Not a Chance (Sweet Nothings)

chapter THIRTEEN



Life for Emma Harris was generally peachy keen. It was Friday morning and as per her usual schedule, she donned her Sunday skirt and blouse, arranged her hair in a loose knot at the nape of her neck, and shoved into her black wool coat and matching cloche with the little, crocheted flower on the side. She was the preacher's only child and all growing up, she and her mother used to have tea parties quite regularly. When she'd grown old enough to take on her own responsibilities with the church, she'd begun a regular, Friday tea social with her friend Shannon Murphy.

This was where she was headed now, strolling down the sidewalk along main street, occasionally slipping on a leftover patch of ice. Normally this walk would take her longer because there would be people to stop and visit with. But today was rather cold and mucky and most folks had stayed indoors. She expected a rather small turnout for tea. Which was fine. It would give her more time to socialize with her friends.

She arrived at the Sweet Nothings Café a half an hour early, draped her coat over the back of one of the chairs and the long table Shannon had set up for the event, and went into the kitchen. She paused only once to visit with an elderly couple from church who were having a late breakfast.

In the kitchen, Shannon looked up from her work, elbow deep in bread dough, and smiled. "I'm so glad it thawed out enough for brunch today," said the tall, redheaded beauty. Emma didn't often envy, but if she could have changed her appearance at all, she would model it after Shannon, who had all the elegance and presence of a Druidic queen.

"Me too," Emma said. She washed her hands in a nearby sink. Then she tied an apron around her waist. "Now. What can I do to help?"

"You can frost the cinnamon buns and prepare the tea pots." Shannon directed her to one of the long, butcher block work tables where a sheet cake pan full of freshly baked cinnamon buns was cooling. Emma leaned over, inhaled deeply and thought, who needs men?

She went straight to work icing them and then arranging them on one of Shannon's special platters that she reserved just for these events.

"Alice and Arden are coming by," Shannon said over her shoulder.

"Oh good," Emma said, only slightly half-heartedly. Arden was her best friend, but Alice tended to be...difficult.

"Don't worry," Shannon said, reading Emma's mind. "I'm spiking Alice's drink. She should be mildly pleasant." Shannon reached under the counter and pulled out a half-empty bottle of vodka.

"You've done this before, I see?" Emma asked.

Shannon nodded. "Regularly."

Emma slipped out of the kitchen with four china tea pots on a tray. She spaced them out along the table and then set out the teacups and plates. There were a few patrons in the café already, but it didn't tend to get too crowded during the lunch hour. Shannon did most of her business at breakfast and in the evening after dinner when people needed a place to go to sip coffee and socialize.

Emma smiled as she looked up and saw two of Sweet Nothings' regular patrons tromp in. Travis and Dustin Lanier came in nearly every day for lunch. She'd come to expect it and was always severely disappointed on days when they didn't show up. Some days Dustin came alone, but she could tell he didn't like to. She could also tell he was dragging Travis there against his will since Travis always picked up the menu, shook his head in disgust at the effeminate offerings, and ordered a reuben sandwich...apparently the only food masculine enough to be worthy of his attention.

Travis looked over and saw her. She smiled and he waved. He nodded towards her at Dustin, but Dustin ignored him, sat at his table and hid behind his menu. Travis sauntered over, his hands in his pockets. So Emma sat the last teacup down and met him halfway.

"Hello, Travis, how are you today?" she asked, in her churchiest voice.

"Just fine, Miss Emma. And you?"

"Well and good. I heard you got stranded in the snow?"

Travis shrugged. "Yes. It wasn't pleasant. I heard you broke up with Cody Cowen last week. Is that true?" Travis hooked his thumbs in his belt loops and cocked his head slightly.

Emma blushed. "It was a mutual break-up."

"Sure it was. What went wrong?"

Emma glanced over her shoulder hoping to catch Shannon's eye and get some help, but she was in the kitchen.

"No one to save you, dearest," Travis said with a wink.

Emma felt her knees go weak. It was impossible not to swoon around this man. He seemed to see into your very soul.

"So? What went wrong?" he asked again.

Emma sighed. She really didn't like having personal conversations with...well...with anyone, really. "Same thing that always goes wrong. Every guy I date seems to think I was put on this earth to save him from himself. They want an angel, not a woman."

Travis shook his head. "Damn fools. You're a hell of a woman, Emma. I'm sorry you keep getting stuck with these losers."

She blushed at his compliment and was about to change the subject when Travis continued.

"You know who isn't a loser? And doesn't need anyone to save him from himself? And is looking for a woman, not an angel?"

She batted her eyelashes up at him. "You?"

He grinned. "Well yes, as a matter of fact. But you're altogether too sweet for me. I'm talking about Dustin."

"I'm not interested."

Travis's expression fell. "What? Why not?"

"Why not? Because I've been nothing but nice to him and even flirted a little bit and all he does is look at me and then walk away. He's way too much work. I want a guy who's easy to be with."

"Hey, none of us are easy to be with. He's crazy about you, Emma. Come with me and talk to him."

"Nope."

He leaned in and lowered his voice. "Please, Emma. I'll do anything. He keeps dragging me here and it's nice and all and no offense to Shannon, but it smells like flowers and all the food is dainty. I feel like there's lace all over me, it's disgusting." He shivered as though he were shaking off a spider web.

Emma laughed. "So you're saying the reason you want Dustin and I to get together is so you can go back to eating bologna sandwiches out of your He-Man lunch box back at the garage."

Travis closed his eyes and exhaled. "Good. You understand. Let's go talk to him." He took her by the arm and she was about to object when Alice and Arden came in.

Arden saw them and double timed it over.

"Travis, what are you doing here?" she asked, her expression angry.

Emma watched as Travis's expression darkened to a mix of frustration and sadness. Then he turned to face Arden.

"Am I not supposed to be here?" he asked, surprising Emma with the bitterness in his voice. "Is this place only for uppity former cheer captains? Because I can go."

Arden drew herself up, threw her shoulders back and glared up at him, one brow raised. Emma took a step back and tried not to grin. "Travis, I know you're hurt and that's why I won't stoop to name calling even though you're acting like a jerk."

He laughed sharply and then stared hard at her and suddenly there was electricity and Arden seemed to shrink. Her eyes were wide and round and uncertain. Travis's expression was hard and unyielding. And then it softened. Emma watched in amazement as Travis slowly, sadly smiled.

"I actually have a fireplace in my house," he said to Arden. "And you know I don't drink, but you can have all the wine you want. I'll buy a big-ass box of it. Red or white. Your choice. Real classy shit. And I've never in my life listened to anything that had a cello in it, but I'd sure as hell be willing to give it a try."

Arden's eyes brimmed with tears and she was smiling bigger than Emma had ever seen her smile. "You sure know how to sweet talk a girl," she said. Emma thought she was going for sarcastic, but the joy radiating from her was too sincere.

Travis suddenly looked slightly tense, which was out of character for him. He opened his mouth to speak.

Arden shook her head. "Don't do it," she said.

He slammed his mouth shut and looked away.

"I want to be friends," she said, touching his arm.

He nodded, still not looking at her.

"But you can't use that to try to get me to leave Nick."

Travis scoffed and looked down at his feet. Then he looked up at Arden and Emma caught her breath at the raw emotion on his face. "Whatever you want," he said softly. "Anything. Just tell me the rules and I'll follow them. I just want to be near you."

Arden smiled, clearly pleased with herself. She reached up and kissed him on the cheek and then told him goodbye. Travis left, then, and Arden forcibly schooled her features. Alice, Shannon and Emma exchanged excited looks, clearly anticipating a good, post-luncheon debrief of Arden's five snowbound days with Travis. Arden avoided meeting anyone's eyes and soon a half-dozen ladies from church trickled in and they sat around the table and broke into various conversations.

It was a lovely tea as usual, but Emma was glad when the last of the guests left around one. She hustled clearing the table and noticed Shannon and Alice doing the same. They reached the kitchen, their arms full of dishes. Emma emptied hers into the sink and turned to pounce on Arden, but Alice beat her to it.

"I demand to know what went on with Travis Lanier. Spill it," said Alice, short, blond and antagonistic. She stumbled back onto a stool, orange juice sloshing out of her cup. Her voice was louder than it needed to be.

Emma grinned at Shannon. The nearly empty vodka bottle sat on a shelf under the sink and Shannon nudged it further back with the toe of her shoe.

Arden leaned against the butcher block work table and daintily pulled off a bite of cinnamon roll. "Honestly, Alice, nothing went on, okay? The last thing I need is people speculating and ruining my relationship with Nick."

Too late for that, thought Emma, after that little display earlier.

"Okay, Arden," Emma said, lowering her voice conspiratorially, "We completely understand. But we would never spread this around. So just tell us what happened." She stepped forward, closing up their little circle.

Arden gaped at her. "Nothing happened! Why are we assuming that something happened?"

They all laughed. "You've turned him into a love sick puppy," Emma said. "In five days time. That's gotta be a record or something."

"Yeah," Alice said loudly. "So what was that conversation about?" She punctuated her question with a hiccup.

"Just an argument we had yesterday. It was nothing."

"Well then if nothing happened, make something up," Alice said. "I'm dying to hear a good story." She hiccuped again and looked confused.

Emma rolled her eyes and shook her head. Alice was abrasive in the best of situations and not generally well-liked around town. For that reason, Emma knew that Alice valued her friendships.

"Why don't you tell us a story, Alice," Arden said, still peeling off bites of her cinnamon roll and looking bored.

"Okay," Alice said. "So last night Vince came home drunk. Again. Usually Russell brings him home, but it wasn't Russell's car. I didn't recognize it, or the woman driving. When I asked Vince who the whore was who drove him home he said, 'Nobody,' and he refused to answer. Instead, he acted like he didn't know where the coffee was so I would get up and fix it for him. Which I did. Next time I won't though. I'm done fixing coffee for him. So there. Now don't you wish you'd told me a good story, Arden?"

Emma looked away. Alice's marriage had been on a slow crumble for two years now and she ached with compassion for both Alice and Vince.

Shannon, who was Alice's best friend, was less patient. "You're sabotaging your marriage, Alice, so don't expect us to feel sorry for you."

"Why can't you be supportive for once?" Alice asked. "My husband is cheating on me and you blame me for it."

"Vince isn't cheating on you. At worst, he's a little boy acting out for attention. He would never sleep with another woman."

"It doesn't matter. I don't care anymore. I'm just not fixing any more coffee, that's all."

"You know," said Emma, "there's a good marriage seminar coming up in January. You and Vince should come."

Alice laughed and then hiccuped. She patted herself on the chest and looked confused for a moment.

Shannon turned to hide a smile.

"Vince would never go for something like that," Alice said. "He doesn't care enough about me to actually work at our marriage."

Emma sighed. "Well, it's there if you want it. And Arden," she turned to her other friend, "you and Nick would benefit from it as well."

Arden nodded. "We're already planning on going."

"Are you sure, though, that it's Nick you'll be bringing?" Shannon asked with a mischievous grin.

Arden rolled her eyes and licked the sticky cinnamon bun frosting off her fingers.

"I'm just saying," Shannon said, "Travis is one fine looking man. Seems like either you or Emma need to snag him."

"Well it will have to be Emma, because I'm spoken for. Travis and I are perfect for each other." She turned red and glanced at her friends who were all grinning at her. "Nick," she said. "Nick and I are perfect for each other. Stop looking at me like that. It was a slip of the tongue."

"Sure there were no 'slips of the tongue' during those long, cold nights with Travis?" Shannon asked.

"If I had Travis all to myself," Alice said, "I'm sure the nights would be far from cold."

"Stop it, both of you," Arden said. "Nothing happened. Not for me, anyway."

Shannon turned her smile on Emma. "What about it? Are you interested in him?"

Emma felt herself blush. She wished she didn't do that. "Actually, I'm sort of waiting for Dustin to ask me out."

Shannon's jaw dropped. "When did this happen?"

"I've had a crush on him forever. But he's so shy. And you know me, I refuse to ask a guy out. If he doesn't have the guts to do it himself, then he's not worth my time."

"Then why wait on him?"

"I haven't been. I've dated other guys, as you well know. But nobody has managed to get Dustin off my mind. He's so cute with that John Wayne strong and silent thing he has going. I don't know if he'll ever get up the courage, though."

Alice stood, wobbled and then sat back down. "Well I'll say a prayer for you, Emma. That the Lord will endow Dustin 'John Wayne' Lanier with a set of balls big enough to ask you out. But if you want my advice, run the other way. You'll get over him. I got me one of those strong and silent guys and he's been nothing but heartache."

"Any woman would be happy to have Vince," Shannon said. "You'd best realize that soon before it's too late. Now, Emma, you can't go condemning him for being shy. I admire your conviction not to ask him out, but you know good and well that it's being shy that's stopping you, not your principles. You don't have to ask him on a date, but you're probably going to have to be more overt in your flirtation with him. Otherwise, he's never going to make a move."

Emma shrugged. "I'm not good at flirting. I talk to him every chance I get. I don't see why that's not enough.

"Because you talk to him the same as you talk to everyone. You're super nice and sweet to everyone. You have to single him out and let him know he's something special." Shannon looked to her friends for support.

Alice was staring into her third glass of orange juice, eyeing it suspiciously.

Arden nodded agreement. "I got a shy guy to ask me out once in high school. I had to really lay it on thick before he would man up and do it. But it can be done."

Emma laughed. "It just seems wrong, talking strategy like this. Love should just happen. It shouldn't require this much thought and planning."

Shannon and Arden both nodded. But Emma figured there was no use complaining about it. That was just the facts of life. Maybe she would flirt with Dustin a little at church on Sunday.