Beautiful Hearts

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Ten sofas dotted the Loriet lounge, and each chair was filled with one or more bodies, some with several tiny bodies. It was the early afternoon, and everyone had arrived at the sprawling rural house minutes after Lisa and Dan. Lisa's head bobbed frantically from one person to the other, trying to keep track of the conversations. Everyone in the Loriet family spoke at the same time. Her mind was overwhelmed, but her insides relaxed. Somehow the craziness made her feel inconspicuous. She'd expected twenty questions from each family member. Instead, all they talked about were themselves. Even the children were articulate. It seemed that Dan's English skills ran in the family.

Dan sat next to her, too close for comfort. He kept glancing at her and winking, or patting her knee affectionately. He'd taken this engaged thing too seriously. What a fake! Trying to get his family to accept him. Although she could really identify with that feeling. But it looked like they did accept him—quite warmly actually. Acceptance reeked from every corner of their home. At her home, she would have been interrogated five times already and so would he. There would be several moments of stiff silence, where everyone got to chew on how they'd missed the mark somehow. She never quite worked out where she'd gone wrong, but there was always the underlying feeling that she hadn't achieved what she was supposed to in life. It was probably part of the territory with a family who all had masters' degrees in law or chartered accounting, while she was this simple cosmetic artist.

Dan touched her gently on the leg, sending an involuntary tingle through her. "Would you like to take a walk outside?"

"Um...don't you think that's rude?"

He laughed and pointed at the rowdy crowd. "Do you think they'll miss us?"

"No." A laugh bubbled out of her. "They seem pretty busy."

"Too busy." He gripped his head in mock desperation. "I need air." She couldn't agree more. He reached for her hand and pulled her up.

Once they were outside, and he dropped her hand, after leading her through the sliding doors to the pool area, he let out a great sigh. "Whew."

"I didn't expect your family to be so loud."

"What did you expect?" He faced her, his hands in his pockets, weariness in his eyes.

"I don't know. Posh, poised, and polite."

"Alliteration. Good."

She blushed. She couldn't give away her passion for words. Not yet. Not until she was guaranteed that promotion.

"I come from a family of hooligans. But they're all great."

Lisa nodded and smiled at his droopy eyelids. "You seriously need to catch up on some sleep."

"It's been a busy week."

"Sit here by the pool and bask in the sun."

"With my long sleeves and work pants on?"

"I'll meet you here in ten minutes with a swimsuit on."

"Deal." His eyes came alive.

Lisa swallowed a lump in her throat and turned away. Her knees wanted to buckle again at her impulsive decision and his penetrating stare. Why did she find Dan so attractive now that she'd spent time with him? Because he was accessible? He'd always been sexy, but not warm and desirable. He was proving to be a treasure chest of surprises.

As Joy had said—no more hiding, and that meant wearing a swimsuit. With a new lightness in her step, Lisa ran upstairs, to the room her luggage had been taken to, and put on her tankini. The last time she'd worn anything close to a swimsuit, without board shorts and a coverup, had been in school. To play the part of Tammy, she'd known buying a decent swimsuit would be essential. A straight bikini had been too much of a bold step for her—a tankini had been the perfect compromise. Standing before a wall mirror, framed in stone, she pulled in her stomach and spread out the top to cover her cleavage as best as possible. Wow, it had been a challenge to find a suit that fit her small breasts and covered her large behind. Most women were the other way round—lovely and rounded at the top and slender at the bottom. She was disproportioned, well, according to common beauty standards, which she'd grown to discard. Self-love was her new motto in life, but she had a long way to go to master it. At least she was trying—a step in the right direction was a huge step.