Opening the door for her, I give her my warmest smile. "Hi again. Did you decide whether I'm driving you home, or we're going out somewhere?"
She nods, her lovely auburn hair catching the fading sunlight. "Let's go out." Her tongue dashes across her bottom lip for a split second. "But maybe nowhere fancy. Or loud. Is somewhere quiet okay?"
I nod, leading her to the truck and helping her in. Once I get in and start it, I flash a grin. "I understand. You don't need to be nervous around me, Lynn. Anything you want, just tell me. For now, what if we stick to a very quiet, mellow version of the classic date structure?"
She smiles, making her eyes sparkle. "That sounds promising. What does that mean, exactly?"
"Well, usually there is an activity of some sort, followed by a meal, or the other way around. Like dinner and a movie. Or bungee jumping then cocktails. I'm thinking of an incredibly chill version of that."
Leaning over, I check her shoes, which are very sturdy sneakers. "Are you exhausted from being on your feet all day, or can you handle a short walk?"
She takes a slow breath in what I assume is relief. "A walk would be great."
"Perfect. And then I know a very nice diner where we can go for dinner. It's a bit of a drive, but I'll still have you home at a decent hour. Sounds good?"
"Sounds perfect."
As I start to drive back to the forest, I notice Lynn's fingers are trembling. Reaching out, I place my hand over them for just a moment. "Just so you know, I don't mind a bit of silence. It's fine if we're quiet sometimes."
Retracting my hand, her smile lights up her eyes. "Thank you for understanding. Um, I've never actually been on a date before."
Something in my heart jumps. Turning onto our private road, I feel an instant responsibility to make sure she has a wonderful time tonight. "Well, to start, I'm taking you to a very special place."
Peering out the window, Lynn seems to be analyzing the trees. "Everyone in town talks about your forest. It really is beautiful."
I want to tell her that she is the beautiful one, and that the forest is just nature showing off, but I don't want to make her cringe. Pointing to a driveway off to the right, I say, "That's our workshop, where we process some of the wood."
Another mile along, I pull over by the side of the road. Leaping out of the truck, I run around to help her down. She doesn't seem to mind my hands on her waist, in fact she seems to like it whenever I touch her.
Reaching back into the truck, I pull out my huge green zip up hoodie, and drape it around her shoulders.
"It cools off quickly at sunset with all these trees in the way," I say. "I don't want you to get a chill."
Lynn looks up at me through her lashes. "Thank you."
We walk side by side along a relatively flat trail through the trees, taking our time, admiring all of the plant life and the wildflowers. "Is this a hiking trail?" she asks.
"Not an official one. More just a good place for me to pace." She looks at me curiously. I chuckle before elaborating. "I run a software company. It's super technical, and extremely stressful, and at the same time parts of it are incredibly boring. If it weren't for my daily hikes in the woods, I would end up face down in the corner, drooling into my coffee."
Lynn laughs out loud, tightening my sweater around her shoulders. It does something to my insides to see her wearing an item of my clothing. It's such a silly connection, yet it feels deeply satisfying.
"What kind of software is it?"
"Software to test other software." I love that she laughs so easily. "I guess I'm an expert at poking holes in something to find out where it's weak or broken."
We reach a slightly marshy bit of land. "May I save the beautiful princess from the evil mud?"
"Sure."
Picking her up in my arms, I cross the boggy section using two flat planks. She smells so sweet, with a trace of vanilla as her hair catches the breeze. Our faces are so close together it's torture not to kiss her. Setting her down, I keep walking, ignoring the way my heart is racing from the unexpected tender moment.
Lynn takes a second to catch up, commenting, "No offense, but you don't really look like a computer programmer."
"You'd be surprised. One of our best coders could be a fashion model." A look of uncertainty crosses her face before I add, "He might be doing some catalog work on the side, actually."
"And you gave it all up to come back here and…cut down trees?"
The knuckles of my hand brush hers as we walk between a couple of pines. "We always knew that we were coming back to Oakton. We had intended to do that before Dad died, but…"
