You Belong With Me (11 page)

              Layla stared at her closet and frowned, not knowing what in the world to wear for her date. The first date she’d been on in forever and she had no idea what to wear. She bypassed all of her business suits and jeans and pushed to the back of the closet. Hidden in the back was a light, pale multi-color summery skirt. It was built as if it were made out of large handkerchiefs and swished and flowed around her legs as she walked. She remembered seeing it in a store on a mannequin while she’d run into a department store to grab some hose and how she’d bought it on impulse. She’d never even worn it before. She picked up the skirt and scanned her closet for an appropriate shirt and settled on a simple cream silk t-shirt. She had absolutely no shoes that would work with it though.

              Layla slipped off her jeans and sweater and put on the skirt and t-shirt staring at herself critically in the mirror. She didn’t look like herself.
At all
. She frowned. The girl in the mirror looked so young and soft and feminine. That wasn’t who she was anymore. She was the tough, strong woman who protected the defenseless. Who in the heck was the woman in the mirror and why did she look so hopeful and vulnerable?

              Layla closed her eyes and turned away from the woman. Better not to think about it. She picked up her cell phone and texted Jane and Kit.
Need shoes. Can I look in your closet?
Within seconds she had replies.
YES!

              Layla grinned and admitted that having sisters was just about the best thing that could happen to anyone. She checked out Kit’s closet first, but Kit’s penchant for sky high heels had her moving on to Jane’s closet. Jane’s shoes were more conservative but just as feminine. Layla’s eyes were drawn to a pair of two inch wedges with straps that wrapped up her calves. It was a little more stylish and daring than she was used to, but then she was used to flats and tennis shoes. The shoes matched her outfit perfectly and so she didn’t really have a choice.

              She headed back to her bathroom and went to her makeup. She hadn’t even worn make up that day. Of course if she’d known Michael was coming by, she might have. She put on a light base foundation and brushed some light rosy blush on her cheeks. Since she’d be eating dinner and wanted to be left with some color at the end of the night, she picked a lip stain instead of a gloss. She highlighted her eyes with eyeliner and mascara but ignored the eye shadow. Simple was better.

              Now for hair. She frowned at her simple long blond hair and reached back and twisted it up. Simple but elegant. Hair wasn’t exactly her forte’ so she started again, twisting and then tucking the top back down inside. She secured it with a few bobby pins and smiled at the result.
Nah
. She didn’t want to look like she was trying too hard. It was just a simple dinner date, so why was she acting like this was the most important date of her life? She took out the pins and let her hair fall around her shoulders.

              She walked downstairs and frowned when she didn’t see anyone in the kitchen or the store front. She got her cell phone out and texted Jane and Kit again.
Where are you?

             
Front Porch

              She grinned and walked outside happy to see her two sisters relaxing. They both looked tired from their early morning start but happy too.

              Jane grabbed Kit’s arm. “Holy crap Kit. Layla’s a girl.”

              Kit snickered and raised an eyebrow at her older sister. “If Michael was smitten and snagged before, he’s toast now. One look at you and he’s a goner.”

              Layla blushed and looked down at her feet. “It’s just a skirt and a t-shirt.”

              Jane shook her head. “No, it’s
the everything
. Layla, you’re beautiful. I’m so glad you get to go out with a man who realizes that.”

              “Speak of the devil,” Kit said as a sleek black Mercedes pulled up to the curb.

              Layla turned around and swallowed nervously as Michael got out of the car and walked toward her. The closer he got, the slower he moved until he was standing at the bottom of the stairs, just looking up at her as if he’d been shot.

              Kit laughed softly behind her and Jane stood up and took her gently by the shoulders and led her to the top of the stairs. “It’s okay Layla,” she whispered in her ear. “Walk down the stairs to him. I don’t think he can move.”

              Layla nodded and hoped she didn’t fall down the stairs in her heels. She made her way slowly as a cool breeze swirled through her skirt, making it seem as if she were floating down to him. She smiled hesitantly and he blinked as if he were waking up.

              “Layla,”he said softly, reaching out for her hand. “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” he said so fervently, she grinned.

              “That’s very sweet. Untrue, but I appreciate the compliment.”

              Michael looked at her with a frown. “No, I’m serious. Layla, to me, no other woman could ever come close.”

              Layla’s mouth fell open and her eyes went wide in surprise. She turned around to look up at her sisters and Jane was grasping her hands together, her face glowing. Kit gave her the thumbs up signal and made a shooing motion with her hands.

              Layla bit her lip and looked back up at Michael who was now standing closer to her. “Thank you Michael. You look very nice too,” she said, noting it was true. He looked handsome, polished and flat out gorgeous. His suit was dark gray and obviously tailored. He had recently shaved and his wavy hair was combed back. Forget Michael, she might be the one in trouble. “Should we go?” she asked, as a nervous blush rose up her neck.

              Michael nodded his head and took her arm, leading her to his car. He opened the door for her and assisted her in. He waved at Kit and Jane, grinning happily before slipping into his side of the car.

              Jane and Kit watched them drive away and looked at each other with twin grins. “She’s an idiot if she doesn’t snatch him up. Any man who will argue with you about your being the most beautiful woman in the world is someone you should hold onto,” Kit said with a sigh.

              Jane nodded and closed her eyes as if she were dreaming. “Tate better say the same exact thing to me word for word or I’ll be horribly disappointed the rest of my life.”

              Kit winced and sat back down in the rocking chair. Compliments like that were rare and far between especially when they weren’t being said to manipulate. As happy as she was for Layla, she felt sad for herself and Jane. Men like Michael were so rare, they were an endangered species. The men she’d known in Seattle were self-obsessed and selfish. She’d come to the conclusion that it was better to be alone and happy then with a man like that and miserable.

* * *

              Michael drove her to the Iron Skillet down the street and she smiled at him. “This is the place I first met you,” she said, stepping out of the car before he could come around and open the door for her. She wasn’t used to men opening doors for her and wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

              Michael came to her side and put his hand on the small of her back as they walked through the front doors, held open by a man leaving the restaurant.

              “I know. I thought it might be nice to come here. I still remember sitting here with Stella and not being able to concentrate on my lunch because I couldn’t stop thinking about the blond who gave me the cold shoulder.”

              Layla laughed and nodded her head. “Sorry. But don’t take it personally. That’s kind of the way I treat most men.”

              Michael turned to the evening hostess as she held up two fingers. He nodded his head and took Layla’s arm as they followed the woman to a booth by the front window. After being seated and handed menus, Michael looked across the table at his date.

              “I’m really glad you agreed to go out with me tonight Layla,” he said, his eyes looking at her so warmly, Layla smiled and had to look away.

              “I have to admit it’s been a long time since I’ve been on a real date. If I’m awkward or weird, please forgive me.”

              Michael sat back and looked across the table at her. “Everything’s been perfect so far. I feel like the luckiest man in the world right now.”

              Layla raised her eyes and took a deep breath as she smiled. She wasn’t used to dating or over the top compliments. But she was trying her best to enjoy them anyways. “That’s a little hard to believe. So, um, what do you suggest?”

              Michael immediately suggested his favorites and they fell into easy conversation. They talked about where they went to college and their favorite places to vacation. They both ordered the shrimp and steak with sides of clam chowder.

              Layla asked Michael about being a single father and raising Stella on his own and they talked about the difficulties of doing pony tales until their food arrived. Layla couldn’t help laughing at Michael’s description of his first attempt at a braid.

              Their waiter filled their glasses with water and hurried away as Rob Downing walked up to their table.              

              “Michael! Good to see you buddy. Introduce me to your beautiful date,” he said, smiling down at Layla.

              Layla smiled and sat up straighter. “We met last week Rob. I was here with my two sisters, Jane and Kit. You probably see so many people it’s hard to remember though.”

              Rob stared at her hard for a moment and then smiled. “No, I do remember. You have a younger sister with brown hair and your other sister was the red head.”

              Layla smiled and nodded. Michael sat back and took a sip of water smiling pleasantly. “They’re taking over their grandmother’s bakery, Belinda’s. They’ll be open for business next week, am I right?” he said, asking Layla.

              Layla nodded, frowning as she prayed they’d be ready by then. “We’re planning on it anyways.”

              Rob crossed his strong arms over his chest and looked down at her with a smile. “You know, we used to buy our bread from Belinda. Since she passed on, we’ve had to get our bread from a bakery in Tacoma, but it’s not nearly as good as Belinda’s was. Would you be interested in renewing a contract with me?” he asked.

              Layla smiled. “Are you kidding me? I would love to. Come by the bakery tomorrow and you can try our bread. You might not want to offer us a contract if it’s not up to your standards.”

              Rob nodded his head. “Fair enough. Why don’t I come tomorrow around eleven?”

              Layla smiled and nodded, sighing happily as Rob walked away. “I can’t wait to tell Kit and Jane,” she said taking a sip of water as she grinned at Michael.

              Michael smiled back. “Rob’s a great guy. He always uses local vendors if he can.”

              They ate their dinner companionably for a while talking about local businesses before Michael pushed his plate away and sat forward.

              “Layla, I wasn’t going to bring this up tonight, but I want to be completely up front with you. I know this is only our first date, but the fact is, I really like you. You’re beautiful, you’re kind and smart and I love being around you. That and Stella thinks you’re amazing. Can you see yourself being involved with a single father?” he asked softly, staring deeply into her eyes.

              Layla wiped her mouth with her napkin and pushed her plate away too. “Michael, Stella is honestly the only reason you’ve gotten as far as you have. She’s the cutest, most adorable little girl I’ve ever met. So yes. I could see us together someday,” she said, pushing her hair over her ear nervously as Michael’s eyes lit up.

              “That is really nice to hear,” he said softly, reaching across the table to hold her hand.

              Layla squeezed his hand but pulled back as she sat forward. “With that being said though, I don’t know if I would feel comfortable getting involved with you unless I knew the situation behind your break up with Stella’s mother. If you don’t mind, I need to know the facts before we go any further.”

              Michael nodded and looked up at the ceiling for a moment before speaking. “My ex-wife’s name is Ashley. We met in college and dated for about a year before getting married. A year later Ashley got pregnant with Stella. It wasn’t planned but I was crazy excited about it. Ashley was kind of disappointed though. She had just been accepted to law school and was upset about having to put her life on hold for a baby. But as she got closer to delivery, she seemed to make peace with it. She’d feel Stella kick and I could tell she was intrigued by the idea of being a mother.”

              “Excuse me, but Mr. Downing has sent over a complimentary dessert for you,” their waiter said, standing next to them, holding two slices of chocolate drizzled cheese cake in his hands.

              Layla nodded her head and smiled at the waiter. “Please tell Rob thank you for us,” she said, catching sight of Rob over by the bar talking to a patron. He looked over and smiled at her as she waved at him.

              Michael took a bite of the cheese cake before continuing his story. “Anyways, after Stella was born, Ashley fell into a deep depression. She was diagnosed with post-partum depression and had to go live with her parents for a few months. Just holding Stella would give her panic attacks. I dropped out of school to take care of Stella and ended up moving back here to Fircrest to live with my mom and dad while Ashley focused on getting better. She was prescribed medication and started to come out of it bit it took a while. She came here to Fircrest and lived with us for about six months and then left for good. She took off one morning and left Stella with my mom while I was at work. She said she had a hair appointment or something and just never came back. It was pretty traumatic. At first we thought something had happened to her. We filed a missing person’s report on her. Her mom and dad and brother came down and helped to look for her. The police even suspected foul play at first and started questioning me. It was the worst time of my life. Two months later I get a post card from her. She had moved back east with an old roommate and applied for Law school somewhere out there. She’s doing quite well last time I heard. Her parents give me updates every now and then. They come down from Seattle once a month to see Stella.”