The Best Mistake by Kate Watterson Read Free Book Online

the way Rick looked at her. Quickly, she picked up the sponge from the sink and wiped away the wine spots from the granite countertop. “Can I get you something to drink?”
    His brows rose fractionally. “You don’t have to wait on me. I can get it myself. I might have a glass of what you’re having. I brought the other bottle of red when Ran said we are having Italian. Do you want me to open it for dinner to let it breathe?”
    Now she really felt like an idiot, especially when he unerringly opened the cabinet with the wine glasses and got one for himself. He’d been there a thousand times and knew his way around about as well as she did. “Sure,” she mumbled. She needed some fresh air. “I think I’ll sit on the back patio with mine.”
    “I’ll join you.”
    Oh…Great .
    “If you don’t mind.” He fished out the corkscrew from the right drawer.
    “Of course not.”
    Yes, I do. I’m doing my best to ignore you .
    She went out through the dining room, the French doors opening to a small deck that overlooked the backyard, the lawn trim and bordered by a privacy fence. Still it was relatively serene, if a bit bland compared to Rick’s house and yard, which had a lot of charm and character. Ran had installed a portable waterfall that made a soothing sound, and Lacey took a seat at the wrought iron table and sipped her wine. Rick followed her out, bringing with him the half-empty bottle of Chianti.
    “Good day?” he asked, settling his tall body into the chair next to hers, his smile easy and charismatic.
    “Not bad.” She turned her face into the slight breeze in an attempt to look perfectly normal “Did you and Ran get a lot done?”
    “We did. It’s hard to believe but the remodel is almost complete.”
    “What’s hard to believe,” she said drily, “is that a busy lawyer and a surgical resident who works seventy hours a week even took on the project, much less finished it.”
    “We work pretty well together.”
    Was it her imagination or was there a slight, confusing inflection to that statement? Luckily she didn’t have to respond because at that moment Ran strolled out in clean shorts and a T-shirt, his hair still wet, a slight smile on his face, and he took the chair on the other side of her. “Smells great in there.”
    An echo of what Rick had said, but that wasn’t surprising. They were actually a lot alike and not just in looks.
    “Hope it will be good,” she responded lamely.
    Ran smiled at her. “Oh, I’d bet on it.”
    “So would I.” Rick took a long, slow sip of wine, but he held her gaze while doing it.
    Were they still talking about the food? She suddenly wasn’t sure. The last time they were all together it had been more than awkward, but this didn’t feel the same at all.
    She had the unsettling notion that she was out of the loop in some way, and besides, it was more than a little distracting sitting between the two of them. She stood abruptly. “I should go put in the garlic bread.”
    “Can I help?” Rick asked politely.
    Yes, he could help…but not in the way he meant.
    “I can do it myself.” She headed for the doorway.
    She almost didn’t catch it when Ran murmured, “But it’s never as much fun alone, is it?”

Chapter Five
     
    Dinner was over, the dishes cleared. He and Ran were doing them in tandem, with one clearing, one loading the dishwasher. Lacey insisted on helping at first and then she gave up when they shooed her away and sat outside with her glass of wine while they finished.
    Just as well she wasn’t in the room. Rick plunged his hands back in the soapy water. He wasn’t doing a good job of staying neutral, and really, he should just leave.
    The entire idea was crazy anyway. Lacey wasn’t going to go for it. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to go for it…well, not true.
    But the unconventionality of it gave him pause. Ran was ten times more adventurous than he was, and he always had been.
    Hell .
    The alternative was to walk away, and