The Parent Trap(73)

Jonathan laughed. “You think there’s a chance that might happen?”

“Not even a remote one. It’s mostly me, wanting to postpone the commitment as long as possible.”

“I see.”

After that they sipped their coffee in silence and Sarah let herself relax against his solid warmth. At some point she was vaguely aware of him removing the mug from her hand and setting it on the end table. Coffee and calm, she thought. Exactly what she needed, except now it was just calm. Even better.

“Sarah?”

She jolted awake, instantly aware of him next to her, stroking her hair.

“Oh! Did I fall asleep?”

“Yes, you did.”

She sat up, straightening her clothes as she did. “I’m so sorry. You should have woken me up.”

He smiled down at her. “I just did.”

“Oh. What time is it? How long was I asleep?”

“Maybe twenty minutes. Now it’s time to pick up the kids.”

“Right.” She jumped up, feeling disoriented, a little wobbly even.

He stood, too, and held her steady. “Take it easy,” he said. “We have plenty of time.”

They did? Oh, yes they did, she thought, realizing he was going to kiss her. Falling asleep on his shoulder might have been what she needed, but this was what she wanted. His hands holding her face, his lips on hers, firm, warm, with a hint of coffee and mint.

“Thank you,” he said when he released her.

“For what?”

“For tonight, the dance, the coffee...this.” He kissed her again, lightly this time.

“Oh. You’re welcome.”

“We should go.”

“We should.”

But they didn’t. She leaned against him instead and they wrapped their arms around each other and for a full minute, maybe more, she simply let herself be. If they continued like this, would he eventually expect more? Probably. Of course he would. They enjoyed each other’s company and they definitely had chemistry, but for now that was enough for her and it would have to be enough for him, too.

She tipped her head up to look at him. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For taking it slow, not being annoyed that I fell asleep on you, not pressuring me into something I’m not ready for.”

“My pleasure.” There was a good-humored sparkle in his eyes and in his smile. “And now we really should go.”

They went through the foyer and put on the boots, shoes and jackets they’d shed when they came in. By the time she stepped out into the cool nighttime air, she was fully awake. They still needed both cars since neither could accommodate all six teens. Again, Jonathan let her go ahead, and again seeing his headlights behind her made her feel watched over, safe.

“Slow down,” she said to her reflection. And she wasn’t referring to the speed limit. In the past she’d made the mistake of rushing into something that had felt right but wasn’t. This time she would do things her way, and at her own pace.



THE MORNING AFTER the school dance, Jonathan was up at his usual early hour. Sometime overnight the fog had rolled in. From the deck he could barely make out the rooftops of the houses one street below, and he already knew from experience that it was even denser by the water. He would postpone his run, he decided, and do some things around the house instead. There were still a few boxes in the garage that needed to be unpacked, bathrooms to clean—he and Kate took turns with those and he was on deck for that—and the kitchen floor wasn’t going to mop itself.

He also needed to figure out what to make for dinner that night. Better question, should they invite Sarah and Casey to join them? Saturday night pizza was a tradition of theirs, but since the girls had pizza last night, maybe they’d prefer something else. They had eaten dinner before the dance here, though. Maybe two nights in a row was too much? Or...

He could fix something for the girls to have at home and take Sarah out for dinner. Most of the time they’d spent together had been with the girls or out looking for the girls. A real date sounded like a good idea. Not that he had any expectations.

Last night, her comment about not wanting to make a commitment to the dog had hit its mark, even though he was sure she hadn’t intended it that way. But he was smart enough to know that if she wasn’t ready to commit to a dog, she sure wasn’t going to commit to him after just a few weeks. Then she’d settled next to him on the sofa and within minutes she had relaxed and fallen asleep. He would never forget the feeling of holding her, listening to the soft sound of her breathing, shallow and even. He could have stayed there forever, or at least until his arm fell asleep, and when it was time to pick up the girls and their friends, he had hated to wake her.