“Okay great.” Then to her astonishment, she blurted, “Hey, want to grab dinner some time? I mean just something casual.” Her face went hot. Oh God, did she just ask him on a date? It had just come out of her mouth. She liked him and he was alone too, and oh Christ. Now she’d gone and embarrassed them both.
For a second he looked stunned, then smiled uncertainly. “Sure. I guess so.”
“Listen, I didn’t mean it like that. Not like adatedate. I haven’t gone on a date in twenty-three years. I just thought it’d be fun to get together, you know, get out of the house.” Oh wait. That was all wrong. “Not that it’s just a way to get out of the house,” she amended. “I mean, it’d be nice to talk some more.” She groaned and covered her face with her hands. “I’m sorry. I’m so rusty at this. You don’t have to say yes.”
“I’m pretty rusty too. And yes, I’d like to.”
She peeked up at him. “You would? Ok, wow. I mean, that’s great. When should we…is Thursday okay?” Her mind was already spinning with what to wear. She’d hardly brought anything with her, she’d been living in the same jeans and leggings since she got here. Would they drive together? Oh no, that would be awkward. One of them picking the other up. Best to meet him there. Wherever they were going.
“Thursday’s good.” He glanced up at the house. “Can you leave your dad?”
“For a few hours and my son might still be here anyway.” She had a feeling Andrew was not heading back to school on Wednesday. Spending a little time with his grandfather might do them both good.
“Okay then.” Glenn still looked slightly stunned. “Should we touch base later this week?”
She nodded, smiling, and gave him a wave as she started up the driveway, hoping he didn’t notice her stumble on an uneven patch of pebbles.
She had a date with the beekeeper. Wait until she told Shelly.
Chapter Eleven
Lilah cast a critical eye at Glenn’s shirt.
“What’s wrong with it?” he said.
“Don’t you have anything better?”
“Better? What do you meanbetter?”He never should have told Lilah he was going out with Cassie. Now she’d made it her mission to spiff him up. He considered the shirt, a blue and green plaid, one of his favorites. It looked all right. He and Cassie had agreed on casual, so what was wrong with jeans and a flannel?
Lilah rummaged through his closet. “Why do you still even have this?” she said, zeroing in on a fleece he happened to like. “I remember this from when I was little.”
“It’s comfortable.” He plucked it out of her hand. No way he was getting rid of that. He’d owned it since college.
She gave him her most severe look. “Seriously Dad. It’s ugly.”
“Well I’m not wearing it tonight so don’t worry about it.” This whole thing had become nerve wracking. Why had he agreed to dinner? He’d been floored when Cassie came out and asked him, and okay, tickled too. He’d been thinking about her a lot but never would have mustered up the courage to ask her out. He would have puttered along, taking care of the bees, finding reasons to get over there once a week, hoping for a chance to talk to her. But he would have left it at that.
He jettisoned the offending shirt. He knew why he’d said yes. Besides the fact that she was a great looking woman, shehad a contagious energy that made him feel like he’d kicked up the burner on the stove. He’d been simmering on low for so long he’d forgotten what it felt like to be around someone who bubbled along at a boil. He liked that about her. She had a lot on her plate, but she didn’t let it knock her down.
And she’d been pretty damn cute with a bee in her hair. But what if they didn’t have anything to talk about? All they had in common was her dad, and how far could that get them?
Lilah selected another shirt. “Try this one,” she said, plopping onto his bed for a better view.
“It’s flannel, like the other one. Only red.”
“It’s more up-to-date. Trust me, you’ll look better.”
He gave her hisare you kidding look, which made her giggle. “Okay, as up-to-date as you can be.”
“Hey,” he said, trying for nonchalant. “Have you heard from your mom?”
“She texted before. Why are you asking that way?”
He held up his hands. “I wasn’t asking any particular way, I just wanted to know if you heard from her.”
“She’s going to call Sunday.”
“Okay. Good.” He’d been relieved when Sophie returned Lilah on time from Vermont, almost had him believing things might change. But when Sophie didn’t return her calls, Lilah’s upbeat mood deflated. True to form, despite all that bullshit about doing better.
