Well, he’d at least gotten his aunt to smile. That was good. He didn’t want to leave the woman all alone and sad about Paul.
Josephine sifted through the photographs, regaling them with stories from her youth, and memories of times with Madeline’s grandmother, Lula. Josephine brought the young Lula alive for Madeline and she’d always be grateful for that. Madeline vowed anew to do everything she could to find Paul and figure out why Josephine had never gotten the letter.
~ * ~
“So would you like to come over to my place? I thought I might cook you some dinner.” Gil hoped that Maddy would say yes. He wanted to spend more time with her, cook for her, kiss her…
“You don’t have to do that.”
“But I want to.” Badly. Very much. Say yes.
“Okay, that would be nice.”
They drove back to Comfort Crossing after spending most of the day with Aunt Josephine. His aunt had been in a talkative mood and he knew she enjoyed the company. Must be lonely living there all alone. Oh, she had a local group of ladies she played bridge with each Wednesday, and she was still active in her church, but he knew how it was to always come home to an empty house. She’d probably be glad to have her sister back from her holiday soon.
He was glad to be bringing Maddy home with him tonight instead of headed back to an empty house of his own.
“I picked up some chicken and salad makings last night. Is that okay?” He really had no idea what she liked to eat. Fish? Mainly a salad eater? Women confused him on what they called a meal. To be honest, he’d also picked up pasta, hamburger, and steaks. He’d wanted to be prepared.
“So, you already planned this dinner all out, huh?”
He smiled at her sheepishly. “Well, I was hoping you’d say yes. Otherwise I was going to have a lot of food to eat by myself.”
Before long they were back in Comfort Crossing. He drove past the Feed and Seed and on to his house. He held her hand as they walked across the drive and into the house. He liked the feel of her hand in his—light, delicate, and warm. He flipped on lights to brighten the house as they entered.
“Oh, this is nice.” Maddy smiled at him as she walked through the door. He watched as Maddy looked around at his front room, her eyes taking in the worn leather couch, the fireplace with a stack of wood neatly piled beside it, and the bookcase with books neatly arranged on the shelf.
“Pretty much the bachelor pad I’m afraid.”
“No, it looks comfortable. Lived in, but not in a bad way.”
He was pleased she liked it. He’d spent hours last night picking up and cleaning. He liked things orderly, but the house just got away from him when he was so busy at the store.
“Let’s go into the kitchen and I’ll get things started.”
They went into the brightly lit kitchen. He needed light in his kitchen when he worked. He’d replaced the old light fixtures and updated the kitchen with a nice gas stove, new oven, and added a dishwasher. He wasn’t much for doing dishes by hand. He’d updated the cabinets with handcrafted ones he’d made in his garage. He was proud of how they had all turned out.
“Wow, it’s so nice.”
“Thanks. I like it.”
“You should, it’s just wonderful.” She ran her hand along a cherry cabinet front.
“I made those.” He couldn’t help bragging a little.
“Seriously? They are gorgeous, and the wood is so pretty.”
“Cherry. It turns a bit darker as it ages. Lots of character to it.”
“You did a fabulous job.”
He was absurdly pleased that she liked it so much. Crystal had mentioned that he could just have bought some nice cabinets instead of wasting—yes, she had said wasting—so much time making the cabinets by hand.
“Okay, take a seat. I’ll pour you some wine and I’ll get to making dinner.”
“May I help?”
“No, you just relax and I’ll get things made and in the oven. I’m actually using a recipe of Aunt Jo’s for the chicken. Just a simple chicken and rice casserole, but it’s really good. I don’t make many fancy dishes.”
“It sounds great.” Madeline sat in the chair and sipped her wine while he got things ready. He popped the chicken in the oven and made up the salad. He’d also made an apple pie last night, his one claim to cooking fame. He hoped she liked apple pie. Women were funny about dessert and whether they wanted it or not.
He joined her at the table with his own glass of wine and they talked nonstop while the dinner cooked. He reached across the table and rested his hand on hers, wanting the connection. He couldn’t remember ever knowing someone who he could just talk and talk with like he could with Maddy. She was so interesting to listen to. She’d done such exciting things with her life. Simple things like snow skiing, and fascinating things like backpacking around Europe one summer during her college years.