He opened the door and walked outside. It was a gorgeous morning, and he breathed a deep breath, filling his lungs with air. In less than a minute, she came out. She had no idea how adorable she was.
"I'm going to walk to the waterfront if you want to join me," Alex said, making that up on the spot.
She nodded and started walking beside him, which gave him way too much pleasure.
"I don't want you to pay for breakfast," he said as they walked. "I thought you might be working it out with the cashier, and I didn't want to interrupt, but I'll pay you back for that."
She looked at him with a smile and shook her head. "I, uh, I really loved taking care of my niece and being able to help my sister out for the last year… so I don't want to make it seem like my sister owes me anything. But no, breakfast is on the house. My sister took care of that. It's all good."
"Do you feel good about where Luna went?"
"Oh, yeah, Maddie's great, and Luna was missing her little friends. She was excited when I took her out there. We might run into them on the waterfront. Maddie mentioned taking them to the carousel because that was Luna's favorite. I like it too, actually."
"I've seen that thing come up, but I've never gone to it."
"It's fun," she said. "It goes pretty fast."
"Do you want to go ride it?" he asked her.
"Na," she said. But then she looked at him and tilted her head. "Do you?"
He shrugged. "I have another hour before I need to go back."
She smiled at him like she thought that meant he wanted to ride it.
The truth was that he didn't care what they did. He just felt good being next to her, regardless of where they were.
"We can head that way and see how we feel," she said. He pointed out a mural that was painted on the side of a building, and she nodded. "That's one of my favorites," she said. They studied it as they walked by.
"Where's your job interview?" he asked.
"Uh…" she trailed off and let out a defeated sigh. "It's at my church."
"Don't sound so excited."
"No, I, I really want it. There's a small school attached to our church. It's K through 8, which is what I went to school for—educating children through eighth grade. I pretty much set myself up for this job with my last six years in college, but now I’m…"
"What?"
"It's complicated."
"How?" he asked.
"Because I’ve gone on three dates with this guy, Marcus, who works there—basically runs it. We'veknown each other for years, but I never… anyway… I had gained some confidence when I came back from Montana, so I guess I was acting differently. I had Luna and everything, so no one even knows we're talking, but we've been out a few times."
"So, he works there, and he's getting you the dream job?" Alex asked, feeling annoyed.
"No, the opposite sort of. He does work there. His dad is the main pastor, and he's a junior pastor. I'm the number one candidate for the job, but he was saying that giving me this job might be a… conflict of interest."
"Yeah," Alex said, feeling otherwise speechless.
He was quiet after that because he was disappointed that she was seeing someone.What did he expect, that he would run into her at a grocery store and then they would ride off into the sunset?Yes, he did, actually. But there was someone else.
"I've been going to that church for eight years. I know everyone there. It's like my family." She took a deep breath. "So, the interview should go well. But I'm not sure about the job. He may say it's better to… keep it professional."
"Why don't you just quit going out with that guy if you want to start working there? That seems like the most logical choice."
Josie seemed to understand that he was saying that to serve his best interest, and she grinned at him. That grin was completely irresistible, and he wantedto stop walking, take her into his arms, and kiss her. He had done it before.
