Finding Love in Payton (2 page)

"I won't, Mom," he replied, edging toward the door.

She continued. "Don't get the ones with nasty black
bruises, or the ones that are pure green. Get bananas
that look like they just turned yellow."

"Just turned yellow. Got it," Jeremy replied, biting
his tongue from saying anything else. After all, getting
directions in minute detail from his mom had been
happening for as long as he could remember. Yet one
more thing that came with being the youngest of five
children.

Even if he was twenty-three years old and a college
graduate. Even if he stood six inches taller than his
mom.

"Now, about the steaks-"

He couldn't take any more. "Mom, I can pick out
steaks. And I have your list right here." He smiled
reassuringly, waving the list in the air for good measure. "I'll take care of it."

She still looked uncertain. "Do you want to go over
the type of bread we'll need one more time?"

Please Lord, no. "I don't think so. I've gotten you
bread before," he said dryly. Then, knowing more was
worrying her than perfect ingredients, he sat down on
the stool next to her. When she looked up, he curved
his head down to meet her gaze. "Why are you so
worried about this party, anyway? It's just family."

"I know, but it's Missy's birthday, too."

He hid a smile. Missy had now been married to his
eldest brother Kevin for almost two years. And if he
knew anything, it was that his brother doted on Missynlike the sun rose and set on her. Missy didn't have
a thing to worry about, as far as receiving attention.
She was no doubt already having a great birthday.

"Kevin will make it special, Mom. Shoot, I bet he's
already delivered a dozen roses to her at work."

She smiled at the notion. "I bet he has ... but that
doesn't mean anything. She needs something special
from us. A special party."

He glanced at the countertops. Each inch of space
was filled with bags from Kenwood Mall or card
stores. Interspersed with the paper shopping bags were about twenty ingredients for a cake. As usual, his
mother had taken a good idea and run with it.

"Missy's going to be so happy about the party.
She'll think it's real special."

Glancing at the countertops, her face finally softened. "I bet she will. She's just had so many knocks
in life, Jeremy. And I know she doesn't have any family here. I just want her to feel part of the Reece family, too."

Impulsively, he took his mom's hand. "She will,
Mom. I bet she already does. We have a great family."

Her lips curved. "We do, don't we?"

Oh yes, they did. The Reece family had lived in
Payton, Ohio for generations, and were nothing if not
a cohesive group. They did things together, supported
each other, and so far had married off three of his
siblings with enough fanfare for visiting royalty.

Over the years while he'd been at college, most of
his siblings had found their way into adulthood. Cameron became a small town lawyer; his sister Joanne,
the director of the Payton historical society and museum. Kevin, his eldest brother, had always been successful, but when he met Missy, he'd begun to actually
take time to enjoy life. His sister Denise was off in
California, doing her own thing, and he'd just finished
his master's program in education and had accepted a
teaching position at Payton High.

His parents meddled and played golf, arranged parties, and cared.

They were all doing just fine. And he would too, if
he could just survive the summer. He'd decided to live
at home, work at the country club, and save up some
money until he found an old house he loved and
wanted to buy.

Things would be great if his family would ever
think about seeing him as anything other than a kid.
He seemed to be perpetually seventeen in their eyes.

He stood up and took the list before his mother
could add anything else and grabbed his car keys. "I'll
be back in a little while, Mom."

"All right. Be careful."

"I will," he said as patiently as he could before stepping out to his car, a spiffy late model convertible
RX7. He'd bought it after working two summers waiting tables and felt justifiably proud of it. Some things
in life were well worth saving every penny for.

The early June weather was brisk, and the foliage
was glorious. As he drove the winding roads to the
market, he passed a few houses for sale and mentally
made a note to get on the internet later and check them
out. It would be a good idea to have an idea of where
he wanted to live sooner than later. There were only
so many detailed grocery excursions he wanted to do.

Finally he arrived at the market, grabbed a cart and
proceeded to make his way down the grocery list,
stopping to say hi to several ladies who'd been friends
with his mom forever.

Then he was stopped short by a pretty blond and a
crying two year old in the cracker aisle.

His first instinct was to take his cart and run from
the screaming toddler, but there was something about
the calm way that the woman broke open a box of
animal crackers that made him want to see what was
going to happen next.

"Bry, come on now. You need to settle down. How
about a camel?"

The boy stared at her and immediately reached for
the cookie. "Cookie," he blurted, and was granted a
sunny smile.

"That's right," she said, like he'd just uttered something profound. "Cookie. Now hang in there so we can
get through the rest of our trip."

Jeremy was impressed. His sister Mary Beth had a
girl almost the same age as the baby, so he knew first
hand just how ornery a crying toddler could be.
"Looks like that did the trick," he said to the blond,
liking the way her hair kind of flipped up around her
neck. It looked shiny and shimmery, like liquid gold.

Surprised, she glanced at him. "Oh, I'm sorry. Have
you been trying to get by?" She motioned with her
cart, like she was about to edge it over to the side of
the aisle.

He stopped her, actually feeling that he was in no
hurry to continue grocery shopping. "Not at all. I just
couldn't help but notice that you're a real pro with a
box of cookies."

She smiled brightly, revealing a pretty set of white
teeth and an adorable dimple. "Some would say I
shouldn't be bribing him at all ... or that I should at
least be using fruit."

"I'm no expert, but I think you did great."

She laughed. "Don't be too impressed, we still have
to get through the rest of the store."

Suddenly going grocery shopping had a whole lot
more appeal than it did five minutes ago. "I do, too.
If you don't mind, I'll keep you company."

She glanced at his cart. "Are you sure? You look
to be about done."

He waved his list, which was now a crumpled,
scribbled-on mess. "I'm actually shopping for my
mother. And she's got quite a list."

"You shop for her often?"

"Only lately. And only when she's hosting a party
and is going a little crazy." Holding out his hand, he
introduced himself. "I'm Jeremy Reece, by the way."

"Any relation to Jim and Daphne Reece?"

"My parents."

She smiled in recognition. "My parents know your
parents from the country club. It's nice to meet you.
I'm Dinah Cate."

"Pretty name."

She tilted her head and chuckled again. "Thanks.
And this is Bryan Thomas Cate. He's twenty-two
months and a terror."

Bryan was currently sucking on a cookie and looked rather pleasant. Well, if you didn't mind the cookie
crumbs and goo that dribbled down his chin. "He
doesn't look too terrible at the moment."

"Believe me, he's already adopted the Terrible
Two's in all of its glory."

Jeremy walked beside her as they pushed their carts,
wondering why he was so drawn to Dinah. Yes, she
was pretty, with cute hair and soft pink cheeks. Her
brown eyes sparkled. And she did have a nice figure.

And no rings on her fingers.

But it still didn't explain his attraction. Could it be
her demeanor? So calm, so inwardly happy?

She seemed so different from most of the girls he'd
been dating. Girls who were high maintenance and
almost obsessively busy. This Dinah looked completely at ease grocery shopping on a Friday morning;
like there was something special about it.

All he knew was that suddenly he was feeling the
same way, too. And wanted to know a whole lot more
about her. "Do you work?" he asked.

"I do. I own Beagle's Books down on Third Avenue."

"That's new, isn't it?"

"About a year old. It's small, but I stock the best
sellers, and a fairly good selection of mystery and romance books."

"It sounds terrific."

"It is for me. Bryan can go there with me sometimes, when my mom can't watch him. I play old big band songs. And my dog hangs out there, too. It's
made my life nice."

It sounded nice. "And your husband? Does he like
the place, too?" he asked, ruefully realizing he was
being painfully obvious.

Her steps slowed. "He ... passed away."

"I'm sorry." He felt like the biggest jerk imaginable,
trying to make a play for a widow in the middle of
the cereal aisle.

But she just bit her lip and sighed. "I am, too." She
stared at him for a long minute, then added, "My husband died in a car accident right after Bryan was born.
So, it's been a while."

He glanced at her again. At the way she kept a hand
on her baby, as if she just liked touching him. At the
quiet strength that seemed to emanate from her. He
was more drawn to her than he had been to any other
woman in years. "Hard, huh?"

"Oh yeah. I loved Neil. I loved him a lot." Her smile
faltered. "At first, I just wanted to dig myself a hole,
crawl in, and never get out. But babies have a way of
not letting you do that."

"So you started your own business?"

"Yep. And learned about all kinds of things." She
shrugged. "I still miss Neil, but I've learned that life
moves on. And ... I'm learning that it's okay if I
move on with it. So, I'm okay." She glanced down
toward her son again, brushed a finger against his
cheek. "We're both okay."

Once again he felt a deep, fierce, pull toward her.
Clearing his throat, he said, "I just finished school; I
did a five year program at Ohio State, got my master's
with my bachelor degree. I'm going to teach history
at Payton High."

"Congratulations. I bet you'll be a great teacher."

"I hope so. I loved student teaching." Suddenly, he
felt so young, so immature. His accomplishments
sounded pretty run of the mill compared to hers. He
wondered what else he could say.

Bryan fussed again, and Dinah gave Jeremy an
apologetic smile. "I think we better move on. His
minutes remaining in the cart are numbered."

The baby did look like he was about to let loose
with a loud cry any second. "Okay." He turned to her,
studied her features as closely as he could without
looking like he was staring. "What did you say your
store was called?"

"Beagle's Books."

"Maybe I'll stop by there sometime."

"I'd like that." Bryan wiggled some more. Dinah
murmured to him, placed a kiss on his little forehead.
"I better go. Nice to meet you," she said hurriedly,
then was off down the aisle.

After another minute, she and her cart had turned
the corner and were out of sight. Jeremy stood next to
a display of Fruit Loops, struck dumb. Had he really
just fallen for that woman? It sure seemed that way. Mentally he replayed their conversation, tried to recall
her facial expressions as she'd talked.

Had she been interested, too? Had her pretty brown
eyes given him any hint of approval?

He couldn't be sure. All he did know was that he
would be paying a visit to Beagle's Books in the very
near future.

And getting the rest of his mother's groceries in
short order.

Well, that had been interesting, Dinah thought as
she unloaded Bryan from his car seat, using her extra
hand to grab two grocery sacks. Had that Jeremy really
been flirting with her?

It had been so long since anyone had that she
couldn't be sure. After all, having a baby constantly
by your side pretty much fended off any prospective
admirers.

Bryan had fallen asleep in his car seat practically
the minute she'd started the drive home, and now, as
she carried him inside, his sweet little head lay against
her shoulder in a manner of complete trust.

With one hand she unlocked her front door, set the
sacks on her kitchen countertop, and then as quietly
as possible, laid Bryan in his toddler bed. Thankfully,
he only stretched his legs when he made contact with
the cool cotton sheets. With any luck, she'd be able
to bring in the rest of the groceries, unload them, and might even manage to sort her mail and have a cup of
tea before he woke up.

Just thinking about having a moment to simply relax
spurred her on to complete her tasks as quickly as
possible. It wasn't that she didn't love being with
Bryan, it was just that she loved sitting quietly for a
few minutes every now and then, too.

Finally she was sorting through magazines and bills,
putting each in a stack, sipping on a hot mug of Earl
Grey tea, when Jeremy's image came to mind.

He had been so open, so adorable, that it had taken
all her control to not look at him with longing. She
figured he was probably used to such reactions, anyway. Men with bronzed skin, blond hair, and piercing
gray-blue eyes most likely had garnered such reactions
as hers on an hourly basis.

But there had been something about the way he'd
looked at her, like she was special; something about
the way he'd pushed his cart next to hers down those
few aisles that made her feel tingly all over. And then
embarrassed.

He was at least a few years younger than her. He
was just out of college, for goodness' sake! He probably saw her as some kind of weird mother figure.