“Of course not. It’s my pleasure,” Deidre muttered, hurrying to help, her mind spinning. “I think part of the misunderstanding,” she explained as she laid the silverware, “is that I never knew my mother even rode horses until recently.”
Addy did a double take from where she stood at the counter ladling gravy into a bowl.
“You didn’t know Brigit rode? Why wouldn’t Brigit tell you about that?”
Deidre kept her gaze lowered. Thankfully, Nick noticed her discomfort.
“None of Brigit’s children ride,” he said. “The Kavanaugh children’s athletic talents lie in other areas. Deidre, for instance, is an expert diver and water-skier.”
“Well that’s something,” Addy complimented her, even though she still looked puzzled. She walked over to the table and set down a delectable-looking platter of baked chicken surrounded by golden-brown roasted potatoes. She removed the lid of the casserole dish and Deidre inhaled the smell of broccoli and cheese. Her stomach growled despite a topic that disturbed her, for some reason. “You all sit down now and start to dig in.
“Even if you are a swimmer and a diver, that doesn’t mean you aren’t a horsewoman, Deidre,” Addy added a moment later as she set a basket of steaming rolls on the table and sat down.
“I keep telling her that,” Nick said, his gaze on Deidre as he forked a potato onto his plate.
Addy pointed at Nick. “Well if that boy, who knows horses better than Evan and I combined, says you’re a rider, then you’re a rider!” Addy declared, as if there was no point in further discussing the topic. “There’s no way you could look so much like your mama and not be a horsewoman. I still can’t imagine why Brigit never brought you kids to the stables, though. I never thought about it much, but it is very odd, isn’t it?”
Deidre stopped chewing. Nick neatly changed the subject.
* * *
“I’m sorry about Addy’s questions about your mother,” Nick said later as they pulled out of the McGraw Stables in Nick’s car.
“There’s nothing to apologize for. I had a wonderful time. How can you apologize for taking me for a ride in a horse-drawn wagon and then for the best home-cooked meal I’ve had in a long while? Addy could give my mother a run for her money when it comes to cooking,” she said, staring out the window of the sedan into the dark night.
“She’s a bit on the blunt side. I’m sorry if she made you uncomfortable,” he said, giving her a sideways glance.
“It’s okay,” Deidre mumbled. He came to a halt at a four-way intersection. Nick’s was the only vehicle within seeing distance on the desolate country road.
“Is it?”
“Yes. Of course,” Deidre said, laughing. She didn’t want to dwell on her mother when it’d been such a magical day so far. “I have an idea. Do you know what we should do?”
He raised his eyebrows but remained silent. Even though the interior of the car was dim, she noticed the subtle change in his expression. An electric, tingly sensation flickered in her belly. She licked her lower lip anxiously and stared out the front window, her heart starting to throb in her chest.
“Do you want to go Christmas shopping with me? I haven’t gotten my family anything yet.”
He began to drive again. She wondered if she’d disappointed him with her blasé suggestion, given the heat of his stare just then.
“Tell me where to go. I’m at your command,” he said, his light tone reassuring her.
* * *
She had more fun than she thought she would shopping at Harbor Town’s finest establishments—Dora’s Fashion Station; Health and Team Athletics; and, of course, the renowned Shop and Save, where they stocked every item on her nieces’ and nephew’s Christmas lists.
“You’re laughing at my expense,” she admonished Nick later that night as they left Health and Team Athletics. He wasn’t really laughing, only smirking, which Deidre was learning was the equivalent of roaring with mirth when it came to Nick. He only shrugged as he opened the trunk and placed several bags into it.
“That manager and salesman were fawning all over you like you were a movie star returning to her hometown,” he said, referring to two men in the shop who had recognized Deidre. The manager had been a few years older than her, and Chip, the salesman, a few years younger. She hadn’t recognized either man, but they’d known her. Both of them had lit up on seeing her, rushing over to greet her and tell her how much they used to enjoy watching her water-skiing shows years back.
“I had no idea you were so famous,” Nick mused, still wearing that small grin as they drove down Main Street through the light snow.
Deidre wasn’t just embarrassed, her cheeks were hot enough to fry bacon on them. She’d had no idea her summer job during high school and college would be so well remembered in Harbor Town. She’d taken on the lead role in a Mackinaw Island water show purely out of a need for money. After she’d gone to college, she’d refused to take financial assistance from Brigit. She hadn’t done a ski jump or—heaven forbid—been the apex of a skiers’ triangle since she was twenty-one years old.
It embarrassed her to think of Nick considering her as some of the townspeople did—a racy female daredevil in a skimpy bathing suit.
Nick had hired someone to investigate her past, hadn’t he? What sorts of photos had he seen of her, performing at water shows in tiny bikinis? It certainly might have been evidence that added fuel to his doubts about her character. He’d probably thought of her as the equivalent of a showgirl. No wonder he’d been so suspicious of her.
Had John Kellerman, DuBois’s chief legal officer, also seen those photos? Had Lincoln?