Page 46 of The Hang Up
I just can’t stop thinking about him?
She settled for something simpler. “We’re not a good match. Outside the bedroom, I mean.”
Holly laughed and picked up her soda. “From the way you’ve been grinning all week, whatever happened inside the bedroom was enough to make up for the rest.”
Miriam tried to smile back, but she knew it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Holly seemed to notice and set her soda down. “Hon, I know it’s scary. The idea of getting attached again?”
“Not just attached.” She hated the pinprick of tears that stabbed her eyelids. “Attached to a guy who likes to take risks. Who goes skiing down mountains and climbing up cliffs and doing all sorts of things that could get him killed.”
“I know,” Holly said, and her eyes were so kind, Miriam’s heart nearly split in two. “But you can’t spend your whole life avoiding the great outdoors and everyone who frolics in it just because you’re afraid of getting hurt again.”
Miriam looked down at the table and swallowed back the threat of tears. “You were there, Holly. You were the one who had to mop me up and carry my weight at work after my dad died. You saw how devastating that was.”
“I remember.” She put her hand on Miriam’s and gave a gentle squeeze. “But I also saw before that how much you loved your dad. And I’m seeing now how much you’re starting to care for Jason. The way your whole face lights up when he walks into a room. It’s like you’re electrified or something.”
Miriam was spared from responding as her phone buzzed on the table beside her. She glanced at the readout, and her heart gave a silly little lurch at the sight of Jason’s number on the screen. She drew her hand out from under Holly’s and reached for the phone.
“Hi there,” she said, trying for casual and breezy and probably just sounding like a woman trying too hard.“How’s it going?”
“Actually, not so great.”
“Oh? What’s wrong?”
“It’s Ellie—my sister? The woman you mistook for my wife.”
“You’re never going to let me live that down,” she muttered. “What’s wrong with Ellie?”
“She just got hit with a migraine.”
“I’m so sorry,” Miriam said, not sure what that had to do with her. “That sounds awful.”
“Right. That’s not the worst of it. I promised Henry I’d take him canoeing today. It was his reward for being really good at the doctor the other day. Ellie was supposed to go with us so we’d have another person paddling and an extra set of eyes on Henry.”
“Oh,” Miriam said, wondering if this call was headed the direction she thought it was and why she wasn’t working harder at coming up with an excuse not to go in case he asked. Instead, she felt a silly little flutter of excitement in her gut, which was kind of awful. She didn’t want Ellie to be sick.
“So I was thinking maybe you could come with us,” Jason said. “With Henry and me. Canoeing.”
“Um, right,” Miriam said. “The thing is, I’ve never been canoeing before. I’ve never been around kids much, either.”
“Which of those things scares you most?”
“Um—well, a little of both.”
And the possibility of falling for you.
“It’s safe, I promise,” he said, and for a second she thought he was addressing her unspoken thought. “Henry doesn’t bite, and neither does the canoe.”
“But how am I going to be helpful if I don’t know what I’m doing?”
“Believe me, an extra set of eyes and hands goes a long way with a five-year-old. Besides, haven’t we talked about how you need to be familiar with all the Urban Trax product lines? Canoes and kayaks are among our best-selling products this time of year.”
“Okay,” she said, not wanting to admit she kinda liked the idea of seeing Jason in a tight T-shirt and swim trunks. Was that what people wore to go canoeing? She had no idea, and she probably shouldn’t be thinking about ogling him when they’d have a five-year-old in tow.
“So can I pick you up in an hour?” he asked.
“I have no idea what to bring or wear or?—”
“No high heels,” he said. “Keep it casual. Maybe a swimsuit under shorts and a T-shirt or something. And shoes you don’t mind getting wet.”
