Page 68 of California Love Songs
He knew how much she loved to dance, so he put out his hand. “May I?”
She chuckled, delighted with him. “I thought you’d never ask.”
He took Margaret out on the floor for a boogie.
She must have caught him eyeing the birthday girl dancing with his brother, because she twinkled up at him. “Were you surprised that Damien and Crystal fell in love?”
He liked that she’d asked a clear and simple question. No ambiguity. “Yes,” he answered. “I was. I did not see that coming.”
She chuckled. “I could have told you that girl’s been in love with him for years. But like a lot of men, Damien couldn’t see what was right under his nose. Fortunately, the years have made him wiser and he’s smartened up.”
“Do you think they’ll be happy?” Nick wanted to know. He had no data with which to answer the question himself.
Margaret tilted her head as though thinking about it. She twirled on the spot in time with the music and then said, “I think some people are destined to be together. My beloved husband, God rest his soul, was the love of my life. I definitely think Crystal knew early on that Damien was the love of her life. Damien just took a little longer to catch up.” She twinkled at him again. “But then, men usually do.”
He laughed and swung Margaret around in a two-step. A dance with a pattern. He preferred those. When the song finished, he fetched her a sparkling water because he wanted to keep an eye on her and make sure she stayed hydrated. Then he got one for himself, for the same reason.
“When’s it going to be your turn?” Margaret asked him.
He wasn’t going to tell her that the software engineer he’d been dating had recently broken it off. Said he spent too much time working. And that was the trouble. He knew he did. And he spent far too much time online and checking out his apps, dreaming up new ones. He felt safe there. The rules made sense in a way that human interactions just didn’t.
The thing about dating software engineers was that they tended to think the way he did. So for one of his own kind to tell him he was spending too much time online made him think maybe it was true.
He was trying to wean himself off his devices, but it wasn’t easy.
He pulled himself back to the present. He asked Margaret when her next travel adventure was going to be, because with Margaret there was always a new adventure in the offing.
“Your tie is askew,” she said, and then leaned forward to tweak the sequined bow tie his mother had forced on him. He’d also managed to find a sequined vest that slipped over his white shirt and jeans.
For Nick, this was as dressed up as it got.
When she’d straightened his tie, she gave a nod and stepped back. “I’m going to be cruising in Norway. I want to see the fjords, and I’ve never seen the Northern Lights.”
“That’s great,” Nick said, his enthusiasm genuine, although he never found time himself to travel.
“While I’m away,” she said, “I’d like you to do me a favor.”
He was a bit surprised. “Sure. Do you want me to water your plants or something?”
“No. My granddaughter, Rosamund, is coming to stay. It’s rather unexpected.” Her voice hinted at reasons that he probably didn’t want to know.
“Anyway, I can’t cancel my trip now, and Rosamund says she’ll be perfectly fine in my house by herself. Which of course she will. She’s a grown woman. I just wonder if you and your family wouldn’t mind keeping an eye on her. She doesn’t know anyone here.”
“Yes, of course,” Nick said. Then he pulled out his phone. “What are the dates she’ll be here?”
Margaret smiled at him as though there was something comical in his putting the dates in the calendar. It wasn’t comical at all. It was the practical thing to do.
She gave him the dates. “Rosamund is a knitter.”
Immediately he pictured a quiet young woman. Probably very shy. With glasses, maybe.
“A knitter?” he asked. “That’s her hobby?”
“No,” Margaret said. “That’s her job.”
“Oh.” His mom had gone through a very short-lived phase of knitting in front of the television or while listening to the radio. He hadn’t considered that you could make a living from it. No doubt this Rosamund worked in a knitting shop.
He glanced around at his family, dancing and laughing and glittering. He wondered how this poor, unknown knitter would ever fit in. Still, at least they always welcomed strangers. He’d make sure she got invited to their family breakfast if she wanted to come. And he made a note to check out where the closest knitting shops were.
