Did he have extra toothbrushes in the house because he invited a lot of women to spend the night or simply because he liked to be prepared? In none of the letters or text messages they’d exchanged had he ever mentioned a girlfriend, and she only remembered him once saying something about going on a blind date set up by a friend.
“You don’t have kitchen chairs to sit on but you’ve got extra toothbrushes hanging around?”
“It’s all about what’s essential.” He took a gulp from his coffee before setting it back down. “Instead of subjecting you to my cooking, I thought we could pick something up on the way. There’s a nice café in town. It makes great breakfast sandwiches and muffins.”
When Brett backed out of the driveway twenty minutes later, the dancing baby pink and blue balloons attached to his neighbors’ mailbox immediately caught her attention. Usually there was only one reason people had those color balloons outside their home.
“Looks like your neighbors had twins,” she said, pointing toward the house next door.
“I saw Jessie in the driveway earlier this week. She looked miserable and about ready to pop.”
At one time, she’d thought having twins would be great. Then her sister had Bella and she saw how much work just one baby could be. She couldn’t imagine having two infants at the same time. “Do they have any other children?” If Brett’s neighbors had more, she hoped they were at least school aged.
He put the SUV, one of the essentials the movers had delivered the previous week, in drive and drove down the street. “Yeah, a little girl. No idea how old she is. I’ve only met her once, but she seemed like a nice kid. They’ve got a dog too.”
After a quick stop at Peggy Sue’s Café, a cute little place on what seemed to be the main street in and out of town, they got on the highway. When she’d made the trip up this way last night, traffic had been on the heavy side as people headed north for the weekend. This morning though they cruised along without any backups and made what the GPS said should be an hour and thirty-minute drive in about an hour and fifteen minutes.
She waved back at Marie, her next-door neighbor, as she and Brett walked toward her front door. Recently retired, Marie and her husband had raised their family in the house next door and she loved to work in her yard. More times than not, Jen found her, and often her husband, doing some type of yard project. If she were outside when they were, she’d usually chat. This morning she’d prefer to skip a conversation, because although very nice, Marie tended to be a little long-winded and sometimes nosy.
“Make yourself at home. I’m going to take a quick shower.” She’d considered taking one at Brett’s after brushing her teeth, but it had seemed silly to do so and then put back on the same underw
ear she’d worn all day yesterday.
“Take your time. No need to rush.”
In her room, Jen sent off a quick text message letting her sister know she’d be over soon to pick up Bo and kicked her shoes off at the same time. She didn’t wait around for a response. Instead she tossed the cell phone on her bed and headed for the bathroom. Brett may not care how long she took, but she hated to keep anyone waiting.
The opening theme song to a movie greeted her when she walked into her bedroom a few minutes later. She’d told Brett to make himself at home; if he’d turned on the television downstairs, he’d obviously done just that. Jen searched through her drawer for a top. A town block party sounded pretty casual; still, she didn’t want to look like a complete slob. She skipped over several shirts before settling on the new red off-the-shoulder blouse she’d picked up during her last trip to the mall. It’d be cool enough for a warm summer night outside but not as casual as a plain old T-shirt. “Now for tomorrow,” she said, digging her duffle bag out of her closet. She didn’t travel much, and the bag was buried under a pile of shoes and a bag of clothes she kept meaning to donate.
The cell phone on her nightstand beeped as she dropped the duffle bag on her bed. Jen picked it up and walked back to the chest of drawers for clothes.
Get here whenever. Bella is playing fetch with Bo in the yard. Can’t wait to hear about last night.
Any discussion about last night would have to wait until another time. They couldn’t discuss her date with Brett standing next to them. Jen grabbed a pair of shorts from a drawer.
Dan’s parents and Mom and Dad are coming over. We’re going to have a cookout. You’re welcome too. A second message from Kristen appeared before Jen answered the first.
Normally she’d accept such an invitation. This morning she typed back a simple thank you. She and Brett had a limited amount of time together. She loved her family, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to include them into their weekend plans. That was of course assuming Brett would be open to meeting Mom and Dad today. Men could be weird about that kind of thing. Some saw it as a big step toward the whole ball and chain and avoided it at all costs. She didn’t want to do anything this weekend that would make him uncomfortable or cause him to think she expected a diamond ring.
“All set.” Jen walked into the living room and found Brett with his cell phone pressed against his ear and the movie paused.
“I’ll have to get back to you,” he said before ending the call.
“Did something come up?” she asked. Their plans to spend the night together had been last-minute, and he was in the middle of running for Senate. She’d be disappointed but would understand if unexpected campaign stuff cut into their time today.
He switched off the television as he stood. “No, it was just my uncle. My cousin Allison and her boyfriend got engaged last night. Uncle Mark and his wife are throwing them a little engagement party before Allison and Rock go back to Virginia. He called to invite me.” Brett shoved the cell phone into a pocket.
Oh well, sounded like their weekend plans were about to change. She knew family was as important to him as it was to her. He wouldn’t want to skip an engagement party for his cousin regardless of how short notice it had been.
“I’m sure you’ll have fun.” Should she pick Bo up and bring him back here before she went back to Brett’s and got her car? Or should she go get her car and grab Bo on her way home? Bo had been with her sister since last night; it would be more considerate if she went and picked him up first and brought him home before making the round-trip to North Salem and back.
“Do you mind if we pick up Bo and bring him back here before we go back to your house so I can get my car?”
“You changed your mind about staying with me tonight?” He rounded the sofa and came to stand near her.
Jen shook her head. “No, but I thought you’d want to see your family.”
“The party’s tomorrow afternoon. And if you can reschedule with your washing machine again, I’d like you to come.”