Soon To Be Brides. Joan Elliott Pickart
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the two pictures to Matt. “Here she is.”
“Hey, kiddo. You’re just as cute today as you were last night. That is wild hair. Maybe we should take her some of the goop, that styling-gel junk, that people use.”
We? Caitlin thought. We should take the baby some styling gel? Where had that we come from? Well, now, don’t go crazy, Caitlin. Matt had been drafted into being her luggage handler or whatever his title was. Her partner, per se, because her friend couldn’t go. So, it was natural that he’d see himself attached to her and the baby during the trip, in a manner of speaking.
Okay, she had that one figured out, but if she didn’t quit analyzing and overreacting to everything that Matt said and did she was going to fall on her face from exhaustion. Food. She needed food.
“Food,” she said, and reached for a slice of pizza.
Matt set the two pictures on the end of the table so both he and Caitlin could see them. They each ate a slice of pizza, and took a second one.
“This is delicious,” Caitlin said.
“Mmm. You know, that one sleeper Miss M. has on looks okay, but the other one is really faded, worn. You can see how thin the material is in spots.”
“I know.” Caitlin glanced over at the photographs. “The orphanages in China have to make due with what they can get. Miss M. is healthy, so that means she made it through the winter months after she was born without getting seriously ill. The weather in China now is much like it is here…warm, sunny. That makes me rest a little easier about the condition of that sleeper.”
Matt chuckled. “Maybe that’s why she’s frowning in both pictures. She’s all girl and isn’t satisfied with her wardrobe.”
“Oh, okay, I’ll go with that theory, rather than one that says she’s unhappy about something…like a tummyache or…oh, don’t get me started. I’ll worry myself into a sleepless night. I hope Carolyn calls soon and says we’re scheduled to leave. I just want to go get my baby, my daughter. Marsha agrees with me that even though we’ve waited all these months, now that we’ve seen the pictures this is agony.”
“No joke. I wish she would have smiled in at least one of those photos. Nope. Whoa. We won’t dwell on why she looks so grumpy.” Matt narrowed his eyes. “New topic. Sort of. Have you settled on a middle name yet?”
Caitlin nodded, raised one finger as she chewed, then swallowed a bite of pizza. “Her middle name is going to be Olivia, after my mother. I not only love my mom but I also respect her more than I could ever begin to tell you. She conducted herself with such class and dignity through some very difficult years and, well, I thought that naming my daughter after her would really convey how I feel about her.”
“I think—” Matt cleared his throat “—I think that your mother must be very, very honored, Caitlin. I’d like to believe that I might have a daughter someday that thought that highly of me. What did your mother say when you told her?”
“She got all weepy, and Paulo, my stepfather, said it was a beautiful gift to give to her. My mother was a widow when she married Paulo last year. She met him during a trip she made to Italy, and it was a whirlwind courtship. Paulo is a delightful man who is crazy in love with my mother and they’re so wonderful together. I’m thrilled for my mom. She deserves to have that kind of happiness.”
“You said your mother was a widow when she met Paulo.”
Caitlin nodded. “Yes, my father died when I was sixteen.”
“Whew. That’s rough. I’m sorry. Do you still miss him? Especially at a momentous time like this in your life when you’re about to become a mother?”
“No. I don’t miss him at all.” There as a sudden sharp edge to her voice.
“Oh,” Matt said, frowning slightly. Something wasn’t quite on the mark here. There was a…a shadow hanging over the memory of Caitlin’s father. Why? There he was again, stacking another question about Caitlin on the teetering tower. “You said last night that Paulo is ill?”
“Yes. They’re running tests because they’re not certain what is wrong and I’m very concerned about him. I’m praying he’ll be fine and that he and my mother will be able to come to the States soon and meet Miss M.”
“Who will be smiling by then,” Matt said.
“Yes, she’ll be smiling by then.”
And then Caitlin and Matt were smiling as their gazes met, warm smiles, special smiles born of sharing the personal, meaningful story of why Caitlin had chosen the baby’s middle name. The restaurant disappeared into a strange mist that surrounded them, the noise and the people simply no longer existed in the haze that swirled around them.
Their smiles faded as heat began to churn and thrum within them, pulsing, hot…so hot. They couldn’t move, could hardly breathe, in the place they’d been transported to. It was so strange. And exciting. And terrifying. And…
“More to drink?” a voice said, snapping both Caitlin and Matt back to reality with a thud. “It’s all-you-can-drink night, refills free.”
“It’s who?” Matt said, staring at the young girl standing by their booth.
“Like…soda…ya know,” the waitress said, pointing to the pitcher. “The drink? Free refills, like, twenty times if you want or whatever?”
“Oh. Sure.” Matt nodded jerkily. “You bet. Fill it right up. Thank you. Nice of you to offer.”
“Yeah, it’s awesome,” the girl said, snatching up the pitcher and eyeing Matt warily. “Back in a flash.”
What had just happened between her and Matt? Caitlin wondered, fiddling with her napkin to avoid looking at him. She had never in her life experienced anything so…so unexplainable, so incredibly sensual and…
She wasn’t going to address this. No. She’d just pretend that it hadn’t happened. For all she knew, Matt hadn’t even been aware of the strange… whatever it had been that had… It was over. Gone. Forgotten.
“So!” Caitlin said to a spot just above Matt’s left shoulder. “Have you figured out how to pack enough for two weeks into one suitcase and…”
“Caitlin—”
“I’ve got to scrunch tons of diapers into my suitcase, along with baby clothes and bottles and… It certainly will be a challenge, that one suitcase, won’t it? Yes, it definitely will and—”
“Caitlin—”
“What!” she said much too loudly.
“I felt it. You felt it, I know you did. What… what was that?”
Caitlin plunked one elbow on the table and rested her forehead in her palm.
“I have no idea. And I don’t care to discuss it, nor try to figure out what it was.”
“Why not?”
Caitlin raised her head. “Why not? Because it was… was man-and-woman…stuff, and I don’t want that in my life, complicating things. I am focused on mommy-and-baby…stuff, and that’s all I can handle.
“I wish I could think of a more sophisticated word than stuff, but I’m a bit jangled at the moment. Whatever that was, Matt, it’s in the past already, poof, gone.” She lifted her chin. “Please don’t refer to it again.”
“You don’t want me to refer to the fact that we’re attracted to each other,” Matt said, his gaze riveted on Caitlin. “That there was suddenly such heated sexuality weaving back and forth between us that it’s a wonder the pizza didn’t burn to a crisp?
“You don’t want me to tell you that during that strange moment out of time it took all the will-powerI had not to come around this table, take you in my arms and kiss you until neither