something with you, at least. For dessert. "
McKenzie grinned and said, " Okay. If I can ' t have you, Adele, then I ' ll take one of those Napoleons I saw earlier. "
Mrs. Adamont looked crestfallen. " I sold the last one to this young lady. "
Instantly Jane said, " You ' re welcome to it, I have more than enough of everything — "
" That ' d be my guess, too, " he said dryly.
" Lighten up, McKenzie, " she said through a clenched smile. She opened the top of her brown A&P bag and said, " Help yourself. It ' s right on top. "
He bent over to see at the same time that she bent over to check, and they knocked heads. Jane let out a little cry of pain and annoyance. McKenzie said, " We seem to do a lot of this, don ' t we? "
" Yes! No. Here you are, " she said, reaching in the bag and pulling out the pastry. " Take it. "
It wasn ' t exactly a peace offering, not in any real sense of the phrase. But Jane wanted to be on the granting end, not the receiving one, with this man. It was important to her. She wondered why. Maybe she knew, instinctively, that he ' d resent it. The way he must ' ve resented Bing ' s check.
She watched him take the sweet, and for a second she thought he was going to donate it back to Mrs. Adamont. But instead he smiled and bit down on it with strong, white teeth, savoring it, and that made her instantly want the Napoleon more than anything else in her bag.
This is absurd, she thought, compressing her lips. This guy drives me nuts. He does it on purpose.
She passed her grocery bag over the table to Mrs. Adamont. " Can I leave this with you until I ' ve looked at some of the other tables? "
" Sure you can. Mac, you take this girl around and show her the bazaar. She was very nice, giving you her Napoleon. " She dismissed them like two preschoolers and turned her attention to the next customer.
As they walked away, Jane said quickly, " I ' m sure you have other things to do. "
McKenzie polished off the last of the cream-filled puff paste and reached into his pocket for a handkerchief. " If I get a better offer, " he said, wiping his hands clean, " I ' ll let you know. "
" Please do, " Jane said coolly, and stopped, ignoring him, to peruse the white elephant table. It held the usual array of castoffs: awful bowls and orange vases, odd glasses and gold-trimmed pitchers, and linen calendar towels, never used, from years gone by. There was also a wooden crate filled with old and broken tools.
McKenzie beat her to it. She watched out of the corner of her eye as he poked around in desultory fashion through the collection of screwdrivers, coping saws, planes, and chisels. One of the things he laid aside in the process of sorting through them was an old-fashioned rotary hand drill.
" A hand drill! " Jane said, delighted. " I ' ve been looking for one. "
McKenzie looked almost embarrassed. " I ' m, uh, sorry ... I took it out to buy. "
" Oh. Well, natura lly, since you saw it first .. . Ah, the handle ' s missing, " she added quickly. " I wouldn ' t have wanted it anyway. " She picked up the next thing she saw, a Phillips screwdriver for fifty cents, and paid the man in a Bruins cap who was standing guard.
Incredible. Twice in five minutes they ' d gone after the same thing. Men and women never wanted the same thing. That was one of nature ' s laws. What would they be fighting over next, she wondered. A shower curtain?
The next table was overflowing with crafts and linens. McKenzie ambled past the crocheted doilies and corn husk dolls with hardly a glance, but Jane stopped and sniffed each of the potpourris, grateful for the chance to regroup. What was it about him? Every moment they ' d ever spent together had been awkward. And she was just as much to blame as he was. She ' d never met anyone who ' d got so much on her nerves. Oil and water, that ' s what they were.
And it was also true — she was ashamed to admit it — that she still didn ' t trust him. Some people were open books; Bi ng, for
McKenzie grinned and said, " Okay. If I can ' t have you, Adele, then I ' ll take one of those Napoleons I saw earlier. "
Mrs. Adamont looked crestfallen. " I sold the last one to this young lady. "
Instantly Jane said, " You ' re welcome to it, I have more than enough of everything — "
" That ' d be my guess, too, " he said dryly.
" Lighten up, McKenzie, " she said through a clenched smile. She opened the top of her brown A&P bag and said, " Help yourself. It ' s right on top. "
He bent over to see at the same time that she bent over to check, and they knocked heads. Jane let out a little cry of pain and annoyance. McKenzie said, " We seem to do a lot of this, don ' t we? "
" Yes! No. Here you are, " she said, reaching in the bag and pulling out the pastry. " Take it. "
It wasn ' t exactly a peace offering, not in any real sense of the phrase. But Jane wanted to be on the granting end, not the receiving one, with this man. It was important to her. She wondered why. Maybe she knew, instinctively, that he ' d resent it. The way he must ' ve resented Bing ' s check.
She watched him take the sweet, and for a second she thought he was going to donate it back to Mrs. Adamont. But instead he smiled and bit down on it with strong, white teeth, savoring it, and that made her instantly want the Napoleon more than anything else in her bag.
This is absurd, she thought, compressing her lips. This guy drives me nuts. He does it on purpose.
She passed her grocery bag over the table to Mrs. Adamont. " Can I leave this with you until I ' ve looked at some of the other tables? "
" Sure you can. Mac, you take this girl around and show her the bazaar. She was very nice, giving you her Napoleon. " She dismissed them like two preschoolers and turned her attention to the next customer.
As they walked away, Jane said quickly, " I ' m sure you have other things to do. "
McKenzie polished off the last of the cream-filled puff paste and reached into his pocket for a handkerchief. " If I get a better offer, " he said, wiping his hands clean, " I ' ll let you know. "
" Please do, " Jane said coolly, and stopped, ignoring him, to peruse the white elephant table. It held the usual array of castoffs: awful bowls and orange vases, odd glasses and gold-trimmed pitchers, and linen calendar towels, never used, from years gone by. There was also a wooden crate filled with old and broken tools.
McKenzie beat her to it. She watched out of the corner of her eye as he poked around in desultory fashion through the collection of screwdrivers, coping saws, planes, and chisels. One of the things he laid aside in the process of sorting through them was an old-fashioned rotary hand drill.
" A hand drill! " Jane said, delighted. " I ' ve been looking for one. "
McKenzie looked almost embarrassed. " I ' m, uh, sorry ... I took it out to buy. "
" Oh. Well, natura lly, since you saw it first .. . Ah, the handle ' s missing, " she added quickly. " I wouldn ' t have wanted it anyway. " She picked up the next thing she saw, a Phillips screwdriver for fifty cents, and paid the man in a Bruins cap who was standing guard.
Incredible. Twice in five minutes they ' d gone after the same thing. Men and women never wanted the same thing. That was one of nature ' s laws. What would they be fighting over next, she wondered. A shower curtain?
The next table was overflowing with crafts and linens. McKenzie ambled past the crocheted doilies and corn husk dolls with hardly a glance, but Jane stopped and sniffed each of the potpourris, grateful for the chance to regroup. What was it about him? Every moment they ' d ever spent together had been awkward. And she was just as much to blame as he was. She ' d never met anyone who ' d got so much on her nerves. Oil and water, that ' s what they were.
And it was also true — she was ashamed to admit it — that she still didn ' t trust him. Some people were open books; Bi ng, for
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