Chapter Twenty-Three

Meredith texted Beth the next morning as soon as she made her coffee, and Beth said to check her email. Derrick wasn’t around, so she figured he’d gone out to his workshop to spruce up that cradle. He was giving it to William and Sofia today.

She and Derrick hadn’t talked a whole lot after returning from his grandparents’ last night. They’d said their good nights pretty quickly and retreated to watch television in their respective rooms. As she flipped past House Hunters, she’d given a wistful sigh. That had been a fun night. Knowing it wouldn’t happen again…hurt.

It was hard to think about their conversation without feeling sad about it. When he’d said that thing about maybe having messed things up between them last summer, her heart had thumped so hard. Still, she’d given him the opportunity to say his heart wasn’t in it in trying to win back Olivia, but he hadn’t.

So it was full-steam ahead with that reconciliation plan. Meredith knew it was her duty to support them. Derrick in particular. She’s the one who’d suggested he try to reconcile with Olivia in the first place. If she’d never arrived in Blue Hill with her proposal, she doubted Derrick would have tried to reconnect with Olivia on his own. In fact, the more she watched what was happening between him and Olivia unfold, and especially Derrick’s body language and what he’d chosen to share since the moment Olivia arrived, she suspected reconnecting with her hadn’t actually ever been in his plans.

At least she’d received encouraging news from Beth. Her email revealed that Jerry’s meeting with the streaming exec had happened. No word yet on how things had gone, but Beth had sounded hopeful. There was still no decision on the syndication deal, either. Though Beth had been encouraging regarding that, too, assuring her that the buzz around the studio was good.

Rumors were spreading that Matched Up was destined for bigger things, a larger promotional budget, too. Word was advertisements on billboards and city buses. Boston’s hometown girl was making good, even if she hailed from Miami.

“Good morning,” Derrick said, walking in the door. He had his coffee tumbler with him and was dressed in a T-shirt and jeans.

“Oh, hey!” She shut her laptop and picked up her coffee. “You were up early.”

“Out in my workshop,” he said. “Finishing things up.”

He set his tumbler down on the counter, his eyes sparkling. “Want to see?”

Meredith glanced down at her football jersey. “Sure! Let me put on some—”

Derrick motioned her back into her seat. “Wait right here.”

He stepped outside and returned with the cradle, its wood taking on a maroon hue. Meredith slid aside her laptop as he set the cradle down beside the coffee table in the living area. The mattress portion of it stood about waist-high and the spaces between the smooth slats on either side were narrow. The headboard and footboard were exquisitely tapered and its supporting legs and rockers looked sturdy.

“What do you think?”

It was gorgeous with a mattress pad tucked inside, along with a sealed package of fitted sheets to match. They were decorated with cute cartoon ducks, resembling the toys little kids play with in bathtubs.

“Oh, Derrick.” She glanced up for permission to touch it. He nodded and she stroked her fingers along the buttery smooth surface of one of its rails. “It’s beautiful. But the mattress? Where did you get it?”

“Custom ordered from a shop that makes them.”

Meredith giggled at the ducky pattern, trying to imagine him picking that out. “The ducks are so sweet!”

He grinned proudly. “Yeah, I thought so, too.”

Meredith gripped one of its sides and attempted to rock it, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Wait,” he said. “Let me release the lock.” He tugged at a lever underneath then said, “Now, give it a try.”

She did and it gently swayed from side to side. “Aww.” Meredith bit her lip, overcome with emotion. “It’s awesome.”

“You think they’ll like it?”

“Are you kidding me?” She playfully pushed his arm. “They’ll love it.”

“There’s one little thing. I haven’t figured out how to wrap it.” His eyes met hers and she flushed. “Will you help me?”

“I’d love to.”

He headed to his room. Meredith took the opportunity to quickly dress in jeans and a blue short-sleeved top.

She sure hoped Sally was wrong about Olivia not appreciating his talents. Because Derrick Albright was one amazing guy.

…

Derrick hauled a huge roll of extra-wide, heavy-duty wrapping paper out of his bedroom. It was light pink with white storks on it carrying baby bundles. Some were swaddled in pink and others in blue.

“Okay, now that is cute,” Meredith said about the wrapping paper. “Where did you get it?”

“From a favorite artist who sells it on Etsy.”

He was an artist himself, so it shouldn’t surprise her that he’d have thought to check Etsy, but it did. Had Olivia ever appreciated his thoughtfulness? Did she even know?

She surveyed his handsome features, loving this side of Derrick. The side that did thoughtful things for others and went to the trouble to order baby-themed wrapping paper for a cradle he’d built.

“I’m afraid we’ll need to use packing tape,” he said, producing a couple of clear rolls from the built-in desk’s drawer in the kitchen. “The heavy-duty stuff.”

Derrick approached her with the wrapping supplies and stared down at her feet. “Um. I’m not so sure those shoes are the greatest for working.”

Meredith laughed. “We’re wrapping a gift, Der, not running a marathon.”

“Yeah. I saw how well you did racing around in your heels yesterday.”

“That is so not fair. I wasn’t expecting those kind of games.”

“Neither was I,” he said, laughing at the memory. He walked to the front door and lifted an oblong package off a bookshelf by the door. He used the top of the bookshelf like an entrance table, keeping his keys there, but the shelves were loaded with paperbacks.

“What do you like to read?” she asked, seeing that many of the books looked worn and dog-eared.

“Detective stuff mostly. Police procedurals.”

“Whodunits?”

“Yeah, but not the cozy kind. Something more grisly.”

Meredith grimaced. “I preferred the lighter stuff.”

“Such as?”

“Podcasts.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Who has time to read, Der?” She shrugged and he laughed. “Except for maybe scripts.”

“I would have pegged you for glamor-type magazines, maybe the online ones. With all those fancy clothes and high-heeled shoes.”

She chuckled at this. “Okay, I might peek at those occasionally—for inspiration.”

He cocked his chin. “Or maybe one of those glossy news magazines you see at the grocery store. You know, the ones that profile celebrities.” His blue eyes twinkled. “Hey. Maybe you’ll be in one someday?”

She couldn’t help but be thrilled by the idea. Her face on the cover of some widely circulated periodical. As long as the coverage was flattering. “Wouldn’t that be amazing?”

He cocked his chin, studying her, and her heart skipped a beat. “Yeah, it would. For you. For me, though? Not my thing.”

She laughed. “Publicity you mean?”

“Anything like that. Staying out of the limelight. That’s what works for me. The thought of going on a TV show in front of a camera?” He shuddered. “Fills me with dread.” He walked over and handed her the package. “Here. This is for you.”

“Me? But, wait. I didn’t order anything.”

“I know.” His blue eyes twinkled. “Because I ordered it for you.”

Her face heated beneath his stare. “Aww, Derrick. Thank you. You shouldn’t have.” But she was secretly happy that he had. Meredith loved being surprised by gifts, and that didn’t happen often. “Should I open it now?”

He chuckled at her excited look. “I think you’d better.”

She unwrapped the outer packaging, unveiling a shoebox. Interesting. What did Derrick know about women’s shoes?

A pair of navy blue slip-on-style, flat-soled sneakers were tucked inside. They were simple but attractive and looked functional, too. She looked up at Derrick and grinned. “Shoes?”

“With rubber soles.”

It was a quirky but thoughtful gift. “How sweet! But…when am I supposed to wear them?”

“What’s wrong with now?”

Nothing, she supposed. She slipped into them, showing them off on her feet.

“They suit you.”

She peered at them. “They seem very Blue Hill.”

“They are very Blue Hill.”

She grinned, thinking of the baby shower. “I probably could have used these yesterday.”

“And the day that you trudged out to my workshop through all that mud.”

“Yeah.” Her skin grew hot. “But how did you know my size?”

He glanced at the pile of shoes in the corner beside her large suitcase. “Easy detective work.” He shrugged. “And anyway, someone might want to take you out on a boat someday. You definitely can’t go boating in those heels you wear.”

Her heart pounded. Against her better instincts, she wanted that someone to be him. Meredith warned herself not to jump to conclusions. Like the ones that painted visions of them on a romantic journey in that rowboat he kept moored outside. “That would be nice.”

He held her gaze, seemingly lost in a daydream of his own. “Yeah,” he said. “It would.”

“Maybe we can go out sometime?” she blurted before she could stop herself. “In one of your boats before I leave?”

A slow grin spread across his face. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”

Meredith’s heart sighed, then she told herself not to make too much of his offer. He was probably just being nice. She tried hard not to let disappointment get the better of her as Derrick examined the cradle.

“Okay,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “Let’s get this baby wrapped. I told William we’d bring my gift by after lunch. I mean, if you’d like to come along, too, that would be great.”

She envisioned Sofia’s and William’s happy faces. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“Awesome.” He broke the seal on the wrapping paper and removed it from its cellophane covering. Next he handed an end of it to her while holding the roll. “Hmm. Where to start?”

“Well, we…” She moved to the far side of the cradle holding her end of the wrapping paper and more of it unraveled. Then she tried lowering it down over the cradle’s side. “Um.”

“It’s a big job.”

“Yeah.”

“Maybe if we go around it?” he suggested. “You stay put and I’ll come around to where you are.” She did and he handed her a pair of scissors. “Can you cut a straight line?”

“Of course,” she said with confidence, but then she didn’t. Her line was all zig-zaggy, veering off center. She pursed her lips together but he chuckled.

“That’s okay,” he said. “We’ll tuck that part under.” He picked up the tape and she folded over the uneven part, making a straight edge. Derrick pulled out a long piece of tape and leaned in while she held both parts of the wrapping paper together. “Don’t move,” he cautioned. He stood so close she could breathe him in.

He looked up and met her eyes, and her legs trembled. Like they might actually give way or something. Even in these practical shoes. “I won’t.”

“Good.” He fastened the tape and lifted his hands. “Ta-da! Phase One, done!” But the moment they released the wrapping paper, it slid to the ground, circling around the bottom portion of the cradle.

His eyebrows shot up. “That works.”

Meredith giggled. “We can always add a new piece for the upper section.”

“Excellent idea. We’ll cover the top after that, then lay the cradle on its side and do the bottom.”

“We might want to take the sheets and mattress out and wrap them separately in that case. So they don’t jumble around.”

“You’re very good at organizing.” His eyes twinkled. “Do you run a TV show or something?”

“Yeah, I’ve learned to think on my feet.” She stared at her new shoes. “Thanks again for the shoes. They were definitely unexpected.”

The air hung heavy as he gazed into her eyes. “So were you.”

That sounded more than friendly to her. That sounded interested. And romantic.

And ohhh nooo… She worried, worried, worried that he was falling for her, too.

In the next instant, she hoped that he was. She couldn’t help but wonder what might have happened if there’d been no Olivia in the picture. If it had only been him and her.

His cell dinged, shattering the moment, and he pulled it from his pocket.

His face fell and she guessed it was bad news. “Uh-oh.”

“Who is it?”

“Olivia,” he said, looking up. “And boy, is she ticked.”

“What?”

“She looked you up and found all the stories about our engagement, including the video clip the press took at my cabin.”

Meredith gasped. “Oh no.”

“Oh yeah.”

“What are you going to do?”

He quickly texted Olivia back. “I’m saying I can explain everything and not to panic.” He shook his head. “But five will get you ten, she will.”

A rapid string of texts came back at him and he silenced his phone.

“Sounds like she’s already there.”

“Yeah.” He sighed. “That’s why I said I’ll drop by later after lunch.”

“After you deliver the cradle and not before?”

“William and Sofia are already expecting us at two and you and I have to eat sometime.”

She knew he was right, but Meredith also suspected he was stalling. His phone kept buzzing in his pocket. Probably Olivia going ballistic. Maybe if Meredith was in his shoes instead of in the brand new ones he’d bought her, she’d be stalling a bit, too.