She hopped off the chair, needing to move around. And she wondered why her wish acted like a spaz–if it felt anything like she did at this moment, then it had every right to have the zoomies now and again. “Thank you for the flowers. They’re very Christmasy. Although a bit suggestive, don’t you think?” she teased.
“I didn’t think I was suggesting anything.” She could hear his grin through the phone.
“Oh, you were definitely suggesting,” she replied coyishly. “Did you want to come over to the shop and see what this mistletoe can do or what?”
He groaned. “You don’t make resisting easy. I have a meeting with a potential client online in five minutes.”
She laughed, loving the fact that she tempted him. “Go get ‘em, tiger.”
“You like Christmas music, right?” he hedged.
She giggled. “A little. Yeah.”
He huffed at her sarcasm. “The local pastor is doing a Christmas music live online event this weekend. Will you go with me?”
She opened her mouth to answer, but he added, “Also, do you know a good babysitter?”
She paused. So that was how this was going down? She was all for it. But she couldn’t help but tease him a little more. “Oh–so this is a grown-ups date?” She ran her finger along the edge of the counter, nervous about flirting so openly. However, the heady scent of roses gave her permission. A man didn’t spend that kind of money on flowers unless he was investing in the relationship–or at the least the possibility of one.
There were so many possibilities between them she felt lightheaded.
“I thought we’d give it a try,” he replied.
She sighed dramatically. “What about Aubrey? I’m sure she’d love to watch Lizzie.”
“Lizzie would love a night with her bestie.”
“I’ll text you her number.”
“Is it weird to ask her to watch my kid?”
A note of insecurity crept through the line, barely perceptible, but she’d caught it, nonetheless. “It’s not. Parents do this kind of thing all the time.”
“It’s just… I haven’t left her with anyone since I adopted her.”
She could picture him shifting in his seat. “What you have is a case of parent guilt. It happens to all the best parents I know. They want to give their all, all the time, to their kids and feel bad if or when they can’t.” She breathed, praying for the right words to come out of her mouth. “The old saying: It takes a village to raise a child is true. My parents were on it like Blue Bonnet, but I didn’t listen to a word from my dad when he tried to coach me in softball. He finally turned me over to the neighbors and let them teach me.” She gulped. “Now that he’s gone, I wish I’d listened more, but that’s part of growing up, I guess.” Her voice had gotten softer as she spoke, and when she ran out of words, the heavy feeling of heaven close by wrapped her up. In that moment of silence, a new truth emerged. “You can’t be all things to one person–it’s impossible. That’s why we need each other.”
“Do you need me?” he barely whispered.
Her heart skipped at his question. “I want to need you,” she replied, gripping the counter. If he rejected her, she’d deflate like a yard Santa the day after Christmas.
“I want that, too.”
She covered her mouth to keep from screaming hallelujah in his ear.
He cleared his throat. “I’ll see you in a couple of days?”
Her eyes landed on the bouquet of roses and mistletoe, and she released the counter, ready to fly. “It’s a date.”
“A grown-ups date,” he confirmed.
She giggled, and they said goodbye. Setting her phone on the counter, she reached over and crankedRockin’ Around the Christmas Treethrough the store, and put the lights on the strobe setting because she needed her world to be as thrilled as her heart.
ChapterTwelve
Days passed as slowly as maple syrup on snow. Micah knew because Lizzie had to do a project where she poured syrup over a snowball and watched it crystalize. They took over fifty pictures–he emailed three to Mrs. Thornton for full credit.
Now that he was on his way to pick up Charlotte for their grown-up date–he couldn’t believe he’d called it that!--he questioned whether he should have let Lizzie help him pick out his clothing.
