A Second-Chance Proposal Read online

  On the way, Duff signaled to the bartender. “We’re migrating.”

  The bartender nodded. “I’ll send Jack over in a second.”

  “Unless you want to kick us out now,” said Duff. “There might be a catfight soon.”

  Smirking, the bartender leaned over the counter and examined the women. “Which one is yours?”

  “Oh, I’m just here as a spectator.” Duff grinned.

  “I’ll tell Jack to hurry.”

  The four EcoTech employees surrounded a small square table, a woman on either side of Mac, and Duff chuckling into his beer opposite him.

  Mac glared at his friend, trying to reach him telepathically. I’m going to kill you for this. He glanced at the two women, each tilting their bodies towards him with expectant looks on their faces.

  “So,” said Candy. “How nice to try a date instead of another project meeting.”

  “Date?” Rosemary scrunched her nose. “Mac asked me out, and—”

  Mac held up a finger. “Technically, you—”

  Candy’s laugh was anything but friendly. “Duff, what’s going on? You said we were doing a double-date, and I was with Mac.” She tossed a pointed look at Rosemary.

  Mac’s skin crawled in quick retreat. “Duff—”

  “Are you playing me?” Rosemary squeaked, puffing out her chest and lips in Mac’s direction.

  “Playing is for children,” said Candy with a sneer. “Run along, Rosemary. There’s a pizza party with a bouncy house down the street.”

  Rosemary’s jaw dropped. “I cannot believe you said that to me. Are you forgetting who my uncle is?”

  Cool and unruffled, Candy leaned back. “Of course, Rosemary. How else would a little bimbo like you find work in anything outside a bar?” She flicked her fingers at Rosemary’s attire. “Or are you auditioning to be the floor show?”

  Mac and Duff both spluttered into their hands as Rosemary bolted to her feet with a flip of her hair. “I am so out of here. Don’t think my uncle isn’t going to hear about this.” She leveled her manicured finger at Mac, Duff, and Candy in turn. “I just don’t know which one of you I should blame the most.” She strode away, every curve jiggling to accent her fury, and before she reached the door, a man stood and introduced himself with a leer.

  “There now, the kitten is off scampering after dust bunnies,” said Candy. She turned to Duff. “How’d I do?”

  Duff grinned. “That had to be the best rescue effort ever.” He set down his beer and applauded.

  Mac blinked slowly and stared at his own white-knuckle grip on his untouched beer. “What just happened?”

  “Duff asked me to come and clear up this little blunder.” She winked at him. “He knows I’m the safest battle axe in the company. Fitz would never fire me in a million years. He needs me too much.” Candy looked at Mac’s stunned response and laughed. “Hey, it’s all right. We people with brains need to stick together.”

  “Wasn’t it fun?” asked Duff.

  Candy chuckled. “Yes. Her expression was priceless.”

  “I take back everything mean I ever said about you,” teased Duff.

  “Right. Because I sign your checks.”

  Mac gaped at the two as they leaned closer to each other. What alternate reality was this? “So… you two are in on this?”

  “Yep.” Duff cast an openly admiring smile at Candy.

  Mac waved a finger between them. “Together in this?”

  “Absolutely.” Candy gave Duff a flirtatious smirk. “I’ll get this guy to buy me a drink.”

  Duff’s eyes twinkled.

  “Ah, well then have a good evening. If you’ll excuse me…” Mac stood and headed towards the door, realizing too late that he still held the beer. With a shrug, he set it down on a table as he passed, much to the surprise of the plaid-clad man sitting there.

  “Hey! What’s the idea? This isn’t even cold!”

  Willa - meanwhile

  “A picnic in the park? Are you serious?” Elfie glanced out the window then turned back when Willa and Melina burst out laughing. “What? What did I say?”

  “Exactly what I said when Willa told me.” Melina rocked closer to Elfie. “Miss Willa’s crazy, isn’t she?”

  “Picnics aren’t such a bad idea, but it’s getting dark.”

  “Right,” said Willa, watching her friends combine against her with amusement. “That’s why it’s called a night picnic.”

  “In the park.” Elfie still looked dubious. “Aren’t there rules about…?”

  “I know,” agreed Melina. “But we’ve got to roll with this. It’s the most daring thing Willa has done in forever. Besides, who’s going to arrest a little old lady for eating fried chicken in the playground after sunset?”

  Willa shot Melina a warning look. “She’s not old.”

  “Yes, I am,” said Elfie, stiffening. “But not boring. Let me get my coat.”

  They drove the half-mile and parked near a gazebo in the northwest corner of the park. A freshly-painted climbing structure stood proudly in the soggy woodchips not far away, and trees rattled their fiery leaves overhead.

  Settling onto the picnic table in the gazebo, Willa neatly unpacked their feast from the local market deli and turned on a bright LED lantern.

  “Oh, this is nice, though a little too bright to be romantic,” said Elfie.

  “Then I won’t be tempted to kiss you,” teased Willa, giving Elfie a side hug.

  “Speaking of which, don’t you think Willa needs more romance in her life?” Melina leaned on her elbows towards Elfie with a conspiratorial gleam in her eye.

  “Indeed, I do. I’ve been trying to set her up with my grandson since the day I met her.”

  Melina blinked and pressed back. “Set her up? But they’ve been—”

  Willa cleared her throat loudly and jumped in. “You’ll be happy to know he stopped by the other night and we had a lovely time over Chinese takeout leftovers, and he checked the overhead light wiring.” She gave a pointed look to Melina as she added, “It was really nice getting to know him.”

  “Oh. Right,” said Melina. “Getting to know him.”

  Elfie eyed Melina over a potato wedge. “Did you meet my Mac? Or did Willa already tell you about him?”

  Melina’s expression threatened to reveal everything, but she laughed. “Oh yes. Willa told me all about him. I feel I’ve already known him for years.”

  Elfie smiled at this. “Yes, he’s that kind of man. So easy to get along with.” She took a bite and hummed to herself. “I don’t get to eat these naughty foods too often, you know. Doctors always tell me it’s bad for my this or that. Who can keep up with all the things that’ll kill you?”

  Willa shot her a glance, afraid Elfie would turn morose, but the sweet grandmother licked her fingertips before selecting a drumstick from the greasy fold-out box.

  “What did she say?” asked Elfie to Melina. “About Mac, I mean. Don’t hold anything back. This is a ladies’ night out, after all. We’re supposed to talk about cute boys.”

  Melina shook with laughter. “Willa was right. I do like you.”

  “But does she like Mac?” pressed Elfie with a twinkle.

  Willa and Melina locked eyes, and Willa knew the truth would come out eventually. With a subtle nod, she granted permission for Melina to speak and then kept her own mouth too busy to interrupt by sampling the various deli salads she’d purchased.

  Melina wiped her fingers clean on a napkin and patted Elfie’s arm. “Willa thinks Mac is the best thing since…”

  “Adult diapers,” offered Elfie.

  “Um, if you say so. Probably better.” Melina turned a wheezing grin on Willa before continuing. “But seriously, she thinks he’s handsome and sweet, gentle and kind, romantic and reliable. He’s exactly the kind of man she wants to marry someday.”

  Both Willa’s and Elfie’s eyes popped wide.

  Elfie rounded on Willa. “You got all that from one visit over Chinese food? You must h
ave had a lot of leftovers.”

  Willa laughed in defeat and rummaged for a napkin. “Elfie, it’s time I let you in on a secret. Mac and I have known each other for years.”

  “You what?” Elfie dropped her food onto her paper plate and stared at Willa. “But how?”

  “We were really good friends in high school. We studied and did everything together. I knew Daphne, too.” Willa swallowed. The intensity in Elfie’s voice silenced the breeze, and the night grew still around them, watching from the edge of their bright circle of light.

  Elfie’s eyes watered. “Oh, my goodness, I’m remembering now. He loves you.”

  Willa opened her mouth to speak but didn’t understand Elfie’s statement.

  “He loves you. I always heard about a friend he adored in high school. A beautiful blonde—obviously you—but how could he have pretended not to know you?” Her frail, bony hands gripped Willa’s wrist. “Why would he hide his feelings?”

  “Maybe he’s sorting through them.” With the memory of both the sweet kiss and the disgusting phone call, Willa was doing some of her own thought-sorting.

  “And you came back and found him.” Elfie’s grasp softened. “You let him grieve, and you stayed by him.”

  Uncomfortable with the interpretation, Willa deflected. “I stayed by you. It’s a happy coincidence that I could be here.”

  “For both of us.” Elfie beamed with watery eyes. “I’m so thrilled, I could fly.”

  “Would you like to try? There’s a swing over there.” Melina hiked her thumb at the play structure.

  Elfie pursed her lips. “We’ll have to swing low.”

  “Sweet Chariot,” sang Willa. “Comin’ for to carry you home.”

  “Oh, not yet.” Elfie lifted her leg carefully over the bench to extract herself from the picnic table. “I’m not ready to ride up to heaven, but we can swing a little if you stay right by to catch me.”

  Mac – later that night

  “When were you going to tell me you and Candy were a thing?” Mac tried to sound stern, but it was hard not to laugh. Fortunately, Duff couldn’t see him through the phone.

  “You know a gentleman never kisses and tells.”

  “You’re no gentleman, and you did not get any kissing.”

  “True one of those statements is not,” answered the Yoda-Duff.

  Mac let out a surprised bark. “No way! You kissed the CFO?”

  “Love how you assumed I wasn’t a gentleman.” Duff’s grin came through in his voice. “But I still won’t tell you how velvet soft and sassy she is because that is for me to know and you to envy.”

  “You go right ahead and enjoy that, Duff. I’m happy for you. Though please tell me this isn’t a gimmick to raise our project budget.”

  “No, man. Believe it or not, we really hit it off. It was during that week you were dealing with your mom’s funeral and all. After a meeting, we stuck around talking nerdy to each other, and she loosened up big time.”

  “Is Fitzberg okay with it?” Mac waved a hand to cancel the question. “Never mind. We’ll both be lucky to have a job in the morning, but at least you got some loving.”

  Duff chortled. “It’ll be your turn soon. Rosemary might be a joke, but she knows what she’s talking about when she says you’re a catch. Look at you, man. Tall-ish, dark, passable, and now loaded.”

  Mac sighed. “Yeah, it may not be enough.”

  “For what?”

  “Did I ever tell you about Willa?”

  “Only forty-seven times. How’s that going, anyway?”

  Mac stared at the slideshow on his screensaver, recently switched to rotate through the album dedicated to Wonder Willa. So what if the pictures were ten years old, and he looked like a total dork in every single one of them? She was still flawless.

  “Duff, I wish I knew. I think I’m never going to win her. I tried so hard to show her how I felt when we were kids, and she never caught on.” He frowned. “Maybe I’m just not good enough.”

  “Maybe you need to express your feelings in a different way. Haven’t you even tried to kiss her yet? Tell her how you feel?”

  Mac drummed his fingers on his chest. “I…I don’t know. It was different when I dated other women. With them, it seemed more normal. Like biology and chemistry were just following their course, but with Willa…”

  Duff listened patiently to the silence, and as if he could hear Mac’s thoughts, he said, “You really love her, and that makes it scarier if you screw up.”

  “Exactly. Because if I lose her from my life again, I think a part of me will die.”

  Willa – the next morning

  “You got my grandmother arrested?” Mac sounded only mildly annoyed.

  Willa cracked out a loud laugh and stared at her cellphone before continuing. “Good morning to you, too. And no, she didn’t get arrested.”

  “But she told me the police came.”

  Suppressing a chuckle at the memory, Willa rolled back on her bed. “She’s exaggerating. You know how she is. We were in the park after sunset, playing on the swings and—”

  “Playing on the swings?” Mac spluttered. “That’s reckless endangerment of a senior. What were you thinking?”

  Willa pressed her lips in a tight line. “I was thinking the old girl needed some fun. Don’t worry. Melina and I were with her the whole time not two feet away. She had a blast. She even went down the slide. I think the cops only stopped because they saw our lantern and heard us laughing so hard.” She sighed. “Mac, relax. I had a wonderful time with Elfie.”

  There was a long pause, and then his voice came more relieved. “That’s what she said. She totally loves you.”

  “That’s handy because the feeling is mutual.” Willa bit her lip. “Did she tell you anything else about last night?”

  “You mean did she cross-examine me about why I hadn’t told her you were my girlfriend?’

  Willa’s heart stopped. “Am I your girlfriend? I guess I didn’t know that.”

  The silence lasted a few beats too long for Willa’s comfort.

  “Maybe those were Gramma’s words,” he said.

  “Oh.” Of course. What else would she be when he had well-connected women at work ready to form some kind of threesome. She shuddered. It just didn’t feel like Mac, but she’d heard what she’d heard on the phone. “Well, I’ve got to go. I’m actually supposed to check on Elfie in a few minutes.”

  “Right. Thanks for doing that. I know it’s long hours for you.”

  “It’s my job.” She couldn’t resist adding a little jab. “I imagine you’ve worked some extra hours for your job, too. You know. Whatever it takes to get ahead.”

  “Uh. Yeah. There are some long nights sometimes.”

  Willa winced. “Okay, bye.” She didn’t need to imagine. It hurt too much to think of her sweet, innocent Mac hooking up with… She shook her head and stuffed her phone in her pocket.

  As she approached the kitchen door, she winced at the sound of Elfie’s cough. Opening the door, she poked her head in. “You sound worse than yesterday.”

  “It’s just a cold,” insisted Elfie. “I get them all the time.”

  Frowning, Willa tried not to be too obvious about her concern, but Elfie looked so much weaker. “It sounds really phlegmy. Want me to go get you medicine?”

  Elfie shrugged, her thick bathrobe swallowing the move.

  “That’s what I’m here for,” said Willa. “Let me get some lemon-ginger tea started, and I’ll see what you’ve got in the medicine cabinet. Is it okay if I snoop?”

  “I haven’t had anything interesting in there for years. Go ahead.” She broke into another coughing fit, and Willa rushed forward to pat her back.

  “Kleenex,” croaked Elfie.

  Willa slapped the box from the counter into Elfie’s hands and untucked a few sheets. When Elfie finished clearing her mouth, she wadded up the tissue and held it for a moment while she steadied her breathing.

  “It’s all my fau
lt,” said Willa. “I should never have taken you out for a night picnic.”

  “Nonsense. I get these bad colds all the time.” She held up the wad of Kleenex. “Weak lungs, I guess.”

  Spots of red caught Willa’s eye. “Wait, are you coughing up blood?”

  Elfie examined the tissue. “Just a drop or two.”

  Willa held the back of her hand to Elfie’s forehead. “Do you feel hot? Feverish?”

  “No.” Elfie shifted. “You don’t think it’s pneumonia or something, do you?”

  “Not without a fever. Here,” she patted the box of Kleenex. “Keep this handy while I make the tea and find a thermometer. Go sit in the living room. I’ll be right back.”

  Willa set the kettle on the stove and retreated to the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She hated the idea of calling Mac right back, but concern about Elfie’s health drove her to it.

  “Good morning again!” he answered. “Duff and I were just talking about you.”

  “Don’t you have work to do?” She tried to keep her tone light.

  “Sure, but we’re just talking about the things that make us happy in life.”

  Willa wilted against the bathroom sink and avoided looking into her own accusing eyes in the mirror. “Pepperoni and puppies.”

  “Exactly. So, what’s up since five minutes ago?”

  “Elfie.” She explained the symptoms and squeezed her eyes shut to await his response. When he remained silent, she feared the worst. “Are you mad at me?”

  “Mad at you? Why?”

  “For getting her sick.”

  “How’d you do that?”

  “The night picnic in the cold.”

  “Willa, you’re the one who’s always telling me cold doesn’t make you sick, germs do. She’s really prone to respiratory problems.”

  Something in his voice set off warning alarms in Willa’s chest. “What do you mean?”

  He sighed. “Do you see anything that worries you beyond the blood?”

  Willa sat on the closed lavatory. “Blood is never good. She is awfully tired, but it’s hard for me to gauge since I haven’t known her long. And it’s getting colder, so maybe it’s hibernation mode.”