Just after Grace finished serving dinner to Frances and her group she heard the sound of another car in the front courtyard. There was another couple arriving on Saturday, but she only expected one more person tonight, and this had to be him.
As she walked to open the door she saw Quinn getting out of the car. He certainly looked different than he had in his biking clothes. He was in business attire looking like he just left work. His tie was loosened, and the top 2 buttons on his shirt opened. But his angular looks and tussled black hair gave him the look of a GQ model. Grace's eyes were transfixed on Quinn when he turned from grabbing his bag from the back seat and saw her. He smiled as he turned to walk to the door. Grace could feel her heart in her throat.
“Is it okay if I leave my bike out here tonight. It's locked to the rack on the back,” Quinn asked as he climbed up the stairs to the door.
“It should be just fine, unless it rains,” responded Grace as she slid to the side to let Quinn through.
“Hey, that smells wonderful. I didn't know you served dinner here. I was going to drop my things off and head to town,” Quinn seemed to be asking as he entered.
“I provide dinner by prior arrangement for those guests who ask,” Grace didn't want to make it easy for Quinn.
“Grace, we have plenty of food left here,” called Frances from the dining room as she must have heard the conversation.
“That would be just great,” Quinn replied before Grace could say any more, and he dropped his bag by the door and headed to the dining room, introducing himself as he entered.
Grace was already annoyed with this and was gritting her teeth in annoyance. She headed to the kitchen to get Quinn a dish and some silverware and almost ran into him as she came through the door to the dining room.
“What is it with you and my kitchen?” Grace practically yelled at Quinn.
“I'm sorry,” he said apologetically. “I was just going to ask if I could help. I did bring something for you.” Quinn turned and went to recover a bottle of wine he had in his bag. “I thought I'd bring this as a peace offering from crashing in on your place last weekend.”
Grace managed a terse “thank you”, and set Quinn's table setting at the far end of the table as if ostracizing him.
Frances and her musicians immediately started a conversation with Quinn and asked him to move closer. Grace left the room and settled herself in the kitchen working on the dessert. Inside she felt confused. Why did being around Quinn make her so unsettled? Yes, he was quite handsome, and in a strange way pretty personable. Was he too slick? He reminded her so much of.......THAT WAS IT! And her heart sunk.
Grace was a different person when she carried the dessert tray out to the dining room. Quiet and sullen. As she set the plates down even Frances noticed and asked if she was okay. Her stock answer was “just fine” and a forced smile.
It was just a bit later when Frances and her group left for Rafter's and Quinn quietly headed up to the single room to change. When he came down Grace was in the big sitting room reading, or trying to read. She had cleared the table, but left all the dishes to do later. This was very unusual for her.
“Grace, are you sure you are okay?” Quinn asked.
“I'm just fine. Aren't you going out?” Grace replied curtly. “Your key is on the table.”
Quinn looked a little disappointed, or sad. Grace could not tell. He did not press the situation, and quietly left the cottage.
Grace was just staring at the pages of the book. And then she began to cry.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment