Wednesday morning Ella’s alarm went off at eight. Her eyes popped open. Time to make sure Hank was awake. She tiptoed to his room, put her ear on the door. Didn’t hear a thing.
“You looking for me?”
She nearly jumped out of her skin. Hank came out of the upstairs bath, smelling like aftershave and looking cozy in a light robe he’d stolen from Beau. “I’m already showered. You should go back to bed since you don’t have to be at the set until noon.”
She felt nervous at the sight of all that masculinity, but she refused to let him know. “I’m running to the office.” Her tone was breezy. “I can squeeze in a few hours of work. And if you’re up, I’m most definitely not sleeping in. Is Pammy back yet?”
“She is. She’s sound asleep. She left us a note in the kitchen. She was up all night at the shelter teaching the mayor and a couple of residents English rummy.”
“Oh, okay.” Ella felt awkward.
Hank took a step toward her. “We might not see each other much today.”
“You’re right,” she said. She could barely get the words out.
He came much closer, wrapped his arms around her waist. “You look pretty.”
“Like this?” Her hair was a mess.
“Sure do. Want to come see my room?” He put on his most obvious Big Bad Wolf grin. “I was going to show you the portrait of those three boys, remember?”
She laughed and slipped away from him. She had to brush her teeth. At the very least.
“What are you running away from?” he called after her.
She looked over her shoulder. “Today’s International No Sex Day. Ever heard of it? Established in 1982.”
“Isn’t that interesting. What happens to people who ignore International No Sex Day?”
“They, uh, have sex, I guess.”
“They’re making a mistake. They should consider the merits of being celibate on No Sex Day. What are those merits again?”
“Not being late for work is a big one,” said Ella.
“Oh, yeah. It’s good to arrive on time at your job. It’s better than getting cozy under the sheets, that’s for sure. What else?”
“Well, when you don’t have sex, you definitely can’t help recalling the times you did. And you develop an appreciation for it.”
“That’s right,” he said. “It’s better to imagine yourself having sex than actually having it. I’m going to imagine it right now. You might as well too, since you’re not having sex today.” He stepped into his room. “I guess I can show you the portrait later. See you in the kitchen, maybe. But if not, on the set. And if not there, tonight. Late. Here. Back where we started this loooong, no-sex kind of day.”
“Okay,” she eked out.
He winked at her and shut his door.
“Damn,” she said aloud. She’d missed her chance.
Sure enough, she didn’t see him at breakfast. She rushed to get ready, but she was still upstairs when he left the house at 8:30. Pammy was also asleep when Ella left for her job at Two Love Lane at 8:45.
Roberta dropped by the office at 9:15. “I’ve got the ingredients, and I’m heading to the commercial kitchen,” she said. “I’m going to bake all day the rest of the week.”
“Fantastic,” Ella said. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”
“Thanks, but I’m ready to do it on my own,” Roberta said. “Twenty-five hundred a day for four days. They’ll take fifteen minutes to mix up, forty-five minutes to roll into logs, cut into pennies, and put on the baking sheets. Twelve minutes to cook. While they’re cooking, I’ll scoop the previous batches off the cookie sheets. It’s going to take me about thirty hours all told, including meal breaks and bathroom breaks and me just losing steam. So I rented the kitchen for four days, but I’m shooting for finishing in three.”
“Oh my gosh, this is going to be crazy! Can I come visit? I’ll bring breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”
“I’ve got that covered, and honestly? I don’t want to jinx it. I want to be there all on my lonesome.”
Ella shook her head. “You’re awesome.”
“I’m determined, Ella. Twenty-five years I’ve been living with this problem.”
“I know things will be different for you after this is over.”
“I feel it too,” Roberta said.
“I love your spirit.” Ella gave her a hug.
And then Miss Thing, Macy, and Greer had to, as well. And they all ran up the cobblestone lane to Roastbusters to get Roberta a farewell coffee.
“I can’t stay long,” Roberta told Pete.
He was behind the counter running his little kingdom, tamping, pouring, calling out customer descriptions in his usual manner—he never used people’s names. “Tall latte for the teacher who deserves a trip to Paris because she’s so good to her students,” he yelled out to Mrs. DeMille, who taught French at the nearby high school. And “Double espresso to the young man in the green jacket with the charming grin and polite manner who’ll go far in life,” he said, and held out a cup to a guy with John Lennon glasses and a backpack on his shoulder.
“It has to be to-go,” Roberta told Pete.
“Coming up.” He gave her a thumbs-up. “And I already know what the Two Love Lane ladies are getting. But I won’t make theirs until you leave, Roberta, seeing as you’re in a hurry. Where ya headed?”
“I have to go bake ten thousand cheddar pennies,” she said.
Pete never lost his levelheaded cool. He handed Roberta her coffee and said, “I’m not sure if you’re speaking in secret code or what. What the heck’s a cheddar penny?”
“Pete, you grew up on Long Island, so you have no idea,” Miss Thing said, with utter delight.
They were old friends, but lately, Ella had noticed a heightened sparkle in Miss Thing’s eye when she was with Pete that seemed directly Pete-related.
“Well, are you going to tell me or not?” he asked both Miss Thing and Roberta.
“I have to go,” Roberta said. “Tell him, Miss Thing.”
Which suited Miss Thing just fine.
But first everyone wished good luck to Roberta, who exited quickly, determination written on her face and in her body language. The crowd around the register parted to let her through, and then she was gone, off to bake ten thousand cheddar pennies.
Miss Thing gave Pete a snappy summary of Roberta’s situation. “The point being,” she concluded, “Roberta wants to date a good man who’s fun. And unless she bakes ten thousand cheddar pennies, that ain’t gonna happen.”
Miss Thing was doing her extreme Southern thing again, where her drawl got thicker, one hand landed on her hip, and the other swatted at invisible flies.
“I’m fun,” said Pete, pressing a lid onto a coffee cup and turning to grab another lid. “She doesn’t need to bake ten thousand cheddar pennies to get me to go with her to the Aquarium gala.”
“So you’re looking for romance?” Miss Thing asked archly.
“Nope,” Pete said in his usual matter-of-fact manner. “I had my one love of a lifetime. But I’m a sharp dresser and a damn good dancer. She could do worse, let me put it that way.”
Miss Thing took her coffee from him. But she didn’t say a word. Highly unusual of her.
Ella jumped right in. “Do you mean it, Pete? You wouldn’t mind being a backup date in case we need one?”
Miss Thing took a sip of coffee and studied the crowd with a wide-eyed gaze. But Ella sensed her friend was listening hard, waiting for Pete’s answer.
“I’ve got my tux ready to go,” the coffee-shop owner said. “Thirty years old and it still fits. I wear it every year to a Toastmasters banquet.”
“Because you don’t go out to parties,” Miss Thing said. “You like bowling. And watching ESPN.”
“So?” Pete shrugged.
“You could wear that tux at least once a week during the Season,” Miss Thing said.
“The season? As far as I know, there are four,” he said. “Winter, spring—”
“I know, I know,” said Miss Thing, waving her free hand. “I mean debutante season.”
“Oh, yeah,” Pete said with a laugh. “That’s right up my alley, T.”
Greer, Ella, and Macy exchanged a look. They’d never heard Miss Thing and Pete getting testy with each other. And they’d never heard him call her “T.” Was that for Thing? Or something else? Nobody knew Miss Thing’s first name except for their accountant, who needed it for tax purposes.
“I’m only saying it wouldn’t hurt you to go to parties,” said Miss Thing, her chin lifted. Her voice was higher than usual. “The Charleston social scene has oodles of opportunities to make toasts.”
“Oodles?” Pete asked.
“I’d say so,” Greer interjected. “With the abundance of champagne that flows here.”
“Fine,” he said. “Maybe I’ll go with Roberta to the gala if she can’t find a decent date, and I’ll make a toast. Will that make you happy?” He looked right at Miss Thing.
“It would be a lovely gesture,” she said, and studied her nails.
Pete was obviously done talking about it. He said nothing else and handed Ella her coffee. “Enjoy,” he said, with his usual good cheer.
“I always do.” She smiled at him.
He winked. “You’re looking extra happy today, Sunshine,” he said, and then he was back at it, making more drinks.
Sunshine? Ella was honored. And embarrassed. Did it show? That she’d recently had a fabulous time in bed with Hank?
“I think you look extra chipper too,” said Miss Thing.
The girls all stared at Ella. “I’m fine,” she said.
“She’s more than fine,” Greer whispered.
“I’d say she’s pretty happy,” said Macy.
Ella’s three best friends giggled.
She rolled her eyes. “I’ve got work to do before I head to the set. See you later.”
“We’ll come with you,” said Macy.
They all thanked Pete and streamed out.
They were walking over the cobblestones of Love Lane on their tiptoes, their coffees held out to avoid spilling, when Macy said, “How’s it going with Hank?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” said Ella. “Miss Thing, is something going on with you and Pete?”
“I don’t want to talk about it either,” Miss Thing answered. “Except…” She had a hard time staying quiet. “No, never mind.”
“I get the feeling you like him,” Macy prompted her.
“Hmmph,” said Miss Thing. “Why would I like Pete? I’ve known him forever, and he always says how he’s had one love in his life, and that was enough. Besides, he treats me like a little sister. And I treat him like a brother.”
“I don’t know,” said Greer. “You and he help each other out a lot. He came to your house for dinner when the accountant was getting too flirty after you won The Price Is Right. Just to act as a buffer.”
“As a protective brother would,” Miss Thing said. She’d won the Double Showcase, a rarity in Price Is Right history.
“And you held down the fort at the shop when he had that surgery recently,” Macy said.
“I did, didn’t I? Like a caring sister.”
“But he called you T,” Greer said.
Miss Thing stopped walking, so they all did. “Yes, he did. It’s a nickname he gave me—the same way a brother would.”
“Is it because he knows your first name?” asked Ella.
There was an extended silence on Miss Thing’s part.
“And did you want to go with him to the gala?” Macy asked.
The silence went on.
“That’s enough about Pete,” Miss Thing finally said, and started walking again.
Ella, Greer, and Macy exchanged another look. Something was definitely going on. Miss Thing, who was usually so talkative, so willing to share, was clamming up.
“But since you’re pushing on me,” Miss Thing said at the front door, “I’m gonna push on you, Ella. Any smooches yet between you and Triple H?”
“Triple H?”
“Hollywood Hottie Hank,” Miss Thing explained.
That was a good reminder. He belonged to Hollywood. Ella looked around at her three friends. “Yes, as a matter of fact. And you’ll be interested to know that we’ve progressed beyond a sweet smooch on the front porch.”
Miss Thing collapsed a shoulder against the door. “Oh, Lord. That makes me so happy.”
“Don’t get excited,” Ella said. “I initiated it because he’s afraid to hurt my feelings when he leaves. I don’t want to talk about it yet. But I promise, at some point, I will.”
“Before or after he leaves?” Macy asked.
What she really meant was, before or after Ella’s heart broke again?
“I don’t know,” she answered. And she really didn’t.
“Well, here’s what I know,” said Macy. “When two of my friends aren’t up to talking, something big is in the works.”
“Exactly,” said Greer. “Like when the earth’s plates move before an earthquake.”
“Honey,” said Miss Thing, “no earthquake is gonna be happening in my life. I promise you.”
“Don’t look so sad saying so,” said Ella. “Earthquakes are dangerous.”
“They certainly shake things up,” said Macy.
Ella was nervous when she got back to her desk. She needed her old life back. Before Hank’s return.
But like it or not, the earth’s plates had already shifted for her. Just thinking about their time in bed together made her knees weak. She couldn’t go back, no matter how much she felt she should. Hank was here. Hank was going to leave again.
And Ella’s horizons were changed forever.