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He still hadn’t told her about his ex-wife. He knew he should, but he didn’t want to ruin their time together. Instead, he focused on the happier times in his life. There would be time for the unsavory parts later on.

“It sounds like you had a lot of adventures growing up on a farm.” She stirred her after-dinner coffee. “It sounds fascinating.”

“It definitely had its moments. But when I was a teenager, my mother got sick, and we lost the farm. So, my father packed up me and my sister, and we moved closer to the city.”

“And that’s when he started the animal shelter?”

Shaun shook his head. “That came later. First, he worked various jobs from being a janitor at the local school to a salesman at a hardware store. Sometimes, he worked two jobs at a time to make ends meet. After my sister and I were out of the house, he started the animal shelter.”

“I bet he missed the farm.”

Shaun nodded. “I think the shelter was his way of being surrounded by animals again. But then my sister ended up marrying a farmer. It’s a dairy farm. And it’s pretty big. My father loves to visit them. In fact, that’s where he is right now. I was thinking of talking to my sister and brother-in-law about letting me build my father a little cottage on the farm so he could still have his independence, but he could be around the animals, and there would be someone close by if he needed help.”

“That’s very sweet of you.” She reached across the table and placed her hand over his. “He’s lucky to have such a caring son.”

Just then the server stepped up to their table. “Can I tempt you with dessert?”

“I don’t know,” Leah said.

That answer was closer to a yes than a no. “What do you have?”

When the server listed the sweets, Shaun noticed how Leah’s eye had lit up at the mention of chocolate cake. “Why don’t you get the cake?”

The smile slipped from her face as she shook her head. “I can’t eat that much.”

He could fix this. He turned to the server. “We’ll take a slice of chocolate cake with two forks.”

The server smiled and nodded before walking away.

“Shaun, you shouldn’t have,” Leah said. “Besides, we have to get to the town hall meeting.”

“We’ll go just as soon as you get dessert.”

“But we’ll be late.”

“I’m sure we won’t have missed anything important.” For a moment, he thought she was going to argue with him. When she didn’t, he said, “If it makes you feel better, I’ll ask for the check when she comes back with the cake. Then we can leave when we’re done eating.”

A little smile lifted the corners of Leah’s mouth as she nodded. “Thank you.”

His thoughts turned to the town hall meeting. He’d never attended one. “So, what are you going to do for the parade?”

She sighed. “I have absolutely no idea. I’m not a crafty person. It’s part of the reason I wanted to go to this meeting. I wanted to know what other people are doing.”

They paused talking as the server placed the slice of chocolate cake between them along with two forks. She didn’t even have to ask for the check because the server brought it at the same time as the dessert.

He took care of the check and then turned his attention to Leah. When he noticed her frowning at him, he asked, “What did I do wrong?”

“You didn’t let me pay.”

“I asked you to dinner, so I picked up the check.”

“You could have at least gone halfsies with me.”

He could see this mattered to her. “We’ll do halfsies next time, all right?”

She nodded before picking up the fork. She took a small bite. When the sweet treat touched her tongue, she emitted a moan.

“That good?” he teased.