Scandal by Patsy Brookshire Page A

him
when I stopped in to see Kit."
    "Sam! If Annie wants to see him you don't need to be saying stuff."
    I knew my face was warming up. The memory of our hour set me into motion. I started
taking dishes into the kitchen. With my back to them I could talk.
    "His name is Len." All I could think was, just pass this off like it's nothing . "He's
coming for dinner this week." Sam already knew that so it was better to get it out before he put his
spin on it. Bad enough to have the family discussing my potential love life. "We were an item, once,
but now we're just old friends."
    I rinsed the bowls before putting them in the dishwasher. Boy, I bet Sam's other mom,
Amy, would have liked this feature. To change subject I said to Connor, "Say, don't you have a
board for Chinese Checkers around here somewhere? I think I won the last time we all played. Bet I
can still beat you."
    That did the trick. Dave cleared the table, Connor found the board, and Teri pulled the old
box of marbles out from where she'd kept them hidden from Connor and his friends when they
were little and where it was still her secret.
    The games came out even. We all won one, Connor two. We ended the evening with
everybody happy. As I undressed for bed that night, I realized I'd decided. Len was back in my life
for some reason. It was time I let loose of the chains I'd wrapped so tight around my heart, time to
take a chance with feelings. I could always put my guard back up if it didn't work. The decision,
along with the joy of family, led to an easy sleep.
    I enjoyed my solitary ride back to the valley, though I dreaded returning to the heat. I used
the time to think about the changes in my life over the last two weeks.
    Quilting?
    A romance?
    Sam and Magda?
    The Willamina show?
    My life had been slow before the fair. Since the Bug Disaster it felt out of control.
    At home I emptied my back pack, shook the sand from the shell, and set it on the
windowsill in the kitchen.

Chapter 17
I Make a Move
    Tuesday morning: I sat at my kitchen table, with early dawn outlining the bushes beyond
the window. The sun was just coming up. I watched it through the trees, backlighting the far side of
the river. The wind was gentle but with enough lift to raise branches of the maples. The early light
cast shadows on the buttercup yellow of the kitchen wall. I thought about Len. I'd promised him
dinner, and something more. The thought of more made me sit straighter in my chair.
    The routine of making coffee soothed me. From the shelf above the sink I pulled down my
favorite cookbook, a church cookbook. Some pages were spotty with grease. The book opened
automatically to those recipes. Coffee ready I filled a mug, took it and the book to the table. The
shadows had moved higher on the wall and continued to be tossed about.
    I wanted to make something simple that I could pull from the oven, that would fill the
house with good cooking smells. Not fish. Some onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, maybe a beet for
more color. I had enough of the root veggies from my garden. A sponge cake with raspberry sauce I
made from my patch. I looked at the photos of a lovely pot roast, thought about stuffed zucchini,
and decided on simple. Steak. Baked potatoes. Asparagus. He would bring the drinks.
    I rummaged in the bread bin, pulled out the leftover top and bottom heels of a loaf I bought
last week before I took Sam home. I made toast, took it and peanut butter to the table.
    Why Len, now? Was I looking forward to reuniting with a lost love?
    Len had never been a true love to me, he had been more of a fascination. His moves had
charmed me, but Aunt Sophie had thought he was dangerous. She had told me the story of her love
affair to warn me of the dangers of fascination.
    Perhaps fascination is just lust dressed up.
    I finished up breakfast with a banana, cleaned up the crumbs from my peanut butter and
toast, gulped the last of my coffee. I had shopping to do. And a phone call to make.

Chapter 18
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