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"You’re always gracious That’s one of the things I like about you Want to coht her off guard "Dinner?"
"At my place With Brittany Just the three of us"
Nicole didn’t knohat to say Inviting her to his house wasn’t a public date designed to further the lie that they were a real couple It actually felt like a real date Did she want that?
Stupid question, she told herself, re "I’d love to"
"How about Wednesday night? I’ll cook"
"I look forward to it" Maybe more than she should
NICOLE ARRIVED at Hawk’s house close to five-thirty He and Brittany lived in one of the older Seattle neighborhoods with reat architectural detail The laere green, the porches wide, and kids’ toys lined the sidewalks Not exactly the sort of place one would expect to find a former NFL player worth millions
She parked on the street and walked up to the front door Hawk opened it before she knocked
"Hi," he said, drawing her in, then kissing her
She closed her eyes and got lost in the feel of hisstirred, then she heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs and reluctantly pulled back
"Hi, yourself," she"This is not anywhere I would have pictured you"
"What do you hborhood with lots of fahed "Not otbonus After the se, this place seemed like a mansion We like it here It’s home"
Brittany burst into the entryway "Hey, Nicole How are you? Dad said he’s cooking, but it’s just barbecuing, which doesn’t count He’ll ether the salad Want to see the house?"
If only they could harness Brittany’s energy and use it to power a hospital or sorin "I’d love to see the house" She set down her purse on the small table in the entryway "I like craftsman-style homes All the details and built-ins"
Brittany wrinkled her nose "It’s old, you h-rise condo with a view"
"How do you plan to pay for your fancy condo?" Hawk asked
Brittany beamed at hirunted a response, but Nicole saw the hureat relationship with his daughter She liked that about hi the way "All the , which is unusual for the tiht it from another house Maybe one he’d owned before"
Nicole looked around at the crowded roo in the oversize floral-print sofas and the knickknacks dotting every surface While she usually loved the casual ho, this was country on steroids
There were plenty of country prints on the throw pillows and curtains, braided rugs on the hardwood floor A porcelain goose faelass dishes and little bunnies on tables, along with photographs Lots and lots of photographs
Nicole walked toward a display on the wall The grouping showed a younger Haith a pretty young wohing, wedding portraits, a few from an NFL ceremony More photos showed happy parents with a pretty toddler
The photos on the e ten or so
The room felt oppressively crowded--like a randma’s house Too hot, with too much stuff She wouldn’t have been more surprised to find faux fur and leather handcuffs
The dining room was more of the same The country theme continued with floral-print wallpaper and built-in cabinets filled with old-fashioned dishes There were several cross-stitched sayings fra on the walls
Nicole felt aard and out of place This wasn’t a house--this was a shrine to a lifestyle lost She would bet that nothing had changed since the day Serena died
She turned to Hawk and Brittany and forced a smile "It’s all lovely Did Serenato the stitched sayings
Brittany nodded "She was teaching ive a house a real ho," she murmured, not sure what else to say Hadn’t Hawk ever wanted to , but this?
"Serena was into flowers and lots of bright colors," Hawk said "I thought about changing a few things, but didn’t see the point This is the hoe that? Nicole thought, stunned by what she was seeing Until this second, she’d never thought of Hawk as a er She’d known his wife had died, but hadn’t considered he was still inhis life the way Serena would have wanted it He always seee This was totally unexpected
The house was a shrine to Serena and screa coraphs on the wall proved there wasn’t room for anyone else
The tour of the downstairs continued The house was large with a big family room, an equally massive eat-in kitchen, a library and a study Hawk used as a home office Even there Serena’s touch was visible Silk flowers nestled up against football trophies
Nicole felt as if the walls were closing in on her When Hawk suggested they step outside, she was grateful to be able to breathe again
But her relief was short-lived While Hawk fired up the barbecue and then opened a bottle of wine, Brittany led the way to Serena’s special garden
"She loved flowers," the teenager said "She planted thearden to look exactly as it did when she was alive There’s herbs, too Every time we use them we’re reminded of her"
Nicole murmured that it was all so lovely, but on the inside, her head was spinning What was Hawk trying to prove? That no one would be welcome in his life asn’t Serena? Did he even knohat he was doing? Telling anyone who visited that she would never ht her here to warn her away?
CHAPTER TWELVE
DINNER TURNED OUT to be ht Talk turned to soh she ate her steak with the constant need to look over her shoulder to see if so of not being welco herself that Haouldn’t have invited her if he hadn’t wanted to spend the evening with her
After they’d carried their plates into the kitchen, Brittany led the way into the fa on the sofa