“It’s just most of the time it is foremost on my mind. That night was the first time it got away from me.” He held her eyes as he said it.
“Yeah, it was intense. Sorry.” She turned away from him, her eyes on the floor again.
Her apology made him laugh out loud, then suppress it as the boy moved in his arms at the sudden sound. “You’re apologizing for the best sex of my life.”
At his words, she blushed. She was actually blushing for him. If he didn’t already have a little boy in his arms, he would have pulled her into them.
“Can we not talk about that here?” She raised her arms to the church ceiling.
“Okay. How often do you crash parties to sing?” he asked and was rewarded by another blush.
“I don’t crash parties. I am always invited. I follow the band around, and they let me play when they are on break. Just a few songs. I get to go about once a month. I can’t leave John Henry with Grandma all the time. I might have to quit going if I keep going to book club. It’s getting too much for my grandparents to watch him all the time.” She just looked at the little guy in his arms.
“You’re always saying that, that you feel you’re relying on them too much for help. I bet they love watching him.” His own parents loved every moment they were with their grandkids.
“Oh, they love him. But he gets busy, and they sometime lose him in the house. He likes to hide from them.”
“Maybe you could just bring him to book club.”
“No, I’m the only one who has kids. I don’t want to be that person who always brings her kids to stuff. And we talk about killers, not appropriate.”
“I have your shoes,” he said.
She looked down at the sandals she was wearing and wiggled her toes. “I think they’re comfortable. Do you like them?”
Again, he let out a loud laugh and had to resettle the boy on his chest. “No, I don’t have your shoes. I have the boots you left at the party.”
“Oh, it seemed odd that you would have women’s sandals, but I didn’t want to judge.” She flashed him a dimple, and his heart almost melted on the spot.
“They’re in my office.”
“Did you grab my underwear?” she asked so innocently.
“No, did you leave them also?” He wanted to laugh at her expression and regretted that he hadn’t noticed them that night. Because he would have grabbed them also. But he might not be as quick to return them.
“I did, and I liked that pair, too.”
“Do you like your hair like this better or all spiky?” He ran his hand over John Henry’s.
“It more fun when it’s spiky, as you call it. Makes me seem more fun. Flat is easier to do on a day-to-day basis.” She touched her hair as she said it.
“Would you ever make it spiky and sing to me again? It’s a real turn-on,” he whispered the last sentence.
“No, preacher man, you are not to be turned on.” She tipped her head back as she laughed at her joke. “Did you think that Natalie would bolt?” she asked when she stopped laughing.
“I had my suspicions that she wasn’t as happy as she had thought she would be,” he admitted.
“Yes, she was in love with the idea of getting married and then being able to leave here. But really, she loves it here. She always has,” Hazel said.
“She spent a lot of time at the rehearsal dinner wanting to be with the book club and not her closest friends.”
“I can see that. We’re fun.” She flashed the dimple his way.
“Why weren’t you there last night?” He wanted to know. Not just because Natalie had talked to him. He had wondered even before that.
“I had to choose between the wedding and the rehearsal dinner. Grandma didn’t want to watch him for both. In the end, she didn’t want to watch him today either, so he came with me. Sometimes I have to be a mom, even when I don’t want to be.” Her smile contained no dimple, no joy.
“I want to take you out on a date sometime. I want to get to know you better, Hazel May.” At that point, her son lifted his head from his chest, looked him right in the eyes, and panicked.