“Oh boy,” I laughed. “You’ve done it now.”
“But it doesn’t have feathers!”
Alec grimaced. “This summer, she found out steak was made from cows and refused to eat it. My recipe list will get smaller and smaller if I have to take chicken off the list.”
I was impressed he’d managed to hide the truth of meat for so long. “Guess you’re going to have a vegetarian in the family.”
Evanne thought about it and said, “No, I like chicken too much.Doyoulike chicken, Ms. Browne?”
“I do,” I admitted before realizing the can of worms I’d just opened.
“Does that mean you can come for dinner?”
I looked to Alec, who shrugged helplessly. “If you’re not doing anything,” he said. “I mean…we’d be, uh, happy to have you…”
His response surprised me. After the way he’d hurried out of the hotel that night, I’d assumed that his request for a ‘fun’ date was the way he normally did things. Then I’d found out who he really was and understood why he didn’t want to date anyone. Being wealthy and a single father…it had to be difficult. I respected that he’d been honest with me about what he wanted, and now that we knew how we’d be spending the next year, it made complete sense for me to decline and walk away.
And yet, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
“Well,” I said, “if it’s okay with your dad…”
Evanne pumped her fists in the air. “Yes!”
Alec couldn’t hide his grin, and I wondered if he even wanted to. Looking at Evanne, I doubted it. Something told me that he’d do whatever it took to make Evanne smile the way she was now.
“Aye, if you would like to come, it would be fine with me,” he said. “I live about six blocks from here. Would seven o’clock be fine?”
“Seven works,” I said. “Can you send the address to my email? Do you still have it?”
“Aye,” he said, reaching out to take Evanne’s hand again. “I’ll send it to you as soon as the wee’un and I get home.”
“Perfect.” I nodded. “And then I’ll see you at seven.”
Alec nodded, keeping his farewell to a brisk wave as Evanne pulled him down the sidewalk again.
As I watched them go, I wondered if I was making a stupid decision by agreeing to see him…to seethem. It seemed too personal for what should have been a professional relationship. There should have been distance. Especially after what happened a week ago. And now, it wasn’t just sex and fun and me and him. It was her too, and I didn’t know if that made things better or worse.
Things just seemed to be getting more and more confusing, and I wasn’t sure if they’d clear up any time soon. Or what my world would look like when it was done.
Twenty-One
Alec
Seven waslate for us to be eating dinner, but I’d wanted a little extra time to wrap my head around what had happened this afternoon. Namely, the fact that the woman I hadn’t been able to get out of my mind would soon be sitting in my dining room.
And that it was my daughter who’d invited her here.
The enthusiasm with which Evanne was looking forward to ‘Ms. Browne’ coming for dinner should have worried me, but I was simply thankful for how well Evanne was adjusting. Keli had always told me that Evanne was doing well in school, since the extent of my involvement in that particular part of her education had been going to her extra-curricular activities and paying the tuition.
I hadn’t even blinked when Keli had told me she wanted to move Evanne from the school she’d been attending before. Maybe if I’d paid attention, I would’ve wondered why Keli had chosen a new school so close to my place.
When the doorbell buzzed right at seven, I allowed Evanne to answer the intercom.
“It’s Ms. Browne.”
If Lumen was as nervous as I was, she was hiding it well.
Or maybe she wasn’t nervous at all.
