Then again, the first step would be to go on an actual date once in a while. Which had her thinking about George’s kiss. What had he meant by it? Was he toying with her?
She’d seen the type of woman he usually had hanging off his arm. Most of them were blonde and busty with empty personalities.
There was no way he was actually interested in her. Was there?
That question loomed over her for the remainder of the party. She avoided him or tried to, at any rate. After all, if he’d packed that much of a punch with just a little kiss, what would happen if she was left alone with him?
“What do you think you are doing?” she asked as she walked into the kitchen shortly before the party wound down.
Kara was standing just inside the kitchen, standing on a stepladder and trying to lift down a large platter from a cupboard.
Her sister’s left arm was still in a sling, tucked close to her side.
Kara almost toppled over on the short ladder she’d been standing on.
“Don’t do that,” Kara hissed. She glanced towards the door. “You scared me. I thought you were….”
Robin leaned against the door and smiled. “Conner?”
Kara smiled and rolled her eyes. “He won’t let me lift a finger.”
“This”—she motioned slowly to her sister standing on the ladder and trying to lift a heavy platter down— “is not what I would deem just lifting a finger.”
“No,” Kara said, shaking her head and stepping down from the step. “I suppose not. I thought it was lighter than that.” She motioned to the platter. “Would you?”
Robin walked over, stepped up on the ladder, and took the platter down. “What do you need this for?”
“I’m going to make a special surprise for Conner this weekend.” Kara took the heavy thing from her and tucked it under her good arm.
For what it was worth, Robin could tell how happy her sister was with Conner. She was truly excited about planning her sister’s wedding.
With her parents living in town, she knew that the wedding plans were going to go smoothly. Her mother, after all, was where the sisters had gotten their love of planning elaborate events in the first place.
“Please, don’t tell Conner I was up on the ladder,” Kara asked with a smile. “I told him I wouldn’t take chances with my arm.” She waited for Robin to nod in agreement before stepping out of the room.
Most of the kitchen crew had already gone home for the evening, which left Robin to clean up. In the past, before Kara had been shot, it had been the two of them.
Now Kara was back part time, but just doing basic things like making phone calls to place orders and helping with receiving and deliveries. It was down to just her cleaning up. Not that it was a difficult task, but working alone meant that it would take twice the time.
On occasion, George had helped out.
She’d temporarily hired Emma Auston to help out, but she’d been out of town this weekend.
She could hear that the party had died down out front since there was no more noise coming from the barn. The kitchen crew had left the back room spotless, which meant that her only remaining task was out front.
Stepping out into the main part of the barn, she took a moment to take a breath, enjoying the sweet smells of candle wax, cake, punch, and happiness.
“Everyone’s left,” someone said, and she spun around and almost squealed with surprise. “Sorry,” George said, walking down from the stairs. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“You didn’t,” she lied. She tried to recover quickly. Her heart was racing, and she knew it had nothing to do with being caught off guard.
He stopped at the base of the stairs and looked around.
“My family cleaned up before they left.” He motioned around.
Sure enough, the entire place was cleaned of all trash and party mess. The only thing left for her to do was stack the chairs against the walls. Even that, she figured, could be done in the morning after she’d gotten some rest.
“They’re some of the best party guests,” she said with a smile as she felt her heart jump in her chest. It was strange—over the past few weeks, she’d felt the same each time he’d been around. But now, her heart was beating twice as fast and her palms were growing damp.
“Do you need any help putting the chairs away?” he asked her.
“No, I’ll leave them for tonight. After all, I’ll just have to bring them down in the morning again. They can stay put for now.” She leaned against the post of the stairs and glanced around. “It was a fun party.”
He smiled. “A boy and a girl will be joining the family in a few months.” He sighed as he looked out over the empty barn. “It was the best party of the year,” he agreed.
She chuckled. “Wait until the next one. I hear there’s supposed to be a wedding soon,” she joked.
“Yeah.” He sighed and moved slightly towards the doorway. “How about a walk?” he asked, turning back towards her.
She thought about it for a moment before nodding. With all of the bodies in the building and her running around, she was overheated. A walk on the beach would help cool her off before bed. She’d always found it difficult to shut down after a party. Normally, she’d take a walk herself, but after her sister’s shooting, she’d stuck very close to the barn and her cottage.
After shutting all the lights off and making sure to lock up, she grabbed her jacket and followed him out into the night.
“Are you sure we’re allowed?” she teased. Numerous times over the past few weeks he’d insisted on walking her home, each time reminding her that she shouldn’t go out on her own.
“I think my uncle’s right. I think Thomas Carson has decided to stick with legal methods of pissing my family off now,” he said, putting his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket.
“Is it true that he tried to stop the construction by suing your uncle under a goat’s name?” she asked.
“It was a donkey,” he corrected with a chuckle. “Yes. If I’d been around, I would have had the case thrown out a lot quicker. Work wouldn’t have stopped for a single day.”
She stopped walking. “What? Why?”
He stopped and turned to her. “Because a donkey can’t file an injunction,” he said with a chuckle.
“No, I mean, how would you have stopped it?” She shook her head as she started walking again.
“I’ve only spent the last five years studying law,” he countered.
Her steps faltered, and he reached out to steady her. She’d done everything over the past few weeks except talk to him about his life. The fact was, she didn’t even really know anything about him. She’d assumed he was just as shallow as the women he paraded around.
“Law?” she asked. “I guess I didn’t figure you for…” She stopped when she realized what she’d been about to say.
It was his turn to stop walking. “What?” he asked, looking at her. “A lawyer?”
“Nothing,” she shook her head quickly.
“No, go on.” His eyes searched hers, much like he’d been doing earlier, before he’d kissed her.
She realized how close they were to one another and stopped herself from taking a step back.