Page 45 of Afternoon Delight

Meg

Zak was not my boyfriend, but he was a good friend. He came over Saturday evening to help me set up the garage sale. He brought Dale, who settled into a visit with Mom on the back patio, since the weather had turned really nice.

Roddie was in the shower, and Shelby had left Friday.

She had a long drive and was picking up Weston along the way.

She and Roddie had made a ton of progress this week.

They had turned the divestiture of junk into a game with intricate rules and scoring values based on the speed of removal, the weight and volume of whatever was removed, and whether it resulted in a sale or a disposal cost.

Mom trounced them both when the guy who bought Dad’s Corvette came to pick it up. He had hurried over, worried she would change her mind or, now that she had made up her mind, that she’d be so impatient to get rid of it she’d sell it to someone else.

She had taken us all to dinner on Thursday to see Pretty Please because Shelby hadn’t seen the show. It was even more fun the second time, thanks to a catastrophic wardrobe malfunction that stopped the performance.

While the dancers crowded around their colleague, one joked, “Is there a doctor in the house?”

Mom popped out of her seat and said, “I’m a doctor’s wife. I can sew.”

That put the whole place into hysterics.

Negasi waved her forward. “Yes, Vickie. Come help suture this up.”

Mom disappeared backstage, and the show went on. She returned twenty minutes later, wonder in her eyes. “You should see the racks of costumes. It’s like the Oscars.”

After that, she was determined to offer her notions and craft supplies to the cast of Pretty Please, but she also agreed to let me hold this garage sale to unload extra dishes, old curtain rods, night tables, an unused area rug, a pair of lamps, the filing cabinet Shelby had emptied, and various other dribs and drabs.

“Thanks for helping,” I said to Zak as he affixed bits of masking tape to everything and wrote fire-sale prices on them. “It’s really nice of you.”

“You think I’m being nice? No. I’ll be here bright and early with my sister’s monsters. I’m on uncle duty all day tomorrow.”

“Oh.” I bit back my smirk, recalling the deal Zak had struck with Kyle last weekend when we’d met at the Dogwood. “With your dad, too? That’s a lot.” Oliver seemed like a handful all by himself.

“Dad’s going to a respite group at one of the care homes we’re considering.”

“Oh.” I sobered and stopped picking at the roll of tape for the end. “How do you feel about that?”

“I don’t know. It seems like a nice enough place, but...” He shrugged, expression guarded. “We’ll see how it goes.”

“I completely forgot that you were taking the kids or I would have scheduled this differently so I could help you with them.” Sunday was my only real day off, and I had wanted to keep things moving, now that Mom was on board.

“We’ll be fine.” He shrugged again, this time more easily. “We’ll swing by here so they can buy something from your box of knickknacks, then we’re going to the trampoline park, the arcade, and the bug zoo. They each got to pick one.”

“You’re a glutton for punishment, aren’t you?”

“I’ve taken the older two before. They’re pretty low-maintenance. I’ve never been out with Ollie, though. He’s mostly potty trained, or so my sister claims.” He frowned at my picking fingers. “Did you seriously lose the end again ? Stick to your skill set.” He came to take the roll of tape.

“You say that like you know what my skill set is.”

“I do, actually.” He sent me a heated look as the tape gave a satisfying rasp.

“Dirty talk.” He held my gaze as he bit off a chunk.

“Spirit of adventure. Ability to give clear direction.” He was looking at me the way he had when he lifted a hand outside Room Seven and watched me drive away. Sexy. Pleased.

“What about the consummate way I jump double Dutch?” I asked, referring to the swing.

“See, it’s not the store. You make everything sound filthy.” He smoothed the tape across the back of my hand, then pulled the fine-tipped marker from behind his ear. He wrote Priceless on it.

“I feel like you’re being sarcastic.”

“I’m not.” He crowded closer, head dipping. His hand splayed against my waist, inviting me to press up against him.

Damn, he felt good.

I slid my arms around his neck and offered my mouth for the kiss we both wanted.

It was lazy and thorough, sending swirls of arousal through me.

My ears were open to Roddie or Mom or Dale coming into the garage, but no one interrupted us.

We kissed until we were breathless, then drew apart, looking at each other with amusement and hunger—and the memory of last weekend in our eyes.

With want for another hour of privacy and debauchery.

“I should get Dad home for his game shows,” Zak said reluctantly.

I nodded, wistful. I wanted more time with him. A lot more time.

Perhaps he felt the same. He left soon after, but turned up at nine a.m. on the dot the next morning, along with all the early birds swooping in for first crack at our sale items.

I hadn’t met his niece, Jade, yet. She was five and I could tell right away she was the little mom of the group. She kept Ollie’s attention as she showed him all the toys in the box while Roddie tried to sell Lance his PS3. Lance was only curious because it was older than he was.

“Might as well take it to the antique shop,” Roddie said in a disgusted aside to Zak.

“Kids these days,” Zak commiserated.

“Right? My sister and I were really excited to get the Three for Christmas, even though we had asked for the Four. Grandma got this one because it was on sale.”

“That must’ve stung.” Zak’s show of empathy was deeply facetious. I expected an Oh, muffin to follow.

“We bought the Four with our Christmas money and left this one here.” Roddie shrugged off the disappointment. “This one still works. Shelby and I tried it while she was here.”

I didn’t hear any more because I was allowing myself to be fleeced on the table lamps by throwing in the area rug. When I turned around again, Zak had struck a deal with Roddie to spend the day with him and the kids.

“Do you mind, Mom? You and Grandma don’t need me, do you?”

“Poacher,” I huffed at Zak.

“He offered,” Zak defended. “I’ll bring dinner when we come back.”

“Fine.” I wasn’t really mad. More like jealous. I asked Roddie, “Do you need money?”

“I got it,” Zak assured me. Then he handed over a fistful of fives for the things the kids had picked out. “See you later.”

“’Kay.” I shoved the bills into the fanny pack I was wearing and lifted my head just in time for Zak to drop a kiss on my mouth.

He did it so absently that we both froze in surprise. So did Mom, Roddie, and even Lance. Everyone stared.

“Um...” Zak pushed his mouth to the side in a rueful wince.

“Go,” I urged him, catching his arm and steering him toward the minivan he was driving.

Mom contained herself until they were gone and the rush had died down. Then she pulled her lawn chair even with mine on the driveway.

“What…?”

“I promise I won’t get pregnant this time.”

“But what is your plan?”

“We don’t have a plan, Mom. We’re friends who kiss sometimes. I swear, the minute it’s more than that”—I know. It was already more than that—“you’ll be the first to know.”

Thankfully, a woman walking her dog stopped to browse. Mom got up to answer her question about whether the bread machine still worked. She showed her that the recipe book and parts were all there.

We had a few more small rushes before Mom went into the house to make us a couple of sandwiches. That’s when Negasi pulled up on the street.

“Hi!” I turned from the table of books. They’d been browsed to death but hadn’t diminished at all. “Mom told me you were coming to look at her craft supplies. Did you get my email?”

I’d put together a package with a rough business plan that Negasi could plug budget figures into to get an idea of the costs he faced, then added a list of grants and other types of funding beyond simply going to the bank.

“I did, and I want to talk more about it, but today...” Negasi opened his passenger door and waved like he was presenting a game show prize.

“Georgia!” I grinned and hurried forward, arriving in time to take Georgia’s other hand as she reached out for assistance. “I was going to come see you later,” I reminded her.

“I know, but—” Her grip was strong. I think she needed the leverage because the car was low, not because she was too weak from her recovery. She stood and looked around. “It feels good to see someone else’s front yard for a change.”

“You look great,” I told her.

She gave me a snerk of skepticism, but she really did look a million times better. She wore baggy sweats and a hoodie with a scarf over her hair, but she was out of pajamas, and her eyes were bright, not glassy with pain or medication.

“You should have told me you were going stir crazy. I would have come to get you.”

“It was an impulse. I was texting with Negasi. He said he was coming to see Vickie. I was kind of joking when I said I wanted to come, but...” She looked to Negasi.

“She said you can drive her home?” he asked me.

“For sure. Mom’s making lunch. I’ll tell her to add a couple of sandwiches.”

“Not for me, thanks,” Negasi said. “I’m meeting a friend of a friend who owns a men’s clothing store. I’m gonna pick his brain about the costs of bringing in unfinished suits from Asia.”

“What I’m hearing is you’re too busy hooking up to take me home,” Georgia said with mock annoyance.

“You heard me right, then.”

We all chuckled.

“Help me to that chair first,” Georgia said, taking both our arms. “I know I can walk it alone, but I swear, if I trip on a crack and break my back...”

We paced slowly beside her until she was safely settled in the lawn chair.

Mom came out then with two plates and a wide smile of surprise.

“Georgia! It’s good to see you!” She stooped to kiss her cheek, then insisted Georgia take her sandwich. “I’ll make more while I’m inside with Negasi.”

“Let me know if you need help carrying anything to the car,” I said before sitting down next to Georgia. “You really do look so much better.”

“I feel better. I’m barely taking any painkillers, and the physio feels good instead of, you know, like it’ll kill me. Why is your mom leaving crusts on my sandwich like she doesn’t even know me?” She frowned at the plate in her lap.

We snickered and ate, faces turned up to the spring sun.

“I thought I’d see your boy. Is he not here?”

“Which boy?” I said with a significant blink of my lashes.

“What do you mean by that? You got a fuck boi? Zak?”

“Maybe.” I gave her some smug side-eye, then wrinkled my nose with indecision. “I don’t know what he is, but he kissed me in front of Mom this morning before he took Roddie to help babysit his niece and nephews.”

“Oh. He’s acting like he’s your boy .”

“Yeah, a little.” I set my elbow on the arm of my chair and cupped my chin, cycling through all of Zak’s most appealing qualities. He called me priceless. He showed up to help without being asked. He took kids to fun places and offered to bring dinner.

Good grief, my bar was low if he was clearing it that easily.

“I really like him, but Mom’s finally looking ready to make a shift. You’re getting better, so you’ll be back at the shop soon. That means I have to make some of my own decisions. I just don’t know what the right decision is.”

“Good God, woman. Just pick something. If you don’t like it, choose something else later. I love your commitment, Meg, I really do. But you don’t have to devote the rest of your life to one thing. Especially not one guy. It’s okay to keep it casual and see what happens.”

“You’re not wrong, but changing my mind later feels like I made a mistake in the first place. I prefer to know I’m right from the jump.”

“And where would you get that from?” she teased.

As if on cue, Mom came outside with Negasi, each carrying a tub of craft supplies.

“I knew your theater friends would be able to use these,” Mom was saying.

Georgia and I exchanged a look of laughter, then I left my plate on my chair and helped bring out the rest of the things Negasi was taking.