Family By Design

“Sit wherever you’re comfortable.”

A minute later she reappeared with a large platter. “As I mentioned, this is all leftovers.”

“I like leftovers,” Livvie announced.

His daughter seemed determined to like everything connected to their neighbor, though Simon wasn’t sure Livvie knew what Rachel meant. Neither he nor Olivia had bothered with leftovers much.

“So do I,” Rachel said. “Since my parents were caterers, I grew up on food left from their catering jobs. Maybe I’m biased, but I think some dishes are better the second time around.”

Simon looked at the platter of meat and roasted vegetables, alongside bowls of salads.

“You made all of this?”

“Just the salads. My friends grilled the meat and veggies for a get-together on Saturday. Fewer guests came than expected, so they sent a container of the excess home with me. I meant to share it around the office today and forgot.”

“What’s that?” Livvie asked, pointing to a vegetable.

“Eggplant.”

Livvie giggled. “That’s silly. Eggs don’t grow on plants.”

“No, but some types of eggplant have an egg shape, or at least that must be what people thought.”

“Do I have to eat a whole serving if it’s yucky?”

Rachel’s lips twitched. “Simon, I don’t know your rules about food, so you should probably answer that.”

“I want Livvie to try things, but she doesn’t have to finish anything she truly dislikes.”

“There’s your answer, Livvie,” Rachel said. “If you want to try it, fine, but I won’t be upset if you don’t want to finish.”

“Okay,” Livvie said, looking relieved. While she seemed eager to please Rachel, she was decidedly picky about her food.

Simon served his daughter before filling his own plate and taking a bite of the eggplant. He’d eaten it in eggplant parmesan, but this was different and quite delicious.

Livvie chewed a small amount of the eggplant and made a face before swallowing. But she ate another bite, so perhaps she was merely concentrating.

“This is excellent,” he said, tasting a salad of noodles and various vegetables.

Rachel didn’t appear flattered by the compliment. She simply shrugged. “Thanks to my parents, cooking has always been part of my life.”

“But you didn’t decide to become a caterer?”

She grinned. “I’d rather cook when I want, not on demand.”

“To keep it a hobby, not a job.”

“Right.” Rachel cocked her head. “I was thinking about hobbies earlier. It’s interesting that you mentioned them.”

“How do you define a hobby?” he asked politely.

“I’m not sure. I used to think it was to create something lasting, but that isn’t true of activities like mountain climbing. And food only lasts until you eat it.”

“Perhaps it leaves lasting memories.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Or a little extra on the hips.”

Simon tried not to look at her figure; he’d already noted how attractive she was. Sandra’s determined efforts to get him in front of an altar had left him suspicious of women, yet he didn’t think Rachel was fishing for compliments.

He glanced at Livvie. She was exploring the food on her plate. Some dishes she obviously liked, but others she seemed less certain about. He decided it was best to let her continue experimenting without comment.

“Rachel, what other hobbies would you enjoy?”

“I’m still thinking about it. Gemma mentioned being in a sign language class, so I thought about taking classes, as well. I’ve always been fascinated by anthropology.”

Simon was so busy he couldn’t imagine needing a hobby. “I’ve never had to worry about it, but I suppose something like that would help fill your time.”

She sent him a look tinged with annoyance. “I don’t need to fill my time,” she said crisply, “but I’m essentially self-employed now. It would be easy to lose myself in work. Instead I want to expand my mind and explore new things. But I suppose some people don’t care about doing that.”

It was a not-so-subtle gibe and Simon belatedly realized he must have sounded condescending.

“New things like eggplant?” Livvie asked, innocently breaking the tense moment.

Rachel smiled at her. “New foods are one thing to explore, and I want to find others. There are so many choices, I’ll have to think about what to do.”

He half expected a suggestion his daughter could “help” her figure it out, but Rachel merely served herself more vegetables, then spent a moment gazing at the view from the balcony. The sun had sunk behind the building and the lights of the surrounding community were beginning to glow.

“I love this time of day,” she murmured. “It’s an in-between moment, where maybe you can...”

She stopped and Livvie looked intrigued. “Do what?”

Rachel waved her hand. “Just a fancy of mine. It’s silly. What’s your favorite part of the day?”

As his daughter chattered about mornings and her daily activities, Simon focused on her face, rather than the lake and sparkling lights. Twilight wasn’t his favorite time; it signaled the beginning of evening, a period that reminded him of his loss.

Olivia had worked hard, trying to build her clothing design business into something the world would notice. He’d worked equally hard, but they had set the evening aside for family. And once Livvie had gone to bed, they’d focused on each other.

Well, it had been that way a good deal of the time.

When Olivia had got an idea for a design, she’d wanted to capture it right away. Otherwise, she had explained, she risked losing the nuances. On those evenings, she had quietly disappeared into her work.

Their marriage hadn’t been perfect, but it had been good. Since her death, he’d wondered if she had guessed her life would be short and whether that explained how determined and driven she’d been.

RACHEL SAW A faraway look on Simon’s face and wondered what it might mean. Not that she needed to know. The Kesslers were merely neighbors, and based on her contacts with Simon, she’d rather not get closely acquainted. The only reason she’d offered the dinner invitation was for Livvie’s sake.

“The part I don’t like about mornings is when Daddy leaves,” Livvie finally said.

Simon brushed a crumb from his daughter’s cheek. “Sorry, Livi-kin-kinnie, but that’s what daddies do.”