Mythe: A Fairy Tale (15 page)

Manda recalled Josh’s earnest pleading on Monday morning, when he’d wanted her to join them for breakfast. He’d seemed so hungry for fresh company and a simple diversion. She’d assumed the two brothers would be on top of the world, with all of their fame and success, but instead they appeared to be surprisingly isolated.

Manda worried about it all day before finally working up the courage to call their hotel later in the afternoon. She had a plan. If they were out, she wouldn’t leave a message, but if they were there, she’d offer them an escape. Josh had commented wistfully the night before that they hadn’t had a home-cooked meal in months. She could invite them over for Sunday dinner and get even with them for the times they hadn’t allowed her to pick up the check at restaurants.

Just inviting the two of them seemed a little too familiar, however…to presumptuous. Including them in a small group though…an impromptu cookout…that would be better. So Manda called David and Stacey and invited them over first.

She heard Stacey’s eager acceptance in the background when David turned from the phone to ask her. Manda then screwed up her courage and called Richard and Josh. The younger man must have overheard her invitation through the earpiece when she asked Richard, and he accepted as eagerly as Stacey had. Manda found herself laughing along with Richard, and that quickly she was hosting an informal cookout for two of the most eligible and famous men in the world.
Paris Hilton, eat your heart out
, she thought with a grin.

Chapter 8

M
anda checked her watch and decided it was probably time to take Katie and Robbie back home. She’d gotten up early that morning and made a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up everything she needed for dinner, and she already had steaks marinating in the refrigerator, but she still had plenty to do before her guests arrived. Besides, her niece and nephew had gotten enough sun. They’d been swimming for the better part of the day. Manda called them away from the pool and began collecting her things. Within forty-five minutes she was at home, stepping into a hot shower.

By the time her doorbell rang at four o’clock, Manda had dressed—she’d taken extra care with her appearance—and had all of the food prepared and ready for final cooking. She had baked potatoes and fresh rolls keeping warm in the oven, steaks ready to go onto the grill, salad staying cool in the refrigerator, vegetables steaming on the stove, an apple cobbler ready to go into the oven as soon as the steaks were done, and a pitcher of iced tea sweating on a tray on the counter.

Manda opened the door and found all four of her guests waiting on the front porch but only one car parked at the curb.

“Hi, guys! Come on in. Did you all ride together?” She opened the door wide for them.

“Yes,” Josh replied as he followed the others in. “David and Stacey offered us a ride. Seemed a little more unobtrusive that way.”

“The hotel’s on our way,” David added.

“We’ll go out to the patio,” Manda directed, letting David lead the way. “Stacey, can you grab the tea?” she asked, gesturing to the tray on the counter as she retrieved the steaks from the refrigerator.

Outside, a table set for five beckoned, but Manda directed her guests to a cozy seating area flanking the stone fireplace at the opposite end of the patio. She directed Stacey to place the drink tray onto the low table there and gestured for the group to sit.

“Relax. Grab a glass of tea while I put the steaks on the grill. Or there are some soft drinks if you’d prefer.” She indicated a plastic tub filled with ice and canned drinks in the corner of the patio as she passed it on her way to the grill.

“It’s a beautiful evening to eat outside,” Stacey enthused, making herself comfortable on one of the cushioned patio chairs.

Manda arranged the steaks on the preheated grill. “It is nice out, isn’t it? I hope no one minds eating al fresco, but I thought we’d better enjoy it while we can. It’ll be getting cold before long.”

“Actually, it’s great to get out and enjoy the weather. This is very nice,” Richard assured her as he poured a glass of tea. He offered it to her and then poured himself another glass when she accepted it appreciatively.

Josh strolled up beside Manda as she adjusted the flame under the steaks. “I like your yard, Manda. It’s so private.”

Manda laughed. “That’s the thing I like most about it, too.” In fact, that had been one of the major selling points when she bought the house. The fenced backyard was completely encircled by a thick, towering lilac hedge that blocked the view in and out on all sides. In the spring the scent of lilacs permeated the yard—as well as the house if Manda left the windows open, as she often did. Large shady trees spread their branches wide over the edges of a spacious lawn and sheltered the patio. The sun, hanging low over the mountains to the west, threw long shadows across the yard, creating a premature twilight.

“The perfect place to hide from the humans?” Richard inquired knowingly.

“Exactly,” Manda agreed. “It’s my Fortress of Solitude.”

“Every good superhero should have one. Is there anything I can do to help you?” Like Josh, Richard was still standing, as if reluctant to relax until she did.

Manda perched on the edge of the hearth. “No. We’re just waiting on the steaks now. So, what fun and exciting things did you guys do today?”

“Well, we went for a long run this morning. I don’t know if that’s really what I’d consider exciting, but I enjoyed it. Then I read for a bit while Josh went exploring.” Richard finally seated himself on one of the patio chairs while Josh took a seat on the hearth near Manda.

“What about you?” the younger man asked.

“I went swimming and just relaxed,” Manda informed him.

“With the kids I bet,” David guessed. “Wild times, M. Wild times.”

“Oh, and what life changing activities did
you
participate in today?” she asked and was rewarded with an involved and hilarious story about his bike ride through the park that morning with Stacey. It involved a squirrel, a duck, and a Frisbee, and it had them all laughing uncontrollably until they had finished their salads and the steaks were done.

Still chuckling, Manda transferred the last steak onto a platter with the others and handed it to Stacey. “Could you take this to the table please? And guard it with your life. If you gentlemen will grab your salad plates and come with me, I’ve got a little heavy lifting for you to do.” Manda picked up both Stacey’s and her own empty salad plates and led the men into the house. She stacked the dirty plates in the sink, indicating that the men should follow suit, and then handed each man a dish to carry.

Richard looked down at the bowl piled high with baked potatoes she handed him, then regarded her with one raised eyebrow. “This is hardly a great burden. You’d better give me more to do or I won’t feel like I’ve earned my dinner,” he joked.

Manda smiled slightly. “Sorry I don’t have anything more strenuous for you. I can put some rocks in the bottom of the bowl if it would make you feel better.” She paused while he chuckled and all three men began to turn toward the door. Then she added, “Besides, you can consider this payback for all the checks you’ve picked up.” She couldn’t help but laugh at the expressions on Josh and Richard’s faces as she slid the pan of cobbler into the oven.

“Very sneaky, M,” David commented approvingly. “My friends, be warned. M here is used to winning.” He turned and walked out the back door. Manda flashed a brilliant smile at Richard’s good natured glare and Josh’s bemused expression and followed her coworker out.

“Cheater!” Richard growled a minute later as he sat down the bowl he was carrying on the table beside Manda.

“Well, if we’re going to play by your rules, I’ll take whatever advantages I can,” Manda fired back tartly. “Dig in, everyone. You guys have a lot of food to eat.”

“What’d I miss?” Stacey asked, confused by the exchange between Richard and Manda. David filled her in while everyone filled their plates.

“You know, of course, this means war,” Richard announced when David had finished bringing Stacey up to speed.

“Hey, all I did was invite you for dinner. I didn’t
make
you come, but we can escalate this if you want,” Manda challenged with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes, “or we can negotiate mutually acceptable terms.”

“What sort of terms?” Richard asked, suspicious and amused. And so began the negotiations.

While the others looked on, thoroughly entertained, Manda and Richard hammered out the terms of their armistice. It began with Manda’s declaration that it was unfair that she was never allowed to pick up a check at a restaurant. When Richard, with Josh’s support, insisted that it was the only gentlemanly thing to do, Manda conceded that while it was indeed chivalrous, it was also not fair. If they were going to adhere to such a traditional behavioral paradigm, she should be allowed to reciprocate appropriately. And what could be more traditional than home cooking?

It was at this point that David commented to Stacey and Josh that Manda’s inner scholar was showing. This was followed by a wager among the three onlookers, with David backing Manda to win, Josh betting on Richard, and Stacey placing her money, so to speak, on a compromise. It was decided that the losers of the bet would have to clear the dinner dishes.

Manda and Richard both grinned at this and continued with their debate. Manda laid out her demands, asking for more than she expected to get but prepared for Richard to bargain her down. She demanded a one-for-one trade—every time Richard or Josh insisted on picking up a check they had to let her cook for them.

“That’s hardly equitable,” Richard argued, clearly enjoying sparring with Manda. “A home-cooked meal is much more valuable than a meal at a restaurant. The monetary value of your time and effort alone is exponentially more than I’d pay at any restaurant.”

“You’d think they were working out an international trade agreement instead of just arguing over who gets to pick up a check,” Josh observed in a stage whisper.

Richard ignored him and posed his counter offer to Manda—one home-cooked meal would be equivalent to twelve dinners or twenty lunches. Negotiations continued—with a short intermission while Manda removed their dessert from the oven—until the end of dinner, when they arrived at mutually acceptable terms. Richard and/or Josh would be allowed to pay for all meals purchased at restaurants if they so desired, but in turn, for every five such meals they would allow Manda to provide them with a home cooked meal of some sort. Manda warned that should they attempt to renege on their agreement the consequences would be dire.

“As a token of good will, I’ll even let you help me get dessert,” Manda told Richard magnanimously after David and Josh vanished into the house with the dinner dishes. Stacey, as the winner of their wager, was leaning back in her chair relaxing.

“I’ll help you, Manda,” she offered quickly.

“No, no! Let me salvage what I can of my honor,” Richard countered, donning a martyred expression as he trailed after Manda to the kitchen, where Josh and David were loading dishes into the dishwasher.

“You guys don’t have to do that,” Manda protested, only to be contradicted by Richard.

“Oh yes they do. Maybe it’ll teach them not to bet against either one of us again.”

Manda chuckled and let the two men continue with their task. She picked up a few of the empty serving dishes and looked at them mournfully before handing them to Josh. “I can’t believe you three ate everything! There’s not enough left here to feed a hamster. And I was going to have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.” She gave the three an accusing look.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t like to renegotiate our deal?” Richard offered smugly. “As you can see, we can eat a lot of food.”

“Oh no,” she said firmly. “A deal’s a deal. I’ll just have to remember in the future to make enough for ten people. Jeez! How do you three not weigh 400 pounds each?”

“Fast metabolism,” Josh said with a shrug. He placed the last dirty plate in the dishwasher and shut it. “What else can we do?”

“Well, you can carry these out I guess,” Manda said, handing him a stack of bowls. “And you can carry these,” she continued, handing David a handful of forks and a stack of paper napkins.

“Yes, ma’am,” David said and disappeared out the door with Josh. When they were gone Richard grew serious.

“All joking aside, Manda, you know I don’t really expect you to cook for us. That’s too much to ask.”

Manda closed the freezer door, sat down the carton of ice cream she’d taken out, and leaned back against the counter. “If you don’t like my cooking…” she began, letting the sentence trail off suggestively.

Richard’s lips twitched up slightly. “That’s certainly not it and you know it. Not enough food left for a hamster, remember?”

“Okay, okay,” Manda relented. “I was pretty sure you liked the food.” She swirled her finger across the lid of the ice cream carton, drawing a pattern in the frost that had formed there, and refused to meet Richard’s eyes. “Of course, if you’d rather not, it’s no big deal. I just thought you guys might enjoy getting away from the hotels and restaurants.”

“I do,” Richard assured her, taking a small step closer, “and I know Josh does too. We’ve been looking forward to this all day. But as much as we’d love to do it again, I don’t want you to feel obligated. It’s not right.”