But there was another part of him he could share with her first.
The warm, welcoming part.
A world of family and noise and shared food and people who noticed when you were missing and turned up when you needed them, without being asked. Without judgment.
Meryl shut the laptop at last and looked up at him properly. “You’re quiet. Is everything okay?”
Spencer realized, a little too late, that he had been standing there saying nothing for longer than was reasonable.
“I was thinking.”
“That sounds ominous.”
He almost laughed. Almost told her anyway. Almost said her name and took the leap.
His phone buzzed again in his pocket. Another message from Kirk, no doubt ready to push him off the edge.
His bear was all impatience now.Tell her. Or ask her. But stop standing there looking at her mouth like a fool.
That last part stung because it was true.
Meryl’s eyes flicked to the screen, then back to him. “Spencer?”
He looked at her, at the work still spread around her, at Pine Cottage around them, and made the choice.
A choice that disappointed his bear, but felt right all the same.
“My mother’s birthday is on Saturday,” he said. “There’s a party at the restaurant. I was hoping you might come with me.”
For a moment, she only looked at him, caught off guard.
“To the party?”
He nodded. “Yes. It’s nothing formal.”
Meryl glanced down at the closed laptop, then back at him. “I’d like that.”
Relief rushed through him before he could stop it.
His bear went quiet for a moment, then said, with deep satisfaction,She said yes.
She said yes,Spencer repeated.
She doesn’t know what she’s agreeing to,his bear added.
No,Spencer replied.Not yet.
Because he hadn’t been completely truthful when he’d used the wordparty. But he was afraid that if he’d told her it was a family dinner, she would have said no.
It wasn’t exactly a lie,his bear said.And she’ll love them. And they’ll love her.
“Do I need to bring anything?” Meryl asked.
“Just yourself,” he replied.
That made her smile, though there were nerves in it now, too.
And she wasn’t the only one feeling nervous about Saturday. Because after the birthday celebration, he was going to tell Meryl the truth.
