Chapter 17
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Dawn asked Mark.
It was Friday night, and Warren and Mikaela were due to pick up her and Sierra any minute. Dawn’s mom was home from the hospital. Wendy would stay with their mom to take care of her until her elbow surgery. Dawn felt relieved Beth was in good hands, especially since she had plans tonight with Warren. But as excited as Dawn was about her date, she felt awkward knowing that Mark would provide the childcare.
“Just say the word, and we’ll make other arrangements for Mikaela,” Dawn added.
“Nonsense,” said Mark. “Sierra’s been talking about Mikaela nonstop all week. If this was the kid of some random guy you were dating, I’d say no, but Mikaela appears to be Sierra’s new bestie.”
“Look at you with the tween lingo. Impressive.”
Mark chuckled. “I’ve been corrected several times. Our daughter has morphed into the word police.”
“Ain’t that the truth.”
“She’s worse than my mother.”
“No comment,” said Dawn, who never spoke disparagingly of her former mother-in-law. Joan might have been her polar opposite, but she always treated Dawn with respect, and Dawn did likewise.
“So, is Warren just some guy, or is he someone special?” Mark asked in a quiet voice.
Dawn pressed the phone to her ear as she stared out the front window, waiting for Warren to arrive. “Someone special,” she answered truthfully. “We have a ton in common and get along great. Also, he’s a really good father, Mark, just like you.”
“I could tell. Sierra told me how much fun she had at the overnight. She made me order a hand mixer and muffin tins online as soon as we got home from my parents’ house.”
“You didn’t own muffin tins?”
“Are you surprised?”
“No.” Dawn shrugged. “I guess not.” Mark had never shown any interest in cooking. “If it makes you feel any better, Sierra lectured me about how we need to stop ordering so much takeout and buy more fresh fruits and veggies instead.”
“The girl has opinions, that’s for sure.” Mark chuckled. “I blame her mother.”
“It’s always the mother’s fault.” Dawn smiled. She was grateful to be able to joke with Mark like this. She hoped her new relationship with Warren wouldn’t change that. “Have you met anyone recently? Like, on a date?”
Mark sighed. “There’s no time, really. I’m either working long hours on the weekdays, or on the weekends, I’m with Sierra. I wouldn’t trade our father-daughter time for anyone.”
“Maybe you could try one of those speed-dating services on your lunch hour,” Dawn suggested.
“Yeah. Maybe.”
Dawn saw Warren’s Xterra pull into the driveway. “They’re here,” she said. “I gotta go. We should be at your place in…” She paused. “whenever we get there.”
“Good luck with work traffic. Text me when you arrive, and I’ll come down, so you don’t need to find a parking spot.”
“Thanks.” Dawn started to hang up, but then she stopped. “No matter what happens, you mean a lot to me, Mark. I hope you know that.”
“Ditto. Now go have a good time.” He hung up before she could respond.
“Sierra?” Dawn called. “Mikaela and Warren are here.”
Sierra raced down the stairs a few seconds later, wearing Converse high tops with purple laces that matched her glittery nail polish. “Ready,” she said, a huge smile on her face.
“Great.” Dawn grabbed her patchwork purse and her three-in-one jacket. She didn’t know where Warren was taking her for dinner, but he’d told her to dress in layers. Dawn hadn’t been sure if she should dress up or down. She’d settled on tight faded jeans, metallic sneakers, and an aquamarine tunic the same color as her eyes. She’d added a sparkly necklace and a chunky bracelet and hoped for the best.
Warren knocked on the front door just as Dawn opened it. His eyes roamed up and down her body, and he smiled. “You look beautiful,” he said before whipping out a freshly cut bouquet of dahlias from behind his back. He’d wrapped the stems together in wet newspaper and plastic wrap. “These are for you.”
“Aww, thank you.” Dawn stood on her tiptoes. She meant to kiss him on the cheek, but his lips were impossible to resist. She found them a second later, breathing in the citrusy scent of aftershave that lingered on his skin.
“I can see you,” Sierra groaned. “I’m standing right here.”
“Oh.” Dawn pulled away from Warren guiltily. Sierra knew she dated other men, but Dawn had never kissed one in front of her before. She wanted to be sensitive to her daughter’s feelings. “Sorry,” she said.
Sierra wrinkled her nose. “Don’t be sorry. Just do that stuff, you know, away from me.” She flicked her hand like she could make them disappear.
“I’ll remember that in the future.” Warren nodded. “My apologies.” He pointed at Sierra’s booster seat lying next to the front door where they wouldn’t forget it. “No need for that. There’re already three boosters installed in my car.”
“Perfect.” Dawn admired the flowers. “I’ll put these in water, and then I’ll be ready to go.”
Five minutes later, when they were on the road, Dawn looked over her shoulder into the backseat of the Xterra and saw both girls smiling. “How are your ears doing?” she asked Mikaela.
“The left one’s fine, but the right one keeps crusting over.” She twisted the stud in a circle. “It still spins around, though.”
Dawn noticed the redness on Mikaela’s lobes. “That’s a good sign, but you should call the doctor Monday morning to check.”
“Yeah.” Sierra nodded. “My ears got infected the first time they were pierced, and I had to take antibiotics.”
“Antibiotics?” Warren winced and looked quickly at Dawn. “You didn’t tell me about that .”
“I didn’t want to worry you.”
“Who’s worried?” Warren asked in a higher-than-normal voice. “I’m not worried.”
“Yeah,” said Sierra. “I got some sort of weird infection the first time. What was it called, Mom?”
Dawn answered so quietly she practically whispered. “Staph.”
“Holy crap!” Warren exclaimed. “You can get a staph infection from pierced ears?” He looked into the rearview mirror at the girls. “How’s that right earlobe doing, Mikaela? Does it hurt? Is it puffy?”
“The same as it was two minutes ago,” she answered.
“Why didn’t you tell me staph was a risk?” Warren asked Dawn.
“I thought you knew.”
Unfortunately, Sierra wasn’t done relaying her horror story. “Then I had to go back to the doctor because my holes had completely shut,” she said. “And then I had to get them pierced again.”
“What?” Warren was freaking out so much that Dawn worried he’d have a heart attack.
She reached over and gave him a reassuring pat on the arm. “These things happen.”
“Because we never should have gone to that junky earring store at the mall,” Sierra explained. “That’s what the doctor told us.”
“So where’d you go the second time?” Mikaela asked.
“A tattoo parlor,” said Sierra. “It was sick.”
“Unbelievable,” Warren muttered.
Dawn felt judgement rolling off Warren in waves but wasn’t sure if it was directed specifically at her or at all womankind. “Girls aren’t the only ones who get piercings,” she said defensively. “And earrings can be taken out, unlike tattoos.” She pointed at his bicep, figuring she might as well go on the offensive.
Warren clenched his jaw. “It just seems so unnecessary,” he grumbled.
Dawn hadn’t grown up with brothers, but as a child, she’d seen neighbor boys do dumb stuff all the time. “You didn’t do anything risky when you were a kid?” she asked pointedly.
“Not for fashion,” he said as they merged onto I-5.
“Tattoos are for fashion,” Mikaela piped up from the back seat. “And unnecessary, and they can also cause infections.”
Dawn grinned. “You raised a smart young woman,” she said.
“But there are age limits for tattoos,” Warren grumbled. “There should be age limits on piercings, if you ask me.”
“There’s no age limit on being stupid,” said Sierra. “That’s what Grandma Joan says. Especially if you’re trying to impress someone.”
“My former mother-in-law is full of infinite wisdom.” Dawn pulled a strand of hair behind her ear. “Did you ever do something dumb when you were younger to impress someone?”
“Like when you free-climbed up the side of Mom’s apartment building to leave flowers on her fire escape when you were first dating,” said Mikaela. “Mom said you could have broken your neck.”
“That sounds like a sweet story,” said Dawn.
“Guilty.” Warren flushed all the way to his collar. “I was young and dumb.”
“And in love,” Dawn added.
Warren nodded. “That too.”
Dawn looked back to check on the girls. What had started out as a fun car ride had turned awkward. Warren must have felt it, too, because he surprised Dawn by turning the whole conversation around.
“My brothers and I once tried to get rid of the rats living in our garage with gasoline,” Warren admitted. “Luckily, our dad caught us before we blew ourselves up in the process.”
“Yikes!” Dawn covered her mouth with her hand. “How old were you?”
“I was eight at the time, definitely old enough to know better.” Warren rubbed the back of his neck. “It was Rudy’s idea. He’d seen something on TV. But still... So yeah, I’ve done risky things too.”
“Getting my ears pierced is not on the same level of riskiness as torching rodents in a garage,” Mikaela said in such an authoritarian tone that Dawn laughed.
“No.” Warren chuckled. “It isn’t.”
“Dad!” Mikaela exclaimed. “How could you be so dumb?”
“That wasn’t the stupidest thing I did,” said Warren. “In junior high, one of my friends dared me to microwave a mechanical pencil.”
Dawn scrunched up her face. “Please tell me you didn’t.”
“Oh, I did.” Warren nodded. “Got suspended for it too. Lit the whole microwave on fire, and they had to blast it with the extinguisher.”
“Why do so many of your stories involve fire?” Sierra asked.
“Yeah,” said Dawn. “I’m sensing a pattern.”
Warren was on a roll now. “Then in ninth grade, some friends and I were hiking, and one of them let me drive his car, even though I didn’t have my license.”
“You’re kidding.” Dawn studied his profile to see if he was joking, but Warren appeared serious.
“It was a manual transmission too.” Warren slapped the steering wheel with his palm, laughing at his own stupidity. “On a gravel road in the middle of nowhere, but still... What a moron.”
“You or the guy who let you drive his car?” Mikaela asked.
Dawn wondered the same thing.
“Both,” Warren answered. He gave Dawn a sly look. “Your turn.”
“My turn?”
“Yeah, your turn. I’ve bared my soul to you with my list of dumbest things ever, now it’s your turn.”
“I don’t know that I’ve done anything that can compare to lighting a microwave on fire in junior high.”
“That’s not true,” said Sierra. “Tell him about your trip to Canada.”
“Oh no.” Now it was Dawn’s turn to blush. “I’m not sure Warren wants to hear about that .”
“Yes, he does,” said Mikaela, giggling.
“I sure do.” Warren nodded.
“Okay, well...” Dawn couldn’t believe she was telling this story to Warren or that she’d shared it with her daughter in the first place. “The drinking age is different in British Columbia than it is here in Washington. So this one time in college, a bunch of my friends and I drove up to the border, buzzed over to Canada?—”
“Keyword there being buzzed.” Warren smirked.
Dawn’s cheeks burned. “Went to a bar?—”
“Mom!” Sierra exclaimed. “I still can’t believe you did that.”
“Got in the car and drove back to our dorm,” Dawn finished. But then she decided to underline the point of the story that had made her share it with Sierra in the first place. “One of my friends was the designated driver because that’s important. And I was so sick the next morning that I failed my English test. I didn’t touch another drop of alcohol until I turned twenty-one.”
Warren grinned mischievously. “Like a good girl.”
“That’s right.” Dawn nodded.
“Tell him about the time you and Aunt Wendy mooned Grandma’s scrapbook club,” said Sierra. “That one’s even funnier.”
“You flashed your rear end at people?” Mikaela asked.
“I was nine.”
“That’s old enough to know better,” said Sierra.
“This is definitely a story I want to hear,” Warren said as he visibly fought to keep a straight face.
“Sierra pretty much told the whole story.” Dawn hung her head. “Except for the part about my mother memorializing the whole incident in her scrapbook.”
“Grandma Beth put stickers in critical places.” Sierra laughed. “And drew a picture of a cow on top of the page.”
“A cow?” Mikaela asked.
“Because it was jumping over the moon?” Warren looked sideways at Dawn.
“Yes.” She squeezed her eyes shut and nodded. “Or in our case, two of them because the whole thing was Wendy’s idea.”
“Not according to Aunt Wendy,” said Sierra, laughing her head off.
They went on telling one embarrassing story after another all the way to Capitol Hill, the prestigious Seattle neighborhood wedged between Volunteer Park and the Arboretum. By the time they reached Mark’s apartment, Dawn was laughing so hard she had tears running down her face. Dawn and Warren weren’t the only victims in the conversation either. Sierra and Mikaela had fun sharing doofus moments from their pasts too.
“I’m texting Mark to let him know we’re here.” Dawn tapped her phone. “That’s his building over there, the brick one with the fancy arches.”
“This is where your dad lives?” Mikaela pressed her face against the window and looked up. “Whoa.”
“The building is from the nineteen twenties,” said Sierra. “Wait until you see the inside. There’s even a weird door where the ice blocks used to be delivered.”
Dawn read the text from Mark. “He’s on his way down.” She pointed at the loading zone in front of his building. “Over there would be fine.”
“I’d rather park, if you don’t mind,” said Warren. “I need to show Mark how the EpiPen works.”
“Oh, of course.” All of Dawn’s previous concerns about taking advantage of Mark’s good nature came roaring back. Mark was too polite to say no. Plus, Sierra could talk him into anything. She wasn’t a lawyer’s daughter for nothing.
Dawn patted an unruly curl at the side of her head and tried to think of a way she could make this up to Mark in the future. Maybe she could frame a picture of Sierra from their photoshoot on the beach and give it to him for his desk at work.
But a few minutes later when they climbed out of the car, Dawn realized she shouldn’t have worried. Warren and Mark greeted each other with easy grins.
“Good to see you again,” said Mark as he held out his hand to shake.
“You. too, man.” Warren grinned as he pumped Mark’s hand. “Mikaela’s really been looking forward to this.”
“It’s true.” Mikaela stepped out, holding a duffle bag and pillow. “I’m excited.”
It was the first time Dawn had seen Mikaela willingly admit to being excited for anything, and she was shocked.
“I’ll grab the booster seat.” Dawn leaned into the backseat of the Xterra, which smelled like Goldfish crackers but was otherwise spotlessly clean. She untangled a booster from its seatbelt and gave it to Mark. “Thanks again,” she said with a soft smile.
“Have fun tonight.” He stared at her intently. “I mean it.”
Dawn nodded. “I will.”
Once she and Warren were driving away, she felt free. More than free, really—she had the same thrill as heading off on vacation. She had no idea where they were going or what would happen, but she knew she was in good hands. Warren drove through the gnarly rush-hour traffic with ease.
“So, where are we going?” she asked, enjoying the feeling of not being in charge of anything.
Warren’s brown eyes sparkled. “Someplace stunning. A tablecloth, candles, fresh bread—the works.”
“That sounds fancy.” Dawn instantly regretted her wardrobe.
They were still in Capitol Hill, which meant dozens of bougie restaurants to choose from. Warren clicked on the blinker and slowed to a stop about ten blocks from Mark’s apartment. As he prepared to parallel park, Dawn looked up and down the street, trying to guess where they were going. Hopefully, it wasn’t sushi, because she hated sushi. The other options looked so posh that Dawn felt woefully underdressed.
“Wow... um....” Dawn struggled to think of what to say. “Mark really likes the restaurant scene here. Sorry, I know it’s bad dating etiquette to talk about your ex.”
“No problem.” Warren turned off the car. “There are lots of cuisines here to choose from.” He hopped out of the car and rushed around to open her door before she’d unbuckled her seatbelt and picked up her purse.
“Thank you.” Dawn put her hand in his, and Warren helped her out onto the curb.
She was pleased when he didn’t let go of her hand. She decided to relax her wardrobe panic. It didn’t matter what she wore or ate. She could gag down raw fish if necessary, as long as they were together.
Warren glanced at his watch. “We’re doing great on time.”
“You made a reservation, I take it?” They were headed for a corner now, and Dawn couldn’t see what was coming next.
“Not exactly.” He looked down at her with a curious expression. “Did you want me to make a reservation?”
Dawn tugged at her chunky necklace, which had seemed artsy when she’d chosen it that evening but now felt tacky. “Um... Well, I guess reservations are better than waiting an hour for a table, but if I’d known we were going someplace fancy, I would have dressed up more.”
“You’re dressed perfectly.” He halted their steps and swept her up in strong arms to kiss her with such passion that she rose onto her toes.
The bustle of the busy street disappeared, and all Dawn could hear was her racing heartbeat. She threw her arms around Warren’s neck and pulled him closer, hungry for the taste of his tongue. She couldn’t remember ever feeling like this, ravenous for kisses, desperate for the sensation of a man’s pulse beating against her own. If this was a crush, it was unlike any crush she’d ever had before. It seemed more like magnetic energy, the pull of the earth’s forces, tides crashing against rocks and obliterating anything in their wake. She entwined her arms behind his back and became lost in the moment, completely oblivious to everything happening around them. Then Warren’s phone buzzed, startling them both.
“That must be the brewery.” He lowered her gently. “Our take-out order is ready.”
“Brewery?” Dawn’s eyelids fluttered open, and she was tickled to see his glazed expression that probably matched her own.
“Yes,” he said, stroking her hair. “The Redhook Brewery is right around the corner.”
Dawn’s gaze came into focus. “Takeout from Redhook?” She playfully swatted his arm. “You had me worried we were eating at a fancy restaurant.”
He tossed back his head and laughed. “I had you going there for a moment, didn’t I?” He squeezed her hand and led her around the corner. “We’ll have plenty of opportunities to put on monkey suits and dress up, but I’d rather tonight just be about you and me. If that’s okay with you?”
“It’s perfect.” Dawn felt giddy with relief and with anticipation about what Warren had planned next. They hadn’t known each other long, but he already knew her so well.
They turned the corner and walked a few more feet to the brewery. He opened the door for her and followed her inside. Warren paid for the take-out order then grabbed the bags of food and led the way back to the car. Dawn didn’t ask where they were going next. She just looked forward to the surprise.
“Bust out that bag of french fries, will you, please?” Warren asked as he merged onto I-5. They were headed north again, away from Seattle and toward Harper Landing.
“With pleasure.” The food smelled so good that Dawn’s stomach growled. She rifled through the bags sitting on her lap until she found the fries. “Uh oh,” she said as she settled back in her seat. “They didn’t give us napkins.”
“No problem.” He picked up a fry and popped it in his mouth. “I keep extras in the glove compartment.”
“Me too,” said Dawn as she helped herself to a couple of napkins.
It didn’t seem like a profound coincidence. Lots of people hoarded napkins in their car. But to Dawn, it meant something. Mark never ate in his car. His BMW-of-the-moment was always too precious to soil. Not that Dawn thought disparagingly of Mark. They were just so ill-suited from the very beginning that she felt stupid for not noticing their differences until they said, “I do.”
If she was smart, she’d root out those differences about Warren early. Now, before it was too late, if it wasn’t already too late. She savored a french fry as she admired Warren’s square jawline and muscled shoulders. She felt young and carefree, something she’d never felt with Mark. The truth was she was falling for Warren so fast, she felt breathless, from the thrill of new love as well as the fear of the unknown.
“If you could buy any car in the whole world,” she asked, “and money was no option, what would it be?”
“Hmmm...” Warren tapped the steering wheel. “That’s a good question. I love the Xterra, but Nissan doesn’t make them anymore. I don’t know. Maybe a Pathfinder? I don’t need something fancy, but I do want something safe for shlepping kids around. What about you?”
Dawn didn’t need to think. She could already picture the car she had wanted but that Mark had talked her out of for being too basic. “A Toyota Camry,” she said. “It’s smaller than an SUV and maybe not as safe due to its size, but it would drive forever and be easy to park. I had a Civic in college and put one hundred sixty thousand miles on it with nothing but oil changes.”
“Reliability is important.” Warren wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Although I’d want to make sure you had the all-wheel-drive option for icy weather.”
“Good thinking.” Dawn nodded. The fact that Warren cared about her future made her insides glow. “All-wheel drive would be better for driving over the pass too. I visit my sister in Kennewick a couple times a year. That’s about as much traveling as I do, besides our yearly trip to Disney.”
She ate another French fry before launching into her next question. “I know you mentioned camping, but do you like to travel?”
That had been another sticking point with Mark. He wanted to visit every continent before he turned fifty, but Dawn didn’t want to get a passport. Long flights scared her. She would have been willing to go to Disneyland Paris, however, but he had vetoed that idea.
“I would love to see the fifty states someday,” said Warren. “After I retire. But only if I could take my own wheels with me. Maybe a trailer too. An RV road trip or something.”
“That would be amazing.” Dawn grinned. “But what about Europe or Asia?”
Warren shrugged. “I wouldn’t say no to visiting Norway, but I don’t see the need to visit foreign capitals when I haven’t been to Washington, DC, yet. That’s on my list of someday destinations as well.”
“Me too,” said Dawn. “I want to take Sierra there before she studies US History in high school. We’d go to the Smithsonian and tour the monuments.”
“Visit Arlington National Cemetery.”
“Yes.” Dawn pulled a curl behind her ear. “Exactly. Maybe go over spring break.”
“When the cherry blossoms bloom.”
Dawn nodded. She had more in common with Warren than she realized. Even when they disagreed, like they had with the earring debate, they were still in sync. She lapsed into silence, imagining what it would be like to live with someone like that, someone who liked the same things she liked, and who shared the same dreams.
Then suddenly, without thinking, she blurted out her biggest dream of all. “How old do you think is too old to have a baby?” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she blushed deep red.
“Why? Are you offering?” Warren grinned and jerked his thumb. “Because I could pull over to the side of the road right now and?—”
Dawn giggled. “I take it you want another baby too?”
“I do.” He nodded. “I never imagined my family being this small. But I did tell Laurie and Alison no. I was honored they considered me, but I want a life that’s simpler instead of more complicated.”
“I know what you mean.”
He entered the lane for the exit for Harper Landing.
“Are we having dinner in your backyard?” she asked hopefully. “I love your backyard.”
“Thanks, but nope. I have something more special in mind.” He looked at the clock on the dashboard. “Barring traffic, we just might make it in time too.”
“Make it in time for what?”
“Oh no, you don’t.” Warren shook his head. “It’s a surprise, although I figured you might have guessed by now.”
Dawn thought hard. Where was Warren taking her? Her first guess was the beach, but that didn’t have a time limit—or did it?
“So?” he asked. “Any inkling?”
“Does this have to do with tide tables?”
“Maybe.” He reached for her hand.
When they arrived at Harper Landing Beach ten minutes later, the tide had rolled out into negative territory. It was so far back that they put dinner on hold. They would have time for the food, tablecloth, and battery-operated candles later. Instead, they explored the tide pools while the beach lay fully exposed.
Geoducks squirted water in the sand. Sea stars gripped the sides of rocks. Dungeness crabs crawled across barnacles. Dawn and Warren investigated everything like two kids, holding hands and cherishing each new discovery together.
“I thought you might want to take a closer look at what you were fighting so hard to protect,” Warren said as they stood on the rocks, wrapped in each other’s arms. The Pacific Northwest sun wouldn’t set until later that evening, but its fading light bathed them in a rosy glow. “This paradise should belong to everyone.”
“I agree.” Dawn rested her head on Warren’s chest and closed her eyes.
Her heart beat the rhythm of happiness. The beach wasn’t the only thing she wanted to protect, she realized. Her new relationship with Warren was worth cherishing too. He was strong and kind, yet humble enough to admit when he was wrong. Warren shared similar dreams to those Dawn wanted to achieve. When she looked into the future, she could envision them sitting in the backyard together while their kids played somewhere in the house. She saw long family road trips to Disneyland with backseat griping and too much candy. She imagined bringing home a baby with Warren’s blond hair and her blue eyes and dressing it in a tiny Nordic sweater made of the softest yarn.
With Warren’s arms around her, the future seemed rich with happiness. She wasn’t ready to say the words out loud yet, but Dawn already whispered them in her heart. She was in love.