need anything else,” her mother said as she headed inside.
Mel’s phone rang as she bent to pick up the wire brush she’d been using. She straightened, leaving the brush where it was, and pulled her phone from her pocket. Her heart did something strange in her chest when she saw it was Flynn calling.
“Hi,” she said, hoping she didn’t sound as pleased—and relieved—as she felt to hear from him.
“Hey. How are things?” His voice sounded so good, so familiar.
“Things are good. Mom’s got me on slave duties for the big party on Saturday night. Although I’m beginning to suspect that this is all a ploy to get a freebie renovation.”
She waited for him to pick up the conversational ball and run with it the way he usually did, but there was a small, awkward pause before he spoke again.
“Actually, I was calling about your parents’ party. Your mother sent me an invitation, and I wanted to check with you before I responded.”
Mel blinked. “Beg pardon?”
“Your mother sent me an invitation to her party.”
“Holy—” Mel swallowed a curse, turning to glare at the house. She could see her mother moving around through the kitchen window. If she could have, she would have grabbed her by the shoulders and shaken her until her teeth rattled. “I’m really sorry she did that, Flynn. Believe me, if I’d known… I’ll tell her to cross you off her list right now.”
“Right. Well, I guess that answers my question,” he said slowly.
“What question was that?”
“Whether you knew if she’d asked me or not.”
She was so embarrassed she could feel heat radiating off her face. It took her a moment to register the disappointment in his voice and longer still to comprehend what it might mean.
“Don’t tell me you want to come?” she blurted.
“The thought had crossed my mind.”
“Why?” The question came from her gut, fueled by all the doubts and regrets that had been plaguing her since she’d pushed him away on Saturday night.
“You really need me to spell it out?”
There was a faintly exasperated note to his voice, but she knew that if he was standing in front of her that there would also be a smile in his eyes. A wave of relief washed over her, so strong that she felt a little dizzy in its wake.
“I thought the next time I saw you was going to be when we bumped into each other accidentally in the village,” she said.
“Did you? And here I was, under the impression that we were friends.”
Her heart was going nuts in her chest. She lay her hand over her left breast to try to contain it.
“I thought that maybe, after what happened, I mean, after what didn’t happen, that it might be too weird—”
“Because we kissed?”
“Because we almost had sex and I freaked out and kicked you out of my house like a complete psycho beast.”
“That’s one way of looking at it.”
“What’s the other way?”
“We kissed.”
Inexplicable tears burned the back of her eyes. She pressed her fingers to her lips to stop herself from saying any of the things that were crowding her throat.
“Mel? Are you still there?”
She closed her eyes. “Yeah. I’m still here.”
“Good. I’d like to buy your parents something for their anniversary. Any suggestions?”
Mel opened her eyes and glanced toward the house again. “My mother loves those little porcelain dogs and cats. The ones you can buy at the jewelers. Get her as many of those as you can. Half a dozen should do it.”
There was a small pause. “So she hates porcelain. Any other nonsuggestions?”
“Just buy her some flowers. She loves flowers.”
“Okay. I’ll see you on Saturday, Mel.”
“See you.” She ended the call then stood for a moment, her head bowed. Flynn was coming to her parents’ anniversary party. She was going to see him again. And he hadn’t given up on her or decided she was too hard or not worth the hassle.
After a long beat, she lifted her head and took a deep breath. “Mom!”
Her mother appeared in the door like a jack-in-the-box. “Are you okay?”
Mel marched toward the patio, the better to loom over her parent while she gave her a piece of her mind. “Why did you invite Flynn to your party without telling me?”
Her mother had the grace to look guilty. “I thought it would be a nice surprise for you.”
“Did it occur to you at some point that I might prefer not to be surprised? And that if I had wanted him to come I would have invited