“A little. I’m fine, though.”
I almost offered to make him something after I put Piper to bed, but that was assuming he would stay that long. “Feel free to find something to eat. I’m gonna go change my…um…outfit.”
“Deciding which half?” Dean asked, gesturing to the mismatch.
I raised my chin, refusing to be embarrassed, even though I was dying inside. “Yes, actually.”
“I think it all looks good.”
“Shut up.” I jogged down the hall, realizing his teasing was the only thing that ever got me out of my own way when it came to talking to him. Did he know that? He probably did. How mortifying.
I changed both my top and bottom, deciding on a pair of black yoga pants and a long-sleeved, light blue t-shirt that was comfortable without being either too boxy or too form-fitting. Since he was barefoot, I’d stick with that, too.
When I came out, I found Dean and Piper sitting at the counter eating chocolate pudding cups they must have scavenged from the pantry. No surprise, Piper was talking hisear off. Her little legs swung back and forth under the stool she was sitting on.
“I’m going to a pancake birthday breakfast for my friend Lucy tomorrow. And I get to stay at her house after because my mom is going hiking. Lucy and I are setting up a lemonade stand and giving away lemonade for free. Her trees in the backyard have so many lemons. Like…” Piper stretched her arms out as far as she could. “…this many.”
“That’s a lot of lemons.”
“Yeah. And she’s been begging to do a lemonade stand forever, and I told her she should ask for it as a birthday present, and it totally worked. Her mom said yes.”
“Why are you giving away the lemonade?” Dean asked her.
“Well, people can give us money if they want, but Lucy’s mom said it will all go to… um… sharity?”
“Charity?”
“Yeah. That. She’ll make us a sign. The extra lemons we pick and the lemonade money will go to the food bankery.”
Dean didn’t correct her on that one. He just smiled. “That sounds like a pretty good day.”
Piper’s responding sigh sounded so grown up. “I can’t wait.” She looked behind her and spotted me listening from the doorway. “Want a chocolate pudding, Mom?”
“No, I’m okay.”
Dean swiveled in his stool and took a long pull on a spoonful of chocolate pudding, keeping his eyes on me. This had to be the lowest form of flirting—playing with food.
I raised my eyebrows. “Enjoying that?”
“Immensely.”
Now that I knew he did things like that to provoke me into talking to him, it strangely didn’t bother me as much.
“I hear you’re going hiking on Saturday. When did you decide that?” he asked.
It was a valid question. My “solid maybe” comment had come less than an hour ago. “Piper and her friend Lucy have hadthis in the works for a while. The hiking thing I decided today when I checked into the app.”
I’d met Molly, the mom of Piper’s little friend, while chaperoning the petting zoo field trip where three kids had their shirts half-eaten by hungry goats. We’d been friends ever since. She was constantly telling me I needed to get out more and she’d help if that day ever came. I was finally taking her up on it. Molly was one of those rare people who didn’t need all the details of my life. She just knew I needed one.
“So, you decided around noon.”
I raised one eyebrow. “Yeah. Around noon. It’s a little shady that you know that.”
“You should go hiking with her,” Piper so helpfully added.
“I should.” Dean grinned at me. “I like hiking.”
“So does Mom.”
