“Hi,” he greeted
me warmly.

Well, some people
can say ‘Hi’ more warmly that others, so I’m going to take his ‘Hi’ any way I
want.

“Funny running
into you again today.  Well, not literally this time,” Luke said with a quick
little, quiet laugh.  “Are you feeling okay?  I didn’t hurt you this morning,
did I?”

“Oh, no,” I
assured him.  “I’m tougher than I look.”  I managed to flash a smile, since I
was pretty proud of myself for using my words.  So far, so good.

“Well, that’s a
good thing,” he said sweetly.  “So what are you looking for?” 

“Nobody!” I
answered too quickly.  Then I remembered the cover story CeCe and I had dreamed
up just in case.  “I mean, we sell pregnancy books at the shop, so we’re here
scouting out new possibilities to add to our list.”

“Oh, that’s
right.  Fry told me he works for you and CeCe at the Big and Blessed Maternity
Shop.  You’re very successful business women, the way he tells it,” Luke smiled
as he remembered. 

Fry’s getting a big
fat raise for that one.  I opened my mouth to say something, but then I made
the mistake of looking him right in the eye.  Those brown eyes.  His warm,
sparkling pools of rich chocolate.  Holy crap!  I quickly looked away. 

What was wrong
with me?  I know I was going to say something.  What was it?  When I looked
back, careful to avoid the chocolate pools – I mean eye area – he had his arms
folded, and he looked deep in thought as he stood there staring at me.

“What?” I asked.

“Huh?  Oh, sorry,
I was just thinking,” he said softly, because we were in a library, you know. 
“The pretty girls in high school don’t always become beautiful women, but I’d
say you were very successful in that area, also.”  He was still smiling
sweetly, and it certainly was getting awfully warm in here.

No!  Don’t sweat,
Maggie!  I hoped my warning to myself would put my brain on notice, but mostly
it just made me feel a little weird to be threatening myself.  He was standing
about two feet away from me, but I could swear I felt the heat coming off his
skin.  I doubt that’s even possible.  Maybe it was coming from me?  I wonder if
he can feel heat coming from me.  I took a step back just in case.  It’s bad
enough to come off as a goober.  A goober in heat would be unbearable.  I very
calmly announced, “Life seems to have treated you well, also.”

“Thanks,” he
responded a little shyly.

Come on, Maggie!  I
forced myself to breathe deeply and focus on the conversation.  “Fry said you
were in charge of the expansion here,” I commented casually.  “How’s it
going?”  His face darkened a little at that.

“Well,” he said,
“it’s going behind schedule, is how it’s going.  I hired a guy that I knew
really needed the money instead of the most qualified.  I figured I could take
up his slack.  Hopefully, I won’t end up regretting that decision.  Well, let
me rephrase that.  I hope the library won’t end up regretting my decision.  I’m
not sorry for helping someone who really needed the job, though.  You know how
it is.  Nature takes it course and pow.  Baby on the way.  Babies are damn
expensive.”

“Hey, you should
send his wife over to the shop.  We can work her a deal,” I said.

“Oh, that’s nice
of you, thanks,” Luke nodded.  “I’ll do that.”

“It’s no problem,”
I assured him and tried to match his smile, but avoided looking directly into
the chocolate pools where his eyes should be, which were making me crave a
Hershey bar real bad.

At that moment, I
saw CeCe sidling up behind him, obviously trying to sniff his shoulder.  When
she was inches away, Luke sensed something over his shoulder and turned to
look.  CeCe looked like she got caught with her hand in the cookie jar, and
Luke just looked confused.

“Luke, this is my
cousin CeCe.  She’s the one I own the shop with.  CeCe, this is Fry’s friend,
Luke,” I explained as I introduced them.

“Oh, sure,” he
said as light dawned.  “I recognize you now.  Sorry, but high school was a long
time ago.  It’s nice to see you again CeCe.”

CeCe smiled and
chirped, “You know it.”

Why did she have
to use her super-cool line?  Anything but the super-cool line.  This would be a
good time to exit.

“Well, we should
be going,” I began the wrap up. “We’ve still got an errand to run for our
mothers, and we’ve got to get back to the shop to relieve Fry.”

“Yeah,” agreed
CeCe.  “We need to go by the sheriff’s station and get some advice from Deputy
Ben on starting a neighborhood watch.  He is an expert in that area, you
know.”  CeCe nodded her head slowly up and down like we should be impressed.  After
a couple of beats, Luke and I realized what was expected.

He started the “ahs”
and other impressed comments, while I nodded in agreement.

Luke started to
back up, looked at me, and said, “See you around, I hope,” and then to CeCe,
“See ya, CeCe.”

“Bye,” we said in
stereo.  We turned and walked toward the door.  My legs did
not
feel
normal.  I hoped it looked like I was walking normally, because I just couldn’t
seem to get a smooth stride going.  What’s with that?  Nobody has ever hit me
this hard, not even in high school when you’re supposed to be all emotional,
vulnerable, overreacting and stuff.  It was starting to make me a little
nervous.  I needed to sit down.

On the short drive
from the library to the police station, CeCe primped feverishly.  “You know,” she
said excitedly, “that girl at the makeup counter was right.  If I put this
gloss on over this red lipstick, my lips look much fuller.  Don’t you think?”

I turned to check
it out.  They looked fuller, yes.  They were also so wet it looked as if she’d
been drooling all over herself, and it was about to drip on her chin.

How could I put
this nicely?  “Yuck,” I said.  “Too goopy-gloppy.”

“Really?” cried
CeCe, all shrill and panicky.  “Oh, no.  Get it off!  Get if off!”

“Relax.  There’s
time to redo before we get to the station,” I, the voice of reason, said
calmly.

“Slow down,” CeCe
begged.