You dont have to worry about that. I have our itinerary all mapped out and Ive checked road conditions.
Oh. Well, I wasnt really worried. She shifted the phone to her other ear. Are you sure you dont have time for a quick drink? Or a cup of coffee.
Sorry, but Im pretty busy here. Id better go.
Without waiting for her to say good-bye, he hung up. She replaced the phone in its cradle and stared at it, worrying her lower lip between her teeth. Hadnt Mr. Brinkman heard that first impressions counted? He certainly hadnt made a very good one with her.
She sat back on the sofa and stared at the television. The Pause function had timed out and the movie had stopped altogether while shed been on the phone. Just as well. She couldnt focus on enjoying Guy Pierce in drag until shed sorted out her reaction to Craig Brinkman.
What she knew about Craig:
A) He didnt waste time on small talk, to the point of brusqueness. Her father would have said he was a no-nonsense kind of fellow, something Dad approved of. So maybe that wasnt all bad, though it tended to annoy Marlee.
B) He was a planner. Okay, some people were like that. They liked to pretend they were in control. Not her cup of tea but she could live with it.
Besides, shed taken enough detours in her life to know that you could never, ever, count on things turning out the way you planned them. Shed give Craigs itinerary a day, maybe a day and a half, before something came up to throw it off completely.
C) He wasnt very sociable. Sure, he said he was busy but who was so busy he couldnt have a cup of coffee or a single drink? Especially with someone hed be spending an awful lot of time with in the next week or so. Of course, maybe he reasoned that since he was going to be hanging out with her all week there was no need to worry about getting to know her before then. Men did think like that sometimes.
So this uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach when she thought of Craig didnt mean that he was a bad person. He was different, maybe, than the people she normally chose to hang out with, but that wasnt all bad, was it? It was good to get out and get to know different people. She was all for expanding her horizons.
She sat back and hit the Play button for the movie. Fine. Traveling with Craig Brinkman would be merely another kind of adventure. Maybe not the most fun shed ever had in a car, but it was better than riding the bus.
Just in case though, it wouldnt hurt to pack the Greyhound schedule.
2
He was probably a lot nicer guy than hed sounded on the phone. After all, how much could you really tell from a few minutes conversation and a single e-mail?
Theyd have plenty of time to get to know each other on this trip. Shed probably spend more time with Craig Brinkman in the next week than she had with the last four or five guys shed dated. Men seemed to prefer her as a friend instead of a girlfriend.
Fine. Shed settle for a friendly relationship with the man who was providing a way for her to get to Susans wedding.
A girl couldnt have too many friends, could she?
A sleek black sedan turned the corner and she pulled back the curtains for a better look. A Beemer. Very up-and-coming professional looking. Not very imaginative, but it definitely looked better than a Greyhound bus, so she wasnt complaining. The car parked at the curb and a tall, dark-haired man unfolded from the front seat. She let out a low whistle. Very, very nice. He wore loose-fitting jeans, a polo shirt that showed off broad shoulders and muscular forearms and dark sunglasses that added a hint of mystery. Why hadnt Susan mentioned her chauffeur was so easy on the eyes?
He slammed the car door shut and headed up the walk toward the main house. Marlees shoulders slumped. Oh. So maybe this wasnt the right guy after all. She picked up the oversize tote bag shed stashed next to her suitcase and inventoried the contents once more. Should she take another bottle of water? More sunscreen?
She was in the bathroom searching for another tube of sunscreen when the doorbell rang. She checked the peephole and found Mr. Gorgeous himself on her front porch. She hurried to unfasten the multiple locks and chains. Hello, she said. You must be Craig. Im Marlee.
He nodded. You didnt tell me you were in the carriage house.
Ouch! Was that any way to start their trip? She purposely flashed her biggest smile. I didnt? Sorry about that. The main house is 112A. Im in 112B, but quite a few people get the addresses mixed up. See? Its all your fault you went to the wrong door first. She held the door wide. Wont you come in? Can I get you a glass of water or a soda?
No thanks. Sunglasses still hiding his eyes, he stepped into the living room and looked around. She wondered what he was thinking. Shed decorated the place herself, in what one friend had dubbed eclectic kitsch. A row of brightly colored papier-mâché cats from Guatemala lined the mantel over the small gas fireplace, a fuchsia shawl from India was draped over her Salvation Army sofa and a chipped marble garden bench served as her coffee table, while an inflatable palm tree left over from a photo shoot took the place of any living plants.