“Gracie,” I say, “I’m a single dad. A widower. I have some baggage, to put it mildly. But I would love to take you to breakfast tomorrow. Well, my kids and I would like to take you to breakfast. As soon as I can find someone I trust to help with Cora and Luke, I’d like to take you on a real date.”
She’s quiet again, and I wait. Maybe I pushed too far. Maybe I’m too forward. But I’d rather know now and focus on being her friend if that’s all she’s up for. This is exactly what I wanted, running off to Star Falls. Someplace different. New friends. People who might truly care about me and my kids. People in my life who don’t just want me to send pictures of the kids they can look at from far away.
The work of starting over didn’t just happen the day after we lost Elizabeth. I have to work to rebuild a life for myself and my kids every minute of every day.
I need a partner who will be there day in and day out to live the reality with me. Maybe it won’t be the first gorgeous woman I set eyes on in this town, but hell if Gracie isn’t a start.
Is it crazy to already be thinking about the happy ending? Yeah, it is.
Do I give a single fuck? Absolutely not.
I’ll never know what a better life might look like if I don’t color outside the lines once in a while. So, I ask again.
“Meet us for breakfast until I can ask you on a proper date?”
“I don’t get it,” she says, a smirk I can clearly hear coming through the phone. “I thought we’d already had a real date? Are you saying lunch at Benito’s didn’t count?”
I laugh, but she’s saying yes. She’s going to meet me.
We’re doing this.
“I want pancakes smothered in syrup,” I tell her. “Crisp bacon. Coffee as close to the bookstore’s as we can find at a sit-down place.”
She tells me about a couple diners and sit-down places, and we finally settle on Eddi’s Eatery.
“It’s in a strip mall, but if you like breakfasts, there’s no better place. The food is fantastic and fast. Eddi with two D’s and one I. You want me to punch the address into your GPS?” she offers, her voice a sensual tease.
“Are you offering to come over and do that now?” I growl, finally feeling the flirtation between us flowing again.
“If you leave a key under the mat for my mom, I might just take it first,” she says.
We chat for a few minutes about what time to meet. By the time we hang up, I have half an erection and a whole-ass smile on my face.
It may be a family date, but I’ve got a date with Grace Bianchi.
7
GRACIE
Breakfast with Ryderand the kids is nothing like our lunch yesterday. To start, Cora is an irritable mess from the moment Ryder stumbles through the parking lot with her in his arms.
“Bad night’s sleep,” he explains, his cheeks flushed. “Might be a rocky breakfast.”
While we wait to be called for a table, Ryder paces the parking lot, doing his best to distract Cora. I keep track of Luke, talking to him about the bees that buzz around the potted lavender plants and asking about his favorite breakfast food.
All the while, I trade flirtatious smiles and longing looks with Ryder. Even though I am excited to see him, and he seems really glad to be here, it is hard to maintain our vibe from last night while he is bouncing a fussy three-year-old in his arms.
When we finally are seated at a booth, the waitress forgets to bring us a booster seat. When we finally flag her down to remind her, she says they are all out of them, so Cora ends up sitting in Ryder’s lap.
The final shoe drops when an entire tray stacked with dirty dishes falls to the floor in an ear-splitting crash near our table. That sends Cora into a meltdown-level crying fit, thereby putting a glorious end to what has already been a difficult breakfast.
I shove the last bite of my Belgian waffle into my mouth while Ryder stares at what remains of his three-egg scramble.
“I’m sorry. We’d better go.” Ryder picks up Cora and motions for me to meet him at the cashier. We reach the front counter, where a line of people are impatiently waiting to pay. He hands me his wallet.
“Can you pull out the red one? That’s my debit card.”
I don’t even bother arguing with him over who is going to pay the bill. He has more than enough on his hands at the moment. I take the card and, when it’s our turn, hand it over.
