Page 42 of A Heart of Little Faith
Lily squirmed at the ring of truth to her statement. “I have not been avoiding dating, Sam.”
Samantha shook her head. “Maybe you haven’t done so explicitly, but you spend all your time working and playing with Claire. If it wasn’t for me and my invitations to art openings or movies, you’d never leave the house.”
“I’ve left the house plenty.”
“Yeah, and mostly with Gideon these days.” She grinned.
Lily played with the sesame seeds on her plate. She swirled them around and sucked them off her finger. “Tony asked me if I was interested in Gideon.”
“And what did you tell him?”
It had taken her a long time to get to this point, but she was finally ready to pursue a relationship with Gideon. He made her happy. He cared about her. And she felt the same way about him. “I told him I think I care for Gideon. And I do. We had a great time yesterday and for once, it was easy. There wasn’t this big wall to get through and I could see myself with him. And his kiss.” His kiss was amazing and left her wanting more. Desire pooled in her belly and she clenched her hands.
“So you’re ready to date again?” Sam pierced her with a knowing look.
Lily’s vision blurred and images from her past skated through her mind like photos in a slideshow. “I don’t know if I’m ready to date just anyone yet. I still think of Daniel, and miss him. But I’m ready to be with Gideon, if he wants me. I just can’t always tell if he does.”
“Oh he wants you, Lil. Trust me, he wants you. He may not be ready to admit it yet, but he wants you.”
She gazed at Samantha. “How can you tell? I can’t figure him out. Just when I think I know him, he morphs into someone totally different. Why isn’t anything simple with him?”
It was Samantha’s turn to look away. She drummed her blue-painted fingernails on the table. “I don’t know the specifics, and for those you’d have to ask Gideon anyway, but I do know before the accident he was dating a vile woman named Elaine. I don’t know what happened, but she came to the hospital one time and never returned. I asked him about her once, but all he’d say was she couldn’t handle it. The hurt on his face made me never ask about her again. And he’s refused to go near a hospital ever since.”
Lily chewed on her bagel as she digested Samantha’s information. “Maybe he doesn’t think I can handle it either,” she mused.
“I don’t know, but he’s never done anything with a woman since the accident. Since he’s let you in this far, chances are he cares about you a lot, more than he’s letting on.”
They ate quietly and Lily told Samantha about the investigation and her time with Tony.
“That’s terrific! You must be relieved.” Samantha hugged her again. “We should all go out and celebrate.”
Lily raised an eyebrow and Samantha blushed. “That’s right, you don’t know yet.”
“Know what?”
“Tony and I went out.”
Lily gasped. “On a date? That’s wonderful! Tell me all about it.”
“Well, it’s still in the early stages, Lil. We’ve only gone on two dates and that was for coffee and dinner earlier this week. I actually asked him out when I dropped Claire off at the center. Gideon talks about him all the time and although I remember him from when we were kids, I haven’t seen him in forever. There was just something about him that intrigued me.”
“What was his reaction to your asking him out? I thought he was a pretty traditional, macho-type guy.”
Sam’s eyes sparkled. “He laughed, because he’d been planning to ask me out and I beat him to it. I don’t think he was focusing on who should have been doing the asking.”
She leaned forward, her voice sharp. “Do you like him?”
“So far. It’s only been two dates, but he makes my insides fluttery. I’ll let you know what happens.”
“Oh gosh, I went with him to the movies,” Lily moaned. “I’m sorry. I had no idea about you two and…”
“Don’t worry about it Lily, it’s fine. Now, as I was saying, we should celebrate.” They made plans and before long, it was time for Lily to leave to pick up Claire. They hugged goodbye at the door.
“Let me know what happens, okay? Oh, and don’t mention Tony and me to my brother. I’ll do it when the time is right.”
Chapter 15
Monday night, Gideon flipped through the mail on his counter and paused when he saw the ivory envelope. His thick fingers fumbled with it as he opened it and studied the wedding invitation. He examined the fibers in the heavy paper and felt the writing embossed in black calligraphy. He ran his finger over the lettering as he thought about Tony’s sister’s wedding. His throat went dry, and he grabbed a pen to check “Unable to attend” on the response card. But he stopped in midair and grasped the pen until his knuckles whitened and ached. Weddings, romance, kissing…Lily. He hadn’t been able to think of anything but her kiss since the baseball game. The feel of her lip on his, the softness of her mouth, the scent of her skin. He threw the pen across the room and glared as it rolled under the couch.