Rescuing Vanessa (A Little Bit of Coffee, Flowers, and Romance) (3 page)

“How do you keep track?” Daniel was amazed.

“It’s a mom thing.” She handed him his cup and he paid for his meal.

“Here is a little extra to pay for Miss Vanessa Bennett. She’s having lunch with me today.” Even as he kept his voice casual, he felt
the heat start to rise in his neck and creep into his face. Oh, how he hoped it didn’t show. By the expression on Mrs. Givens’ face, it surely did.

Before he could add anything else
, Vanessa walked in. Daniel caught his breath at the sight of her, and couldn’t help but feel a slight exhilaration at the conversation that was about to occur.

Chapter 5

Vanessa had been momentarily distracted before coming in. Mrs. Givens’ son Jesse and his friend Will Steel had their detective agency offices right next door. What an exciting life they must lead, not that she wanted anything like that for herself. She was glad her life
from here on out was going to basically be boring.

As she walked
through the door into Mrs. Givens’ Coffee House, the older woman’s welcoming smile effectively banished her nervousness.

“Vanessa Bennett, is that you? It’s been so long.” She came out from behind the counter and gave Vanessa a big hug. Daniel
stood there awkwardly, not sure exactly what to do. Then, looking for a place to sit, he ended up at a booth somewhat across the room because of the lunch hour rush.

“Yes, Mrs. Givens, it’s me.” Vaness
a’s heart felt warm and full with Mrs. Givens’ kind welcome. Once again, it was confirmation that she was right in coming home. She felt so unworthy. The other woman’s embrace had almost brought tears to her eyes. But, what would people think of her if they knew?

“How long are you staying? Do we get to keep you for a while?”

“Well, I’ve quit my job and I’m moving back here. I’m staying with my grandparents until I find a place.”

“Hmm.
I might be able to help you there. I have an apartment upstairs available now that Guinevere moved out after the wedding and they decided to live in Jesse’s apartment. I could show it to you later if you’d like.”

“Thanks so much, Mrs.
Givens. I would love to see it, maybe later this afternoon? I’m having lunch with Professor Daniel Greyson. I saw you two talking. Do you know him?”

“Yes.
He goes to our church and helps out with the youth.”

“Oh. I guess he’s pret
ty busy then.” She regarded the room and tried to find him. Mrs. Givens’ decor was both classy and inviting. The walls were off white with a cream hue and had several large coffee themed prints. Booths the color of dark chocolate brown lined the walls and tables for two and four were interspersed throughout. Along the center back wall was an enormous fireplace.   

“
Yes, he is quite busy, but he seems to always make time for tea. He’s sitting over in that booth I believe.” Not much escaped Mrs. Givens. “Do you still like vanilla latte?” she asked.

Shocked and very touched, she knew why she enjoyed the Givens’ family so much.
“You remembered.”

Mrs. Givens
went back behind the counter, prepared it for her just the way she liked it, with a touch of whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon, and handed it to her. “What else?”

The
large menu on the back wall with easy to read natural colored scripts blended well with the rest of the décor and was home to a surprising selection of sandwiches. She asked for a tuna on wheat, which for some reason seemed to give Mrs. Givens a broad smile and nod of approval.

“Would you
also like to try my cream scones? I’ve just baked a batch and we serve them with strawberry jam and clotted cream.”

“Uh, sure.”
Clotted cream?

“My British daughter-in-law gave me the recipe and it’s been a hit with all
my customers.”

“Oh.” Well, that explains it. “I bet Daniel likes them too.”
How easily his named rolled out of her mouth. What was it about him that was so intriguing?

As Mrs. Givens prepared her sandwich, she said,
“Hardly a day goes by where he doesn’t come in and have some. I think he’s addicted. I like to rib him about being OCD at times.” They exchanged knowing glances and laughed. Then, she glanced up at the clock on the wall. Handing over her tuna on wheat, she said, “You’d better go on and sit with him. A waitress will bring some tea and your scones in a moment or two.”

“Thank you.
How much do I owe?”

“Nothing.
It’s already been taken care of by Professor Greyson.”

“Oh.” Was this a date? No way.
You’re being silly, Vanessa-Girl. Surely, the last thing on Daniel’s mind is romance.

Daniel was all nervous again. What had Mrs. Givens and Vanessa been laughing about? He wished he could pray his way out of this upcoming ‘date’, but so far the Lord seemed to be laughing at him too. It doesn’t have to be exactly a real date, merely two people getting together. Why couldn’t it have been Ivy? She was absolutely not interested in him at all and that made things so much easier. Although, to be honest, what made him think Vanessa might be interested in a guy like him? It wasn’t like Vanessa was throwing herself at him. Unless you count putting all her weight into her dreadful, deadly accurate swing. That Alum-Clad 12” Calphalon open stock cookware had left a mark! He fingered the back of his head discreetly.

“Hello, Daniel. How are you?”

Startled, he whipped his hand back down, pretending to have to scratch, and caught it on the end of the table, sending a throb of pain shooting from his fingertip up his forearm, which he pretended to not notice. How much damage could one girl cause him in a 24 hour period? With willful calm and a weak smile, he replied, “I’m fine, thanks.” Stiff upper lip, man.

As she sat down, she asked, “Did you have a good morning teaching?”

“Yes, thanks.” Such sparkling wit and conversation. She must think him an absolute moron.

The waitress came over
then and brought their scones and tea.

“So, why did you want to meet with me?”

Good. He liked a woman who got right to the point. He could respect that. However, it didn’t make it any easier on him at the moment. Absently, he poured himself a cup of tea and took a quick sip to fortify. It burnt his tongue and it took everything in him to keep from spitting it back into his cup. He swallowed, feeling the scalding liquid empty into his stomach and an odd warm sensation spread throughout his abdomen. Best to get this over as quickly as possible! Perhaps she would say ‘no’ and he would have fulfilled his obligation to the Lord. “Well,” he couldn’t seem to swallow suddenly. His esophagus felt quite raw and his tongue like it was being pricked by tiny little pins from the burning brew. Not to mention the dull throb in his finger which seemed to awaken a response from the lump on the back of his skull. “Well,” he tried again.

He had a moment’s reprieve when the wait
ress came back to ask if they needed anything else. A few ice cubes would be nice.

“Well,” he tried a third time after the waitress left.

“Yes?” She didn’t seem to notice all the internal screaming that was going on. He prided himself at being quite stoic. Or did she?

Was she laughing at him
—again? “You see, I’ve got this Annual Archaeological Society dinner coming up and I need someone to join me for the evening.” It all came out in a rush, but at least it was intelligible—he hoped. There was a moment’s pause before the words he had just uttered sank in.

“Are you asking me o
ut on a date?” Her expression seemed to switch from giggling at him on the inside to one of genuine shock and surprise.

“Well, that is, um…Well,
” Why did he keep repeating that word?! The rest came out in one huge blurt. “I’m widowed you see, and while the ladies at church are very understanding and in general leave me alone, the ladies at the college, especially amongst the Archaeological Society aren’t so understanding. The rich ones are used to getting what they want. They don’t like taking ‘no’ for an answer and it would be so much easier if I already had someone with me. Really I was just hoping you could do this for me as a small favor. You were the first person that came to mind.”

Was that disappointment Daniel saw in her face?
“So, you want us to go as friends, but don’t make that too obvious. I should be somewhat insulted, you know.” He couldn’t quite tell in her expression what she was thinking. Was she genuinely insulted?

He felt like a heel. He knew that wasn’t quite what the Lord had told him to do, but he wasn’t sure what to say without making things worse. “I’m sorry. I completely understand if you don’t want to go.”

“Let me get this straight, I get a free meal with a handsome British gentleman, every woman in the room will envy me, and I have an excuse to go shopping for a new outfit. Sounds win/win to me.” Vanessa seemed to have regained some of her composure and she grinned at him. He enjoyed seeing her smile. This may turn out alright after all.

Daniel blinked. Suddenly, he wasn’t quite sure what he was getting himself into. “Uh, yes, it is formal.”

“Ooh, a very nice dress. I’ll have to get Grandma to take me shopping. She knows all the best places.”

His eyes met hers for a split second
making Daniel even more nervous. “This is a real date, but…” How on earth
did
he explain this?

“Don’t worry. I understand. You want me to fend off some scary rich mums and their daughters, right?”

He didn’t like her mimicking his accent, even though she did a halfway decent job of it. “Uh, well…”

“So, when is it?”
She seemed so vivacious, undaunted. She really was the perfect choice for the role he needed her to play for the evening.

“N
ext Friday evening at seven o’clock.” Daniel was out of breath, as if he had gotten onto one of those amusement park roller coasters or gone on one of his mum’s marathon shopping trips. Mission accomplished. But Vanessa was not finished. Where did she get all of her energy?

“Great, plenty of time for me to go shopping.
So, do we have a table to ourselves or do we share with other potential patrons? I suppose I should do some research into your field of expertise. Don’t want to sound stupid do I?”

Daniel had used up his social quota of words for the day and then some. He turned to his tuna to give him sustenance. It was safe and familiar, wouldn’t bite him, burn him, or knock him over the head.

“You wouldn’t sound stupid. Uh, we share a large table with both patrons and other professors. I’ll be giving a brief power point presentation during the meal. Afterwards there will be coffee and deserts served and a small string quartet playing while people mill around.”

Vanessa seemed quite impressed.
“Sounds great. So, what is your expertise? What do you want the money for? Is it for your department or do you want something special, like a dig or something?”

Okay then
.
This
was something he could talk about all day. “Well, my expertise is in linguistic anthropology. I study languages and their development. My goal is to take some students this summer to a museum in Israel to study some manuscripts the Israeli government won’t allow out of the country. Unfortunately, funding is difficult to get right now. The students will pay a large portion of their own way, but that won’t cover everything. We need some help.”

“Israel wou
ld be amazing. My parents went to all these exotic places, but I was always left at home.” Vanessa’s expression turned reflective. She seemed sad, wistful, even. He had met her parents at church, but they were so busy, he hadn’t been able to spend much time getting to know them.

“I’ve been to Israel several times. Though it’s dangerous, it truly is full of wonders. It seems every stone is alive with history. It’s all around you.”
What would it would be like to travel it with her?

Glancing
at his watch, Daniel realized it was time for him to get back. “I’m sorry, but I must be going now. Don’t worry about the check. I’ve take care of it.”

Vanessa smiled. “
I know, thank-you. You didn’t have to do that.”

“A gentleman never allows a lady to pay for her meal.”

Vanessa rested her chin on her hand as she watched
him go. How strange. Last night, she thought he was an intruder. Today, she had a date with him! Well, not a real date. She hardly felt like she’d ever deserve anything like that kind of love from a man of his caliber and character—and he was certainly nice on the eyes. Nevertheless, she planned on making the best of things. It was always nice to have a friend.

As she finished her tea and scones, she decided she liked them, even with clotted cream. The scones were like flaky biscuits only richer and more buttery tasting than a muffin. With clotted cream and strawberry jam, they fairly melted in her mouth. It was easy to see why these were a hit with Mrs. Givens’ customers.

She had all but forgotten about her tuna sandwich and decided she would save it for later. It caught her attention for a moment. Did Daniel also have a tuna on wheat? Must just be a coincidence, but something about that made her feel even closer to him. She certainly felt safe around him. And she let out a burst of laughter when she replayed him drinking that hot tea and
trying to pretend like he hadn’t gotten burnt! As well as how he talked in circles about the date-non-date! How can such an eloquent professor be at such a loss for words? He was an enigma, but a very welcome one at that.

Poor man, he’s
been through a lot, losing his wife.
She would have to pump her grandmother for information about her. Vanessa didn’t feel comfortable asking Daniel directly and she wasn’t sure he would feel comfortable answering either.