This Winter Night

Desiree was a psychotherapist who specialized in relationships. She had a diagnosis ready for any male her sisters came in contact with. She was so busy solving everyone else’s relationship problems she had no time for a relationship of her own.

“You don’t have to worry. I just offered him a warm place to stay last night,” Lauren said, mindful of the agreement she’d made with Colton. “There’s no relationship here for you to analyze, Desi.”

The next voice to speak belonged to her sister Meghan. “Hey, sis, don’t listen to these two. I hope you’re taking advantage of the isolation and getting to know Mr. Riley better.”

Lauren smiled at the naughty suggestion coming from Meghan. If any of her sisters could be stereotyped as bookish and a bit of a nerd it would be Meghan who was a history professor.

“It’s nothing like that, Meg,” she assured her. “He’s just the son of my neighbors.”

“All right, okay,” said Meghan hastily. “I’m just saying that if you let loose and went for it, you’re way overdue.”

Isn’t that the truth, Lauren thought. Her behavior had been exemplary up until now. She could be forgiven for one indiscretion, couldn’t she?

Amina was in possession of the phone again. “All right, we won’t come up there. But stay in touch and let us know when the roads are clear. We’ve got to go check on Grandpa. He says he’s fine, but he always says that.”

“Will do,” Lauren promised, “Bye, girls.”

She heard them call “Bye!” in unison.

She disconnected and put the phone in the deep pocket of her jacket. Around her the world was snow-covered and looked like a winter scene in a Currier and Ives painting. The pond was frozen over, the tiny dock layered with frost. The oak and pine trees that surrounded the property were snow-laden. They were definitely having a white Christmas.

“Everything okay?” she heard behind her.

Colton had walked out to meet her. She wondered how much of her side of the conversation he’d heard. “Yeah, my sisters threatened to come up here but I told them the roads weren’t clear yet.”

“You have four sisters, right?”

“Yes, but only three, Desiree, Amina and Meghan, are in the area. Petra’s a zoologist studying the Great Apes in Africa.”

“No kidding, like Jane Goodall?”

She smiled. There were many facets to him. “Yes, she’s been there for over two years now.”

“What does she do when she’s not studying apes?”

“Actually, she studied to be a veterinarian and worked at a big city zoo before deciding to specialize and become a zoologist. Now she lectures and has written a couple of successful books on the subject.”

“She sounds very accomplished.”

“Growing up in our household we were all told to aim high. And even if we didn’t hit the mark, we would be giving it our best shot.”

“That’s a good way of looking at things,” Colton said, smiling down at her.

They began walking back to the cabin. “What did Veronica say?” Lauren asked.

“Pretty much what you guessed she’d say,” he answered. “They’ve got it under control. The funeral’s on Saturday.”

“I’ll be there,” she said easily. “Unless you don’t want me...” She hated that now that they’d been intimate she was wondering if her presence at his father’s funeral would make him uncomfortable and perhaps make him relive their time together when he should be focusing on his father. But such were the repercussions of spontaneous sexual relationships. She figured she should expect some awkward moments.

“Please come,” he said. His tone was gentle and sure. “I’d like for you to be there and so would Mom.”

Chapter 4

“What would you like to do today?” Lauren asked once they were back in the warmth of the cabin.

Colton turned to her with a humorous glint in his eye. “I want to take you on a date.”

She laughed shortly as she shrugged off her coat and hung it on the hall tree. “A date, huh? Where are you planning on taking me?”

“A movie, dinner and then, dancing,” he said with confidence.

She looked at him as if he’d taken leave of his senses but she was excited by the idea, so she accepted. “What time will you pick me up?” she asked.

“Let’s make it six,” he said. “I’m eager to get to know more about you.”

“What am I supposed to do in the meantime?” she asked. She had thought they would spend their last day together in bed, like any normal snowbound couple.

“Do whatever you would do if I weren’t here,” he suggested.

So for the remainder of the day she worked in her office. She devoted a considerable amount of time to making a three-dimensional model of the building she was designing in Raleigh using a program on her computer. It allowed her to see the building from all angles and to visualize it more accurately. At around one o’clock her stomach growled, and she went in search of lunch to find Colton in the kitchen already fixing them sandwiches.

“Hello, Miss Gaines,” he said. “You don’t mind if I call you, Miss Gaines?”

“Not at all,” she said, going to him and planting a kiss on his cheek. She hadn’t kissed him since this morning. Colton put down the knife he’d been using to cut the sandwiches in two and pulled her into his arms for a proper kiss.

When he let her go, Lauren was breathless. “Are you sure tonight’s our first date? That kiss was kind of fresh if it is. Actually, we should only be shaking hands at this point. And don’t even think about getting lucky tonight. Sometimes I don’t even kiss a guy good-night on the first date.”

When Colton grinned, she noticed he had a dimple in his left cheek but not his right. How could she have missed that up until now? She peered closer. “What happened to your other dimple?”

“A genetic anomaly,” he said with a short laugh. “I’m the third Riley who has only one dimple. What can I say? I’m a freak of nature.”

“Another bit of Riley family trivia?”

“I’ve got a long list.” He handed her a smoked turkey sandwich on a plate. “Will you be having your lunch in here with me, or will you be taking it back to work with you?”

“Oh, I’ll have it in here with you if I’m not disturbing your date planning,” she said with a bit of skepticism.

He let it slide. She may not have confidence in his ability to pull this date off but he was having fun. They sat down at the island and ate their sandwiches. “What kind of movie are we going to see?” Lauren asked after swallowing her first bite.

“Unfortunately, this theater has a shortage of romantic films starring African Americans,” he told her regrettably. “However I trust the owner’s taste and I’m sure whatever’s shown will be worth watching.”

Lauren smiled. It was true. She hadn’t brought many DVDs with her on her visits to the cabin over the years. Her real collection was at home in Raleigh. “Well, how’re you doing on dinner and dancing?”

“The restaurant I’m taking you to has a wonderful menu. You’re going to dine on roast chicken, twice-baked potatoes and broccoli in a butter sauce.”

“Wow, the chef must be a genius,” she quipped. “The last time I visited that restaurant they didn’t have roast chicken on the menu.”

“Roast chicken, canned chicken, why quibble?” he asked good-naturedly. “It’s going to be a culinary masterpiece.”