Sweet Joymaker (Indigo Bay Christmas Romances #3) - Jean Oram Page 0,25
caffeine,” Clint said, checking the clock on the oven’s console.
“We haven’t had lunch,” Maria said with surprise. She was so out of sync with her routine, she’d missed the meal. She went to the fridge. “I could do with a sandwich. How about you?”
“Sure.”
Maria moved around a few take-out containers, opening them to check the contents. “I forgot about these. Kit and I ate at Sweet Caroline’s the other night and she never eats her leftovers. How about I have hers and you have mine?” She lifted her eyebrows to see if it was okay with Clint.
He peeked inside the take-out box, seeing her untouched half of chicken potpie. He picked it up and cradled it in his hand, taking a bite as he moved to the small dining nook just beyond the kitchen.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” she said. Men were so easy to please. They didn’t need a napkin, plate or even a utensil. Just hand them the food and they were good.
With a shrug, Maria followed Clint with her own box. He hadn’t stopped in the nook, but had opened the patio door and was eating at the railing that overlooked the condo’s inner courtyard and pool. She took a chair behind him and he turned, settling in the one beside her, the idea of tea forgotten.
The weather was gorgeous, with a streak of sunshine warming the patio. Below, a breeze rippled the blue water of the quiet pool, where a floating leaf turned idly like a rowboat with only one oar.
When they finished eating Maria popped up, “Oh! I forgot about the tea.”
The kettle had clicked off, but the water was still warm.
“The cups in here?” Clint had followed her and started opening cupboard doors at random.
“They’re already on the counter.” She held up two boxes of decaffeinated tea.
“Raspberry,” he said.
Maria checked them. “There’s no raspberry.”
“Strawberry?”
“Look at the boxes already,” she said with a laugh, knowing full well he could read.
With a grin, Clint tapped the blue one. “Blueberry. I don’t think I’ve ever had it before.”
“I don’t think I have, either.”
“It’ll be our first time… together.” He opened his eyes as if it was an enormous deal and she laughed as he poured water for their tea.
“Who was your first?” she asked, without thinking. His spine straightened suddenly, and he sloshed some water onto the counter. Maria waited, curious if he would answer.
“You know Daisy-Mae Ray?” he asked.
“Give me a break.” Maria snorted as she grabbed a dishcloth to sop up the spilled water. Daisy-Mae was her son Myles’s age.
“Her grandma.”
Maria groaned. “How is it you can always make me feel so old?”
Clint caressed her cheek. “All while making you feel so young.”
“How do you do that?”
“Magic.”
She leaned in, hoping for a kiss. She was rewarded.
A few hours later, settled on the deck with Clint once again, the cribbage board resting on the small slated table between their deck chairs declared the truth. Maria was about to get skunked by Clint. She needed twenty-one more points to get over the skunk line, whereas he needed only ten to win.
“Who was your first?” he asked, after counting his hand and scoring his points. Four more to take the game.
“Roy.”
Clint glanced up at her, judging her seriousness.
“I dated a few others, but Roy was my high school sweetheart.”
“You married after graduation, right?”
“We waited a year and a half.” It was normal in those days to marry young, rarer now. Her sons were all either nearing their thirties or already there. They were just starting to get serious about finding someone to settle down with.
“So you like older women?” Maria asked casually, thinking about Daisy-Mae Ray’s grandmother.
“She’s only two years older than I am. Daisy-Mae’s a rarity in her family, seeing as she didn’t have kids lickety-split like her mom and grandma.”
“I suppose she is,” Maria agreed, dealing them their next hand. “I thought for a while she and Myles might end up together.”
“I was thinking it might be Jackie.”
Maria nodded. She’d considered that idea fairly seriously, as well.
“Did you ever regret marrying so young?” Clint asked.
“Not really. Do you? How old were you and Kay-Lynn when you got married?”
“In our early twenties. I can’t remember exactly. It was after college.”
“Is that where you met?”
He nodded.
“What made you leave her?”
He looked up from his hand, his upper lip tucked under his bottom teeth as he contemplated her for a long moment. A bird fluttered by, angling as though it planned to land on the patio until it