Something warm unfurled in Noah’s chest at Luke’s eagerness. Rachel was right. If they were going to make a relationship work, they needed to figure out how to have quality time without Eli. He loved his son more than anything, but it wasn’t fair to Luke to expect him to easily accept that Eli wasalwaysthere with them.
“All right,” he told Rachel. “But only if you’re sure it’s not an imposition.”
“Oh, please. Hell, I might even call Meg and ask if she wants to send her girls over.” Rachel’s smile was evident in her voice. “I’ll pick him up at your place on my way home from work. Hopefully, that’ll give you time to get ready for your date.”
“Thanks, Rachel. Really.” He tucked the essays he had left to grade into a manilla folder. With the prospect of a date that would hopefully end with reacquainting himself with Luke’s body, Noah was too keyed up to work.
And hehadto talk to Eli. The time for sheltering him from their relationship needed to end.
“Anytime.” She paused, then added softly, “I’m happy for you, you know. Both of you. Eli too. You make a cute family.”
Noah’s throat felt tight as he ended the call. He responded to Luke’s message.
Brew & Barrel at 7? Unless you’d rather go somewhere else?
Perfect. I’ll pick you up, might even bring you flowers.
Noah shook his head and laughed. The playfulness that had once irritated him now endeared him. Not only that, but Noah found he wasn’t taking everything as seriously as he usually did, which wasn’t a bad thing. He tapped out a quick response.
Just remember, I’ll only put out for roses.
Noah watched Eli through the rearview mirror as they headed home, trying to find the right words. His son stared out the window, humming along to the radio and occasionally providing commentary about things they passed.
“Hey, buddy,” Noah started, then paused. How did you explain to a six-year-old that you were dating someone? That you were falling in love with someone who wasn’t his mom? That the person fixing their house had become so much more? “Can we talk about something important?”
“Am I in trouble?” Eli’s reflection showed his brow furrowing. “Because I already told Milo I was sorry about the juice box incident.”
Noah pressed his lips together to keep from laughing. Eli was usually a sweet kid, but sometimes that made him an easy target. Earlier in the week, he’d reached his limit with one ofhis classmates and reacted by aiming his juice box in Milo’s direction and squeezing it.
“No, we already talked about that.” Noah couldn’t help smiling. “Actually, I wanted to talk about Mr. Luke.”
Eli perked up immediately. “Is he coming over tonight? Can we work on my 4-H project? He said?—”
“Not tonight.” Noah took a deep breath. “Actually, Aunt Rachel invited you for a sleepover. And I thought maybe I could have dinner with Luke. Just the two of us.”
Silence filled the car. Noah forced himself to focus on driving, giving Eli time to process. Finally, his son asked, “Like a date?”
“Yeah.” Noah’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. Damn. That had been easier than he’d expected. “Like a date. How would you feel about that?”
More silence. Then, “Tommy says boys can’t date boys. But Aunt Megan says love is love. And you and Mom still love each other, but not like married love anymore.” Eli’s face scrunched up in thought. “Is it like that? Do you love Mr. Luke different from how you love Mom?”
Noah’s chest tightened at his son’s attempt to understand. “Yeah, buddy. Different kinds of love are okay. Your mom and I will always love you, and we’ll always care about each other. But sometimes grown-ups find new kinds of love. New people to care about. And going on a date with someone doesn’t necessarily mean you love them.”
“Oh.” Eli considered this. “But youcouldlove Mr. Luke, right? I think it would be awesome if you married him, and then me and Livy wouldreallybe cousins, and I’d get to have two dads!”
“Whoa, buddy.” Noah forced himself to breathe. “We’re not thinking about anything like that yet. Luke and I are just getting to know each other better. Seeing if we make each other happy.”
“He makes you smile a lot.” Eli’s observation was matter-of-fact. “And he fixed my room and teaches me stuff. That’s good, right?”
“Yeah.” Noah’s throat felt tight. “That’s really good.”
Eli was quiet for another moment, then asked, “Can I still call him Uncle Luke sometimes? Emma and Livy do.”
Noah nearly missed their turn, caught off guard by the question. “We should probably ask him how he feels about that. But I think he likes it.”
“Okay.” Eli went back to staring out the window, apparently satisfied. Then, “Dad?”
“Yeah?”
