“Can we invite her over again?” Owen said as he hopped out of the truck.
“Sure. I don’t see why not.” Not only did henot see why not,but there was also no chance he wasn’t going to invite her over again. He was finally beginning to admit how much he enjoyed her company. For whatever reason, he was happier in her presence. She filled a gap in his life that he hadn’t wanted to admit was there, but now, denying it had become impossible.
Inside, Owen ran to put his book on his shelves, and Cal started prepping for dinner. He couldn’t stop thinking about April. She’d spent the day with Owen, and nothing bad had happened beyond some bad weather. It wasn’t that Cal had doubted she would take good care of his son. But no matter how normal or mundane the situation might be, where his son was concerned, Cal would worry about every possible tragic accident. Every single thing that could go wrong went wrong first in his head. Leaving Owen with anyone other than himself had been a massive step he hadn’t thought he was ready to take. But April was changing his mind about things, a lot of things really.
They had tacos for dinner that night. Owen had requested it. Owen took a bite and said, “These are good, Dad.”
“Thanks,” Cal said. “I appreciate the compliment. But chew and swallow first, OK, chief.”
Owen chewed in an exaggerated way, swallowed his bite, and washed it down with juice. “OK,” he said. “I’ll try to remember.”
“Thank you,” Cal said. Then he got the perfect idea for how to motivate his son. “Because, you know, if Nurse April’s going to come over for a fancy dinner, we have to learn good manners to impress her.”
Owen nearly stood on his chair before Cal put a stop to it. “Really?” the boy said, clapping. “When? I’ll do good manners,I swear! When is she coming? I want to help cook the fancy dinner. Can I help cook the fancy dinner?”
“Of course you can,” Cal said, grinning and pleased that he’d accurately predicted his son’s response. “I thought I’d give her a call tonight to invite her. What do you think?”
“Yessss!” Owen punched the air like he’d won a big game.
After dinner, Cal read to Owen for a while before tucking him into bed. He read more than one book, putting off that call he intended to make for as long as he possibly could. He talked himself down by mentally assuring himself that it wasn’t like he was asking her out on a date or anything. It was the same type of thing he’d invited her to before. This time, it was dinner instead of lunch. This time, he wanted to show off his cooking skills a bit, give her a sample of truly fresh fish, straight out of the river.
He picked up the phone and dialed. “Hey,” he said when she answered. “I was thinking, you know, I’d like to invite you to mine for dinner.” He barely moved a muscle as he spoke. “Owen already misses you,” he said. It wasn’t entirely a lie. Owen was unreasonably fond of the woman. It made a decent excuse anyway. She’d never understand if he claimed that he felt he owed her, and she’d probably be offended if he took the time to assure her this wasn’t a date.
“I don’t know, Cal,” she said. “I do have to work this week.”
“Do you have any days off? I can work around your schedule.” He hoped he didn’t sound too forward or desperate.
“The only day I have off is tomorrow, unfortunately, but that isn’t much notice.”
Cal grinned. “No, it’s perfect.” The benefit of growing your own food was having everything you needed to make a good meal on hand at all times. He didn’t have to go to the store to make her dinner. He simply had to go out back and choose something that would go well with river trout from his variety of plants.
He was worried he might be overwhelming her with too much contact in too short a time, but she seemed more pleased than anything. “Well, I’ll be there then. Thank you for inviting me.”
“No problem.” He hung up and mentally slapped himself for ending the conversation like that. It sounded like he had offered to do her a tedious favor. No matter, though, he assured himself. This wasn’t a date, so he had no one to impress. It was dinner between friends… for Owen’s sake. Yes, that’s all it was.
CHAPTER 13
APRIL
April spent all morning reminding herself that this was not a date. There was no point in dressing up or putting too much effort into her appearance. But then Crystal’s voice was in her head.Dress for the job you want.She went for a compromise in the end—a pair of snug-fitting jeans and a shirt cut lower than she would normally wear. It worked out better than she expected. She looked nice without looking like she had expectations, which she definitely did not. Maybe she had hopes but no expectations. At least, that’s what she told herself.
She drove to Cal’s house feeling far more nervous than she would if this were anything other than a date. When she got to the cabin, she hesitated to knock on the door, second-guessing every choice she had made so far. Had she chosen the right outfit? Maybe it was still too much. But when Cal finally opened the door, the look on his face was nothing but appreciation.
“You look great,” he said.
“Thanks.” She stepped inside, and he took her coat. “I wasn’t sure how formal this dinner was meant to be. I hope I’m not underdressed.”
“Not at all. This is the Nolen cabin. Wear what makes you the most comfortable. We’ve got no complaints here.” His eyes traveled down briefly, and she caught the quirk of a smile before he said. “On the contrary… you really do look amazing.”
April could feel herself blushing. “Thank you,” she said. Then she quickly changed the subject to something more comfortable. “So, what smells so good?”
“That would be dinner.” Cal closed the door and led April to the dining table. There was a lit storm lantern in the middle, giving off big candle vibes. The table was beautifully set, and Owen was already sitting there waiting for them quietly.
“You’re being so polite, Owen,” April noted.
“I have good manners,” Owen said. “And I swallow my food before talking, too.”
She sat down beside him. “That’s pretty impressive, actually. I always forget, but I’ll try to remember tonight.”
