“Then I won’t say any of the above,” Trevor conceded. “I don’t want to quarrel with you this evening.”
“Neither do I.” She smiled at him. “So I’m really glad you’ve decided not to mention Clark. Would you like dessert? I made peach cobbler.”
“Peach cobbler?” His frown lightened.
“It’s still warm. And I have ice cream.”
That almost made him smile. “I suppose I could eat a little more.”
She chuckled and got up from the table. “I’ll dish it up. Help yourself to coffee.”
“Want me to pour you a cup?”
“Yes, please.”
The peach cobbler and ice cream seemed to put him in a better mood. Jamie made a mental note that sweets were a way to perk him up. By the time he had polished off a generous helping, he was almost cheerful.
“So what would you like to do now?” she asked when the cobbler had been devoured and the dishes cleared away. “Watch TV? Play Scrabble? Wash your car?”
“I think we can come up with something more interesting than any of those options—particularly the latter.”
The way he was suddenly looking at her made her smile and move closer to him. “We could always alphabetize my pantry.”
He slipped his arms around her waist. “Try again.”
Looping her arms around his neck, she pretended to give it some thought. “Organize my sock drawer?”
“Do you keep your socks in your bedroom?”
“Of course.”
His mouth crooked into a smile. “Why don’t we go in there and discuss it?”
“Why don’t we?” she murmured, rubbing her lips lightly against his.
They never got around to organizing the sock drawer, of course. And Jamie soon discovered that sweets weren’t the only way to put Trevor in a good mood.
TREVOR LEFT much sooner than either of them would have liked. He had no choice, of course, since he had to pick up the children. They were leaving early the next morning to go visit Tara in Atlanta. What bothered her, though, was that it hadn’t even seemed to occur to him to invite Jamie along. She told herself not to be offended. Trevor was obviously concentrating on establishing a relationship with her before introducing her into his family. That made sense, she supposed—but she had really enjoyed the family picnic, and she would love to be included again.
But she could wait, she told herself, until he was ready. Or at least until her limited patience ran out completely.
He kissed her lingeringly at the door. “I’ll call you.”
“Drive carefully tomorrow.”
“I will.”
“And give my best to your sister and her husband and their new baby.”
For some reason, he frowned again—just a little—but he nodded. “I’ll do that.”
“Good night,” she said, trying to keep the wistfulness out of her voice.
He kissed her again. “Good night, Jamie.”
As Jamie locked the door and prepared to get ready for bed, she realized that she was missing Trevor already, wondering when she would see him again. It was a little scary how hard she had fallen for him. How much she suddenly had at stake.
She had come back to Honoria when she’d realized that something was missing from her life. She’d thought facing her past, and reexamining her roots would help her identify what she needed to fulfill her. It wasn’t money—she could have gone on making a decent income in New York. More than she made here, actually. It wasn’t fame, though there had been a time when she’d fantasized about that, too—before she’d realized that she wasn’t destined for superstardom. She was too private and independent for that sort of fishbowl life, anyway.