Date Next Door

Elaine shook her head. “And skip the big event tomorrow evening? Heidi would be heartbroken. She’s been planning this for months.”

Joel sighed heavily. “Yeah, I know. I’m just not particularly looking forward to it.”

“You could always have an emergency call from Cabot,” Nic suggested helpfully. “You’ve made your appearance and proven to everyone that you’re okay. They wouldn’t be surprised if a busy doctor had to bail early.”

Joel seemed to consider the suggestion, but Elaine shook her head in disapproval. “Lie to your old friends?” she asked. “People who have been so looking forward to seeing you? I’m sure you’re only teasing, Nicole, but Joel would never do that.”

Giving Nic a wry look that let her know he was well aware she hadn’t been teasing, Joel appeased his mother by saying, “I’ll go to the party, Mom. And I’ll probably even have a pretty good time. But that doesn’t mean I’m counting the minutes until it starts.”

Still frowning a little in Nic’s direction, Elaine rose from the couch. “I think I’ll turn in. Your father already went up, since he was tired from a particularly long day. Can I walk you to your bedroom, Nicole?”

Startled by the offer, Nic shook her head. “Thanks, but I’ll go up in a little while. I think I’ll watch a little TV first to wind down from the game, if that’s okay.”

“Of course it’s okay,” Joel assured her. “Actually, I need to wind down a little myself. Maybe have a cup of that herbal tea Mom’s been drinking.”

“All right.” Elaine looked somewhat anxiously from Nic to Joel and back. “You’ll let us know if you need anything during the night, Nicole?”

“I’ll be fine. Good night, Mrs. Brannon.”

“Yes. Good night.”

Nic waited until she was sure the older woman was out of earshot before she turned to Joel. “Did she really think I’d jump you as soon as we were alone together?”

Joel blinked a couple of times in surprise at her blunt question, but then he smiled and shook his head. “Why on earth would you think that?”

“It was obvious that she didn’t want to leave us in here together.”

“I’m sure you’re imagining things. Mom’s kind of hard to read sometimes.”

Nic didn’t think Elaine was at all hard to read. To her, it was clear that Elaine had come to the conclusion that Nic was not a suitable match for her son. Perhaps she thought Nic was angling to be the next Mrs. Brannon.

Elaine was probably convinced that any woman in her right mind would be interested in snagging her good-looking, successful-doctor son. Especially, Nic thought cynically, a woman like her—an average-looking small-town cop nearing her thirties.

A woman who couldn’t be more opposite from the daughter-in-law Elaine had obviously adored.

Dismissing the comments about his mother’s motives, Joel motioned Nic toward the couch. “Make yourself comfortable. You want something to drink? A nightcap? Soda? Hot cocoa?”

“Hot cocoa sounds good, actually. Can I help you with it?”

“No, sit tight. I’ll get it. Marshmallows or whipped cream?”

“Marshmallows, of course.” Sinking onto the deep, comfortable, intimidatingly white sofa cushions, Nic reached for the remote control. Might as well watch Letterman’s Top Ten since she was up, she figured.

Her cell phone rang while a local car dealer was shouting at the camera about the crazy deals he was offering for the month of October. Hearing the familiar opening refrains of her personalized ringtone—The Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun”—she scrambled in the canvas tote bag she used for a purse to find the small phone.

Aislinn’s number was displayed on the screen. Surprised—and a little concerned—Nic held the phone to her ear. “Aislinn? What’s wrong?”

“That’s what I was going to ask you,” her friend said somberly. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“I don’t know. I just had a feeling that something was wrong there. Something involving you.”

“Well, your feeling is misguided for once. Everything is perfectly fine here. Joel and I just got back from the football game, and the home team won and everything. Joel’s old friend’s were nice, for the most part, and I had a pretty good time, considering that I was attending someone else’s reunion.”

“So there was no…?”

“No what?” Nic prodded patiently.