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Janey nodded and told her about her first meeting with Reilly several days ago, then her encounter with him earlier in the day at the nursing home. “He’s a very unhappy man. Dan thinks he needs a friend, so I thought I would make him a cake and take it over to the cabin. You know, sort of a welcome-to-the-neighborhood type thing.” Wrinkling her nose at the miserable excuse for a cake, she had to laugh. “So much for good intentions. I guess I should have just stopped at Ed’s on the way home from work and bought a pie. At least that would have been edible.”
So why hadn’t she? Sara wondered. What was it about Reilly Jones that had inspired her to make a cake for him? Janey had never done such a thing before for any man, let alone one she’d only just met. What in the world was going on?
Questions buzzing around in her head, Sara told herself not to be nosy. Janey was a grown woman and certainly didn’t have to answer to her mother. And Sara didn’t want to say anything that might make her feel self-conscious. Not when she appeared to be showing an interest in a man for the first time in her life. “Don’t give up hope,” she said, dumping the burned cake in the trash. “He’ll be able to eat yours, too. We’ll just make another one.”
Sara could have whipped up her famous hot fudge cake in record time, but this was Janey’s cake, not hers. So after helping her assemble fresh ingredients, she patiently gave her step by step instructions, then watched her every move to make sure she didn’t make any mistakes.
Pleased with herself when she finally pulled the finished product from the oven, Janey had to admit that the cake didn’t look anything like the one her mother usually made, but she couldn’t complain. It might not look pretty, but compared to her first effort, it was a virtual masterpiece.
“Thanks, Mom,” she said, hugging her. “I don’t know what I would have done without you. Do you think it’s too late to take it over to the cabin tonight?”
“No, it’s early yet, and I’m sure Reilly will appreciate the gesture,” she assured her. “While you’re there, why don’t you invite him to join the decorating committee for the Christmas festival? The festival’s just two weeks away, and the first committee meeting is Monday.”
It was a great idea, one Janey knew she should have thought of herself. Every year the town celebrated Christmas by turning the town square into a winter wonderland the second weekend in December. There were food and crafts booths, not to mention a complete village for Santa and his elves, and they were all constructed by the decorating committee, which was comprised of volunteers from all over the county. Because the committee meetings were as much fun as the festival itself, there was never any shortage of volunteers, but no one was ever turned away. The more, the merrier.
“It’ll give him a chance to meet people,” she said, pleased. “Thanks, Mom! I’ll do that.”
Made of logs that had been cut from the property itself, Nick’s cabin sat in the middle of a thick stand of pines and looked as though it had been there forever. With a deep front porch and paned windows that were designed to let in the light and bring the forest inside, it had a charm to it that Janey had always loved. Tonight, only a single lamp burned in the living room, but that was enough to cast an inviting glow across the porch.
Parking in the circular drive, she wasn’t surprised when the porch light came on as she started up the stairs to the porch. The cabin sat at the end of a long private drive, and in the dark of the night, Reilly would have seen her headlights the second she turned down the drive.
Janey didn’t consider herself a shy person. She liked people and enjoyed talking to them, but something happened to her on the way up the steps to his front door. Suddenly her heart was pounding, her knees weren’t quite steady, and the little welcoming speech she had all prepared flew right out of her head the second he opened the door to her. And for the life of her, she didn’t know why. Flustered, she forced a weak smile and couldn’t think of a thing to say except, “Hi.”
His face expressionless, he arched a brow at the sight of the cake pan in her hand. “What’s that?”
“What? Oh!” Suddenly remembering why she was there, she blushed to the roots of her hair and abruptly thrust the pan into his hands like it was a hot rock. “It’s a cake,” she said unnecessarily. “To welcome you to the neighborhood.”
“I see.”
Janey wasn’t too sure of that. From his expression, he’d never seen a cake before, and Janey couldn’t say she blamed him. It was awful looking. Suddenly appreciating the humor of the situation, she grinned. “I know it looks terrible—I’m not much of a cook—but trust me, this is a real prize compared to the first one I made. That one ended up in the trash can.”
“You made two?”
“I didn’t want to poison you,” she said simply. “The whole point of this was to make you feel welcome.”
He should have laughed. She expected him to. When he didn’t, she reminded herself that he was going through a difficult time and probably didn’t mean to be rude. If she was going to be a friend to him, she had to remember that.
Shrugging off her hurt feelings, she forced a smile that didn’t come as easily as she would have liked. “Well, it’s getting late. I just stopped by to give you the cake. Oh, and to invite you to a meeting of the decorating committee for the Christmas festival,” she added. Quickly telling him about the festival and how much fun the committee meetings were, she said, “Our first meeting’s next Monday, and I thought you might like to come. It’ll give you a chance to meet people and have some fun at the same time. If you’re not busy, of course.”
There was nothing the least bit offensive about her little speech, but Reilly knew better than to be taken in by the apparent innocence of it. Did she really think he was so gullible? Ever since Victoria’s death, he had been hit on by just about every woman who crossed his path, and he was heartily sick of it. There were three casseroles in his refrigerator from three other women who’d had the same idea as Janey. And despite their claims to the contrary, he knew they weren’t just being neighborly. He’d played the game too many times with the women in L.A. after Victoria had died. By bringing him a covered dish, they were each ensuring that they could return in a few days with the excuse that they were there to pick up their cookware.
Just thinking about it irritated the hell out of him. From the little he’d seen of Janey McBride, he’d thought she was different. Obviously, he’d been wrong.
“I’m busy Monday night,” he said coldly.
“Oh. Well, then, maybe some other time.”
When she started to turn, her smile now gone, he should have let her go. If she wanted to go on thinking there was a chance they’d get together at a later time, that was her problem, he told himself. He wasn’t responsible for what she thought. But even as he tried to convince himself of that, he knew he had to set the record straight. He wasn’t a man who led women on—he never had been. Honesty wasn’t always appreciated, but it prevented a lot of problems in the long run.
“No, there won’t be another time,” he said flatly. “You might as well know that now. If you’ve set your sights on me, you’re wasting your time. I’m not interested.”
Stunned, Janey couldn’t believe she’d heard him correctly. He actually thought that she…that she was the kind of woman who would…
Unable to finish the thoughts whirling in her head, she almost laughed at the ridiculousness of his accusations. He couldn’t be serious! She’d never come on to a man in her life—she wouldn’t even know where to begin. This had to be some kind of a joke.
But there was nothing the least bit amusing about the hard glint in his blue eyes. He actually thought she was making a play for him, and he wanted nothing to do with her.
Later—years from now—she told herself, she might be able to look back and laugh about this. But for now she’d never been so insulted in her life.