She blew her breath out and looked at him with eyes full of worry. Dawson’s heart hurt for her, because while she’d always forged her own path in life, she cared deeply about those around her.
“I just know she’s gonna be lonely,” she said. “And she’ll be happy for me, but sad for herself, and I don’t want to cause that.”
Dawson nodded. “It’s good that you’re worried about that,” he said. “Really, bug, it is. But you can’t let it drive your own decisions. You can’t let how she feels delay what’s right foryou.”
April nodded. “I think he’s going to ask me to marry him tonight.”
Dawson’s eyebrows went up. “Oh, yeah?”
She nodded and swallowed, stirring her spoon through her cereal bowl without lifting up another bite. “Yeah, it’s the last night ofMary Poppins, and he’s taking me to dinner, and then he said he wants to go out to Big Sky Park and look at the stars.”
A sense of resignation moved through Dawson. “You guys met at Big Sky Park, didn’t you?”
April nodded and reached up and wiped the corner of her eye. “Yeah, we did. That’s why I think he’s gonna ask me tonight.”
“And what are you going to tell him?” Dawson asked.
She shrugged one shoulder, her gaze once again focused on the cereal she was letting get soggy. “I’m in love with him, Uncle Dawson.”
He reached across the table and patted her hand. “I know you are, buggy. You have been for a long time.”
She nodded. “And I know he loves me.”
“Then what’s the problem?” Dawson asked. “Why do youreallythink you need more time?”
Their pancakes arrived, and April pushed her cereal toward the end of the table. “I’m done with this, Linda. Thank you so much.”
“You sure, honey? You didn’t eat very much.” Linda set down the plate of buttermilk pancakes topped with fresh peaches and whipped cream a couple of inches high, and April adjusted the plate in front of her.
“Mm, yeah, I want this instead. It was really good, honest.”
“All right.” Linda gave Dawson his buckwheat pancakes and two orders of bacon, and then took away the cereal.
He picked up a piece of the sugary, spicy bacon first. “I really want you to answer that question, so give it a think if you need to. If you love him, and you know he loves you, and you’ve talked with your parents about it, and they like him.”
He waved his bacon left and right with everything he said. “You guys have been together for over a year, and you’ll probably be together for another ten months before you get married. You’ve talked to Shiloh, and yeah, it might be hard, but you have to live your own life, and you’re not doing something to hurt her purposely.”
April started nodding along about halfway through. Dawson took a bite of his bacon, not sure if he needed to continue or not, but April didn’t jump in, so he forged forward with the tang of spice and the sweetness of the brown sugar in his mouth.
“Tell me what you’rereallyworried about. You’re not disappointing anyone. You love him. He loves you. I don’t see a problem. I don’t know why we’re here.” He took another bite of the bacon and moaned in an over-exaggerated way. “I mean, I’m not upset we’re here, but most of our conversations are much harder than this, and you have real worries on your mind. Do you need my permission or something?”
She looked at him, her eyes so open and vulnerable. “No,” she said.
“Because if you do, I think you should marry him. I think you should’ve said yes when he asked you to be his in January.”
April rolled her eyes and forked off a bite of her peach pancakes. “It was too soon then.”
“Was it? Because you’ve been in love with him since then.” Dawson leaned back in the booth and folded his arms. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
April shook her head. “You’re not wrong.”
“He knows what he’s getting, April. He knew from the very first moment he met you. It’s not like you hide who you are.” She met his eyes again, and Dawson raised his eyebrows. “Right? You haven’t been pretending with him, have you?”
“No,” she whispered.
“And didn’t you tell me once that he didn’t ask you out for a few weeks, because he wasn’t sure if you’d say yes?”
She nodded.
