Peggy pushed it open wider and peered in. “Barb, I’m here.” There was no answer so she stepped into the foyer. “Barbara.” Her second call echoed in the house but again, there was no answer. Peggy gave a soft hiss of annoyance. Knowing Barbara, she’d made this arrangement and then forgotten all about it. She was probably tucked away in bed, lost in a good book, not remembering that she should be expecting a visitor.
“Barbara,” she yelled a third time and then she was walking down the hallway, intent on finding her friend, grumbling as she went. She was marching past the dining room when she stopped short. Good heavens.
She turned and stared at the dining table, a piece of furniture Barbara hardly used because she always hung out in the kitchen. This evening the usually bare table was elegantly decorated with a collection of red and white scented candles clustered in the center of a circle of tiny bowls filled with rose petals. On one side of the table were covered dishes from which wafted the delicious aroma of food and on the other side were two tall-stemmed glasses and a dewy silver wine bucket from which the top of a bottle stuck.
“That little devil.” The words left Peggy’s mouth in a soft whisper, a mixture of annoyance and pleasure. Barbara Bonner was something else. Her friend was giving her a taste of her own medicine, playing the same trick on her that she'd played on Blake and Ryder. That was what you got for letting your friend in on your secret.
And then, like she guessed would happen, there was a knock at the door. She didn’t have to open it to know who was standing on the front porch and, poor thing, he was probably as much in the dark as she’d been.
Or was he? Peggy’s eyes narrowed as she thought about that. What if Ted had been in on the plan? If so, she would kill him. But she wouldn’t make him see her suspicion. No, she would greet him as friendly as always, but she would be watching him like a hawk. He’d never been able to keep a secret. His face would tell the whole story.
But when Peggy went to the door and threw it open she could tell by his reaction that he knew absolutely nothing about the affair.
As the door opened and he saw her standing there his eyebrows shot up. “Peggy? I thought…where’s Barbara? I got a message that she needed to see me right away.”
“Yeah, you and me both.” Peggy wrinkled her nose. “Our good friend is playing tricks on us.” She stepped back and held the door wide. “Come on in. I’ll show you.”
When they got to the dining room and Ted saw the spread he gave a low whistle. “Looks like she’s getting ready to receive a very special man this evening.” Then he gave a slight frown. “Barbara’s got a beau? How come I didn’t know that? After Gordon passed away I thought she'd given up on men.”
Peggy glared at him, not believing he could be so slow, and then she punched him on the arm. “She hasn’t got a beau, you dolt. That’s for us. That’s why she invited us here.”
His brows lifted. “For us?” And then, as the realization sank in, his face relaxed into a smile. “For us.”
Peggy almost punched him again. “Don’t get too happy about that. I don’t know if I like Barb fooling me like this. It’s not right-” She stopped, again remembering she’d been the one who tried the trick first. She was the last person to be chastising her friend for using her sneaky little trick.
“Well, we might as well see what she fixed us. Have a seat.” Peggy knew she wouldn’t win any prizes for congeniality but she was in no mood to be nice to Ted. He might not have been part of the planning of this rendezvous but she had to be annoyed with someone. Barbara wasn’t here so he was the easiest target.
“So are you going to sit or not?” she bit out, when it didn’t look like he was moving fast enough.
“Hold your horses, little lady. Let me get the chair for you before you bite my head off.” Ted was pulling out the chair as he spoke and his look of reproach made Peggy feel a tiny thread of remorse.
“Sorry,” she said, her voice not so bold and forceful this time. “Barbara just threw me upside down, that’s all. I shouldn’t take it out on you.” She slid onto the chair then glanced up at Ted, hoping her look was sufficiently apologetic to appease him.
“That’s all right,” he said. “I know how you feel. She threw me upside down, too.” Then he grinned. “In a good way.”
After that they settled into a comfortable silence as Ted lifted the covers from each of the dishes and began to ladle a little of each onto Peggy’s plate. “I know exactly what you like,” he said, “and how much. I’ve watched you eat at enough events to have this down pat.”
“You’ve watched me eat?” Peggy didn’t know if she liked the sound of that.
Ted gave a nervous laugh. “Well, not like a stalker or anything. I just notice you a lot.”
Her gaze narrowed. “You notice me? A lot?”
By this time Ted was looking like he was sorry he’d opened his mouth. He closed his lips tight and dumped a much too generous portion of mashed potatoes on her plate and then he made his escape to the other side of the table.
Peggy almost felt sorry for him. She could be such a contentious harridan when she was ready. She’d just apologized to the man and here she’d gone and spoiled it so soon. She drew in her breath and closed her eyes, willing herself into a better mood. When she opened her eyes Ted was staring at her, a look of concern on his face.
“Are you all right?”
She smiled at him. “I’m fine,” she said then patted the seat beside her. “Now I know we’re not going to have dinner with you sitting all the way over there. Why don’t you sit right here?”
When his face brightened and he hurried over to do her bidding she knew she’d done the right thing. The truth was, she’d been cantankerous for one reason and one reason only. She was beginning to like Ted and she’d been doing everything in her power to resist it but it wasn’t working. He was growing on her and she didn’t like it. What made it worse, it looked like she wasn’t the only one who knew about it. Barbara had noticed it, too. Why else would she have gone to all the trouble of setting up this dinner date?
As Ted pulled out the chair beside her Peggy gave a soft sigh of resignation. Did it make sense to even fight this? After all, life was too short to decide to be lonely or unhappy just for the heck of it. If her happiness was to come through Ted then so be it.