Beth and the Bachelor. Susan Mallery

up in the car, or the fuss she’d made about the menu not having prices, or her horror at the mention of bone marrow flan. Of course the latter explained why so many rich women were thin. If that’s all they had to eat, starvation was a far more pleasant state of being.

      He probably thought she’d never been outside of the Sugar Land city limits, let alone out of the state. Her only saving grace was that she didn’t actually have hay in her hair.

      They had nothing in common. She’d suspected they wouldn’t. But suspecting and knowing were two very different states of mind. She’d never felt so out of place in her life. These people were different. Even the waiter in timidated her. The worst part was Todd was being so nice. If he’d stayed true to character—a jerk only interested sleeping with young women—she might have survived the experience. But he was kind and funny and that made her want to make a good impression on him. Something that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.

      If only he weren’t so rich…or so good-looking. If only she hadn’t felt heat clear down to her ankles when he’d pulled her hand into the crook of his arm. The old-fashioned gallant gesture had made her feel special and important; then his nearness had nearly taken her breath away. For a moment she’d felt sixteen again, and about as polished.

      She gazed at her reflection. Men like him weren’t interested in women like her. Plus, she was a widow. She didn’t have any right to be attracted to another man. It was wrong, not to mention indecent and incredibly disloyal. How would she survive drinks, let alone the meal? With her luck, she would choke on the entrée and end up dying right there on the plushly carpeted floor.

      ‘‘I can’t do this,’’ Beth murmured to herself.

      She reached into her small evening bag and pulled out a tissue. Then she wrote quickly. She was rude and insensitive and fifteen different kinds of coward. She was also leaving.

      * * *

      Todd impatiently tapped his fingers against the table. Beth had been gone nearly fifteen minutes. Had something happened? Should he have the waiter send a female member of the staff into the rest room to check on Beth?

      Just as he was about to flag the man over, the waiter appeared and pressed a limp tissue into his hand. ‘‘Madame asked me to give you this,’’ he intoned in a voice that dripped with disapproval.

      Instantly Todd knew what it was going to say. He opened the note and read it just to confirm his gut’s intuition.

      Sorry, Todd, but I’m just not ready for this whole dating ritual. You’ve been kindness itself and I really appreciate that. As far as I’m concerned, you have fulfilled your bachelor auction responsibilities completely. I hope my leaving doesn’t cause you any embarrassment. Some of us aren’t meant to leave the suburbs and I guess I’m one of those people. Please accept my apology.

      Beth

      * * *

      ‘‘Is there a problem?’’ the waiter asked.

      Yeah, there was a problem, Todd thought to himself. For the first time in his life, he’d been stood up.

       Chapter Three

      Beth paid the cabdriver then stared up at her two-story house. It was barely eight o’clock. Both her children were going to know that something was up. She would never have returned this early unless there was a problem. However, the idea of lurking in the shrubbery for two or three hours was even less appealing than confessing all, or at least part, of what had happened, so she headed for the back door.

      As per her instructions, it was locked. That made her relax a little. While her lone foray into dating had ended in disaster, at least her kids seemed to be growing up into wonderful, responsible teenagers. Given the choice, she would pick her kids’ success and happiness over her own, any day.

      She inserted her key and turned it, then opened the door and made her way to the family room. ‘‘Just me,’’ she called.

      Her daughter, Jodi, and her friend Sara both looked up at her in surprise as she stepped into the room.

      ‘‘I know I’m a little early,’’ she said, careful to keep her voice bright and breezy. ‘‘Everything is fine. I told Todd I would prefer it if we ended our date quickly.’’

      Jodi frowned at the VCR clock, then returned her attention to her mother. ‘‘A little early? Did you two even have time to eat?’’

      While Beth was willing to stretch the truth slightly, she wasn’t going to out-and-out lie. ‘‘We had drinks.’’

      ‘‘I thought he was supposed to be buying you dinner.’’ Beth crossed the hardwood floor and kissed her daughter’s forehead. ‘‘He offered and I declined. I’d rather be home.’’ She grabbed a cookie from the plate between the studying girls. ‘‘I’m going upstairs to get changed. Don’t worry about me.’’

      With that she was gone. One down and one to go, she thought, pleased Jodi had accepted her explanation so easily. Of course if she knew her daughter, they were going to be talking about this in more detail in the morning. Between now and then, Beth would think of a way to make things sound better than they were.

      At the top of the stairs, she slipped out of her pumps and carried them. As she pushed open the half-closed door to her bedroom, she remembered that she’d given Matt permission to watch movies on her television so as not to disturb Jodi and Sara while they studied.

      The sounds of an action movie assaulted her as she stepped into the dark bedroom. Matt lay on the bed, his head propped on top of all her pillows and a bowl of popcorn on his stomach.

      ‘‘Hey, kiddo,’’ she said as she walked toward her closet.

      ‘‘Mom?’’ Matt set the bowl on the nightstand and sprang to his feet. ‘‘You’re home early. Are you okay?’’

      She put her purse on her dresser and turned to look at him. ‘‘I’m fine. Yes, it was a short date, but Todd and I settled for drinks instead of dinner.’’

      The twinge of guilt at her semi-lie surprised her. Why should she feel guilty about what had happened? Maybe because she’d left a perfectly nice man in a potentially embarrassing situation, a little voice in her head whispered.

      Matt stood in front of her. He was a gangly teen with serious eyes behind his wire-rimmed glasses. Right now, worry pressed his mouth into a straight line.

      His too-big hands curled into fists. ‘‘Did something happen? Did he—”His voice cracked and he flushed. ‘‘Did he try something?’’

      It took Beth a moment to figure out that her youngest, the boy she still thought of as her baby, was concerned about her safety and planning to protect her. Pain and pride battled for a place in her heart. Pain that he was already so grown-up and it wouldn’t be long before he was gone, and pride for the man he would be when he left home for good.

      She cupped Matt’s face in her hands. He wasn’t shaving regularly yet and he still had the blotchy skin of an adolescent, but since the death of his father, he’d done his best to be the man of the house.

      ‘‘Thank you,’’ she said quietly, and kissed his cheek. ‘‘Thank you for worrying about me. Yes, I’m home before I planned, but that’s because I didn’t stay to have dinner with Todd. Nothing happened.’’

      At least nothing in the way Matt thought, Beth reminded herself. If anyone was guilty of behaving badly, she was the one in trouble, not Todd.

      ‘‘You sure?’’ Matt asked.

      ‘‘I swear.’’ Beth dropped her hands and made an X over her heart. ‘‘Now let me get changed and I’ll watch the rest of the movie with you.’’

      Matt grinned. ‘‘You’ll hate it.’’

      ‘‘Probably,’’ Beth said as she moved into