Page 8 of Keep My Heart (The Haydon Falls #1)

Lyndsay

‘Who’d she end up marrying?’ Nick asks as we watch Diane drive away. ‘Someone we went to school with?’

‘No, she met Tom in college. He’s from Illinois.’

‘Should we go in?’ Nick asks, nodding toward the house.

I turn to him. ‘Are you sure this is okay? I feel like I’m crashing your dinner party.’

‘You’re not crashing it. I invited you, or actually Matt did. He wants you to meet his family.’

So it’s Matt who wanted me here? Not Nick? I knew he wasn’t interested in me. Why did I let my mind even go there?

‘Hey, you made it!’ Matt says as Nick and I go into the house. Matt’s one of those guys who’s always laughing and smiling and making you feel welcome. He gives me a hug. ‘Drinks are out back, but first I want you to meet Tessa, my wife.’

I follow Matt to the kitchen, with Nick trailing behind. Now that I know he has no interest in me, I feel more relaxed.

‘Babe, this is Lyndsay.’ Matt leads me over to a tiny blonde woman who’s standing at the counter, mixing a bowl of potato salad.

‘It’s nice to meet you,’ she says, smiling at me as she wipes her hands on a dish towel. ‘I’m glad you could join us for dinner. I’ve got beer and wine set up out back, or if you want something else, just let me know.’

‘I’ll have a glass of wine,’ I say, thinking it’ll help me relax even more. But just one glass. I don’t want wine making me do something stupid with Nick, which is possible since I tend to lose my inhibitions when I’m tipsy.

‘Follow me,’ Nick says, going to a door at the far end of the kitchen.

I head over there, looking back at Matt and Tessa.

‘I’ll be out there in a minute,’ Matt says, giving me a wave as Nick and I go out back.

‘Red or white?’ Nick asks, stopping in front of a metal bar cart stocked with beer and wine.

‘White,’ I tell him. ‘But I can get it.’

‘I’ve got it,’ he says, taking the bottle from the bucket of ice and pouring the wine into a glass.

He changed out of his suit into light-colored shorts and a fitted black t-shirt.

My gaze goes to his muscular arms and shoulders.

I still can’t believe how much his body has changed since high school.

‘Lyndsay?’

I force my eyes off his muscles and notice him holding the wine glass in front of me.

‘Thanks,’ I say, taking it from him.

‘You’re welcome.’ He picks up a bottle of beer and takes a swig. ‘So what changed your mind?’

‘About what?’

‘Coming here. I thought you’d already made plans. ’

‘Diane had something come up with the kids so we decided to do dinner another night.’

He smiles. ‘I’m glad it worked out. It’ll be good to catch up.’

‘Yeah,’ I say, feeling nervous again. He’s so damn handsome, and he smells amazing. I take a big gulp of my wine, hoping it’ll calm my nerves.

‘So how long are you here for?’

‘I’m flying back a week from Sunday. Chris is supposed to be out of the apartment by then. I assume you heard about the divorce.’ I chew on my lip, wishing I hadn’t brought it up. I’m supposed to be having fun tonight, not talking about my ex.

‘Yeah, Matt mentioned it. I’m sorry to hear it didn’t work out. That’s gotta be tough.’

‘It is, but I’m glad it’s over. Now I just need him to move out. I don’t want to go back to LA and find him still at the apartment.’

‘You guys lived together while going through the divorce?’

‘No,’ I say, shaking my head. ‘He just left his stuff there. He’s been living with friends the past six months. He’d come back sometimes and sleep on the couch, but he’d be gone in the morning.’

‘What’s he doing for work?’

‘Nothing,’ I huff. ‘At least not right now. He says he’s considering his options.’ I roll my eyes.

‘What did he do before that?’

‘Invested in businesses that turned out to be scams.’ I sigh. ‘I’d rather not talk about him.’

‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.’ Nick motions to the patio chairs.

‘Why don’t we go sit down?’ He places his hand on my lower back as he leads us over to the chairs.

His touch sends a tingle down me, the kind I haven’t felt in years.

Or maybe it’s the wine making me feel this way, although I’ve only had half a glass .

‘So tell me about you.’ I turn more so I’m facing him, crossing my legs as I take a sip of wine.

‘There’s not much to say. I work a lot.’

‘What’s it like living in New York?’

‘It’s good. There’s a lot to do. When I first moved there, it took me awhile to get used to a city that big after growing up in a small town.’

‘I know what you mean. It took me a long time to get used to LA.’

‘You ever miss it? Small-town living?’

‘Sometimes I do. I miss being here in the fall, seeing the leaves, going to the orchard.’

He smiles. ‘You miss the orchard?’

‘I love that place. I grew up going there. Everyone did. I still like going. I told Diane I might even come back here for the fall festival.’ I take another sip of wine. ‘You think you’ll be back for it?’

‘Probably not. It’s hard to get back here with my job. I was just in the office this morning so I’ve really only been gone a few hours and already have hundreds of messages waiting to be answered.’

‘But you must love it, right? I mean, to work that much you kind of have to.’

‘I like the job, but I don’t like the long hours. Makes it hard to have a life.’

I tilt my head, eyeing him. ‘So you never got married?’

‘No. It’s not that I’m against the idea. I just haven’t met the right person. It’s hard to meet people in a city that size, and I work a lot, so it’s hard to find time to date.’

‘I’m not looking forward to that.’ I sip my wine. ‘The whole dating thing. I’m not sure I even know how anymore.’

‘It’s not that hard. Just show up and be yourself. If the guy doesn’t like you, that’s his problem, not yours.’ Nick takes a swig of his beer. ‘You could practice on me if you want.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘We could go out. You could pretend you’re on a date. Brush up on your skills.’

I can’t tell if he’s joking or serious. He’s giving me this really sexy half smile and gazing at me with his deep blue eyes.

‘Thanks, but it doesn’t sound like you’ll have time for that,’ I say, looking down at my now empty wine glass.

‘Want another?’ he asks, pointing to my glass.

‘Sure.’ I hand him the glass as he gets up. I watch as he walks back to the bar cart. He even looks good from the back.

‘White again?’ he asks, holding the bottle.

‘Yes, please.’

He pours the wine and brings me back the glass. I was going to stop at one, but I need another after that comment he made about us dating. He had to have been joking.

‘We could do it on Sunday,’ he says, sitting down. ‘Your practice date.’ He smiles. ‘I can’t say I’ll be able to give you many tips given that I haven’t been on a date myself in almost a year.’

‘Really?’

‘I just haven’t had time.’ He finishes his beer and gets up to get another. ‘I’m sure I’m going to hear about that from my mom.’ He laughs as he returns with his beer.

‘She wants you to get married?’

‘She’s wanted that for ten years. If it were up to her, I’d be married with three kids by now.’

‘What about your brothers? Did any of them get married?’

‘No. Sawyer came close, but it didn’t work out. My mom thinks my brothers are waiting for me to go first.’ He shakes his head, smiling. ‘If that’s true, we’ll all end up single.’

‘You don’t think you’ll ever get married? ’

‘I think I will eventually, just not anytime soon. What about you? You think you’ll get married again?’

‘It’s hard to say. Right now it sounds like a horrible idea, but maybe in a few years I’ll feel differently.’

‘Years? That’s a long time.’

I laugh. ‘It’ll take me that long just to figure out how to date again.’

‘What do you think of my offer? You want to use me for practice? I could use some practice too since it’s been awhile.’

‘Actually, yeah, that’d be great,’ I say, wondering if he’s just doing me a favor or if he’s doing it because he wants to go out with me. But he’s leaving on Monday, so he can’t think the date would turn into anything. ‘Where do you want to go?’

‘We can figure it out on Sunday. We’ll meet up at the brewery and leave from there.’

‘Or the brewery could be our date,’ I offer up, although I’d like to do more than that, like maybe have dinner somewhere.

‘The brewery’s not a date, especially with Matt there. He’s going to join us.’

‘Are you talking about me?’ Matt asks as he comes out to the patio, a beer in his hand.

‘I was telling her you’ll be joining us for the beer tasting on Sunday,’ Nick says.

‘And then Nick and I are going on a pretend date,’ I say, laughing. ‘So I can practice my skills after being off the market for so long.’

‘A pretend date, huh?’ Matt smiles at Nick as he sits in the chair across from us. ‘Who came up with that idea?’

‘I did,’ Nick says. ‘I thought it’d be good for both of us since I haven’t been out there either for a while.’

‘What exactly do you do on a pretend date?’ Matt asks before taking a drink of his beer .

Nick looks at me. ‘I’m not really sure, but we’ll figure it out.’

‘You should go to that new restaurant,’ Matt says. ‘It’s kind of fancy, but the food is really good. I took Tess there a couple weeks ago.’

‘I think Sawyer told me about that,’ Nick says. ‘It’s downtown, right? Across from the bakery?’

‘Yeah, that’s the one.’

‘What do you think?’ Nick asks me.

‘Sounds perfect.’ I take another sip of wine, nervous and excited about this date we just planned. Even if it’s only pretend, I’m still looking forward to it.

‘You sticking around for the reunion?’ Matt asks me.

‘I’ll be here, but I don’t think I’ll go.’

‘Why not?’

‘I don’t want people asking me about Chris and the divorce.’

‘You could go with a date. People are less likely to ask you about Chris if you’re with someone else.’

‘I think it’s a little late to find a date.’ I take another sip of wine. ‘And who would want to go to the reunion with me?’

‘Maybe you could talk your fake boyfriend into going.’ He looks at Nick.

‘Now I’m a fake boyfriend?’ Nick says to Matt, smiling.

‘Why not? If you can be her fake date, you could be her fake boyfriend.’

‘For the millionth time, I’m not going to the reunion,’ Nick says. ‘I have no desire to go back and relive high school.’

Matt leans toward me, hooking his thumb toward Nick. ‘Would you please explain to him that reunions are about seeing old friends, not reliving high school? He doesn’t seem to get how these work.’

‘I think his mind is made up,’ I say, looking at Nick. ‘But it would be fun to go with him. ’

‘Are you serious?’ Nick says.

I shrug. ‘It doesn’t matter. You’re not going.’

‘I could find you someone to go with,’ Matt says, leaning back in his chair. ‘There’s a guy in my office who’s single. He’d take you.’

‘She said she doesn’t want to go,’ Nick says, staring at Matt.

‘She doesn’t want to go alone ,’ Matt clarifies. ‘And since you’re not an option, I’m offering up someone else.’

Nick’s jaw tightens and he sits up straighter.

‘Daddy!’ A little girl with long blonde hair and a blue sundress comes running out of the house and up to Matt.

He pulls her onto his lap. ‘What do you need?’

‘Mommy said I should come outside and meet that lady.’ She points to me.

‘Hi!’ I smile and lean toward her. ‘I’m Lyndsay. What’s your name?’

‘Bella.’ She lays her head on Matt’s shoulder.

‘She’s six,’ Matt says. ‘And Mia’s three.’ He looks down at Bella. ‘Lyndsay used to be a dancer like you. She taught ballet.’

I laugh. ‘That’s kind of a stretch. I just helped out at the dance school. It was a great job at the time. Better than working fast food.’

‘You still dance?’ Nick asks.

‘Only for myself. I teach yoga, and after class, when the studio’s empty, sometimes I’ll stick around and do some ballet moves.’

‘I can do ballet!’ Bella jumps off Matt’s lap and does some kind of squatting move that I think is supposed to be a plié.

‘That’s good!’ I tell her. ‘Now try it like this.’ I get up and show her. She watches me, trying to move her feet like mine, her tongue at the side of her lip as she focuses. ‘That’s it! You got it!’

She smiles really wide and runs back to the house .

‘You should get a job at the dance studio,’ Matt says as I sit down. ‘She’s been taking lessons for three months and wasn’t able to do that right until you showed her.’

‘She’s adorable,’ I tell him.

‘She’s a good kid. Her sister’s a little terror. Takes after her dad.’

Nick laughs.

‘I should go check on dinner.’ Matt gets up, leaving me alone with Nick.

‘It’s probably going to be an early night,’ Nick says. ‘Matt has to show a house in the morning and Tessa is taking the kids somewhere with Matt’s mom.’

‘That’s fine. I wasn’t planning to be out late.’

‘Yeah, I suppose you’re tired from the flight.’

‘I’m really not. I slept on the plane. I just meant I didn’t have any plans other than dinner.’ I pause, wanting to suggest we go out, but feeling like I shouldn’t. But if he’s just a friend, then why not? ‘If you wanted to do something later, I’d be open to that.’

‘Yeah. Let’s do it.’

‘Great! I could start practicing my dating skills tonight!’ I sound way too excited. I blame the wine. I’ve had two glasses and no food. I need to slow down before I say something I shouldn’t.

‘I just need to drop my stuff off at Sawyer’s. Matt said I could borrow his car until the party tomorrow. After that, I’ll use my dad’s truck to get around. My dad didn’t want me showing up there tonight and risking my mom seeing me. It’d ruin the surprise.’

‘It’s so sweet of him to throw her a party.’

‘I can’t believe he was able to pull it off. It’s hard to hide stuff from my mom.’ Nick nods at my empty wine glass. ‘Can I get you another?’

‘Not now, but thanks.’ I set my glass down and turn more toward Nick.

His gaze drops down to my legs, then up my body. It turns me on seeing him look at me like that and having him not care that I noticed. He’s much bolder and more confident than he was in high school.

I left home this morning feeling jaded about love and thinking I’d never have feelings for a man again.

But here I am, having feelings for Nick that I haven’t felt for a really long time.

It gives me hope that maybe I could get married again, or at least be in a relationship.

It’s been so long since I felt this good around a man that I forgot what it’s like.

If only the man that makes me feel this way wasn’t leaving on Monday.