CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Rori couldn’t believe how emotional she felt. She was smiling and laughing, truly enjoying herself with Lee, but tears lingered just beneath the surface.
He had done all this for her.
When he’d asked her out on a date, she’d assumed that they’d go for dinner and maybe a movie. Something simple and easy. And that would have been more than enough.
But this?
This?
It was everything.
Each thing about the date proved he’d thought of her when he’d made the plans. He’d thought of what she might enjoy.
The food they’d enjoyed on that picnic blanket told Rori that he’d taken what he knew about her so far and planned accordingly. The meals they’d shared to date had been comprised of sandwiches and pizza. He’d apparently taken notes on what she put on her sandwiches when they’d eaten at the park and made sure to include all of that.
During their time together to date, she’d enjoyed learning about Lee, but she hadn’t been as keen to share about her past. The last thing she wanted was to cast a pall over their time together.
While Lee shared stories about birthday parties, sleepovers, holiday trips, siblings, and parents, Rori was left with stories of no birthday parties or gifts, no friends, no trips, and she had no positive stories of times with her siblings and parents. No one wanted to hear those stories. Especially on a first date.
Someday, she might share all of that with him, but she didn’t want it to taint this time together. And she didn’t want tears to taint it either, even if they stemmed more from being just so deeply touched by what Lee had done than from any sadness.
Although, they were sort of rooted in sadness. How was it that she had made it this far in her life, with that day being the first time someone had done something like this for her?
“Want chocolate or strawberries?” Lee asked as they packed away the remnants of their lunch into the small cooler bag inside the picnic basket.
“I have to choose?” Rori asked as she shoved the emotions down to mull over later, choosing rather to embrace the lighthearted moments Lee had created.
He grinned and gave her a wink. “I think I could be persuaded to give you both.”
Laughter bubbled up, and Rori wondered if she’d ever been happier in her life.
“Your wish is my command,” Lee said with a flourish as he presented her with a container of strawberries. “And we have some whipped cream to dip them in. Also, what Halverson meal would be complete without some brownies? Layla and Amelia made them with Charli’s help this morning.”
“That was sweet of them,” Rori said as she put a couple of strawberries on her plate, then added a brownie and a dollop of whipped cream.
“Like I said, everyone was on board with this and wanted to play a part in making it special. The girls wanted to come along.”
Rori chuckled. “Really?”
“Yep. They both like you a lot. And they wanted to have a picnic.”
“Don’t they already have a picnic almost every Sunday?”
“Yep. Pretty much all summer,” Lee said. “Unless it’s raining. Then it’s cancelled.”
Rori hoped that didn’t happen anytime soon because she enjoyed spending time with the group.
“If it does get cancelled, we can still hang out,” Lee said, as if realizing what rain would mean for them. “If you want.”
That would work too. It might actually be better if it was just the two of them. “I would like that.”
“In that case…” he mused as he took a strawberry from the container. “Maybe I should pray for rain.”
“But that would disappoint your nieces,” Rori reminded him. “And I do like spending time with your family.”
“And they like spending time with you, too. Almost as much as I do.”
Rori had a hard time believing his words. But she wasn’t going to tell him that she thought he was, at the very least, exaggerating, or, at the worst, outright lying. And yet she knew, in her heart of hearts, that Lee wouldn’t lie to her.
As good as everything was—or maybe because everything was so good—it felt horribly unbalanced. Lee and his family were doing so much for her, and she had nothing to offer in return.
Even the picnic. She might have felt less indebted to him if they’d just gone out to eat. But, instead, he’d put so much effort into their date. How could she ever reciprocate?
“Why don’t you take some pictures?” Lee suggested when they’d finished their dessert.
“You don’t mind?” Rori asked.
“Of course not.” His smile lit up his eyes. “That was one of the reasons I chose this spot.”
“Thank you.” Picking up her camera, Rori left the blanket and headed over to the creek that flowed nearby.
She definitely wanted to document that afternoon. It was just unfortunate that none of the photos she captured would include her and Lee. That was the picture she really wanted to have as a reminder of this day.
After she’d taken a bunch of shots, Rori turned to glance over at the blanket, expecting to see Lee on his phone. Instead, he was leaning back on his hands, legs stretched out and crossed at the ankle as he watched her.
When their gazes met, Lee smiled at her, and before Rori even thought about it, she lifted the camera to take several pictures of him. They probably weren’t the best shots she’d ever taken, given her lack of time to focus properly. However, they were going to be pictures she cherished.
“Is turnabout fair play?” Lee called over to her.
Rori lowered her camera. “What do you mean?”
“Do I get to take a picture of you?”
“You want to take a picture of me?”
Rori was never on the other side of the camera. Never.
The most pictures she had of herself were the school pictures she’d had taken each year. And even those, once her grandmother had died, she’d had to pay for herself if she wanted any. Which she hadn’t. Because why would she want a picture of herself?
“Of course I want a picture of you.”
Rori was uncertain what to do with herself. She wasn’t sure how to pose. Or how to smile. So instead, she stood frozen, clutching her camera in her hands.
“How about we do a selfie together?” Lee suggested as he shifted his body to pull his phone from his pocket.
Rori only just stopped herself from questioning why he wanted a picture of them together. It was what she wanted too, after all.
Joining him on the blanket once again, Rori set her camera to the side. When Lee held his arm out to her, Rori’s heart threatened to beat through her chest. She’d held his arm when they’d walked, but this was him wanting her to sit right beside him.
Hoping that he didn’t see how this was affecting her, Rori shifted to sit next to him. He put his arm around her, his hand settling into the curve of her waist. This close to him, she could smell the cologne he wore and feel the warmth and strength of his body as she leaned into his side.
Lifting his phone, Lee said, “Smile!”
Rori didn’t think about how she should smile, she just let everything she was feeling flow out of her. There was just so much joy in that moment, and there was nowhere else she’d rather be than sitting next to Lee.
“Let’s see how that looks,” Lee said, lowering his phone.
He didn’t move his arm from around her as he bent to look at the screen of the phone, so Rori didn’t move either. She was going to enjoy this for as long as she could.
When he didn’t react to what he saw on his phone, a sick feeling crept into her stomach. Was it that bad? She had no idea if she was photogenic or not, so it was possible that she just didn’t look that good in the selfie.
Rori made a move to shift away from Lee, but he tightened his arm around her. “Do you want to take another picture?”
“Nope. No need for that when the one we took is just perfect.” He turned the phone so that she could see the picture. “You look absolutely beautiful.”
Her breath caught in her lungs at his words, and she glanced up to find him watching her again. That was twice now that he’d said that. Did he really think she was beautiful?
She didn’t consider herself ugly, but compared to her sisters on her mom’s side, she would never say she was beautiful. If anything, she would call herself plain, especially since she didn’t do a lot of what women did these days to enhance their appearance.
Swallowing against the nervous excitement in her stomach, Rori looked at the picture more closely. Of course, Lee was handsome with his beaming smile, but Rori realized that she was beaming too. It really was a wonderful picture.
And now she’d have a picture of the two of them as a remembrance of their first date. It was perfect.
“Can you send me the picture?” Rori asked.
Unfortunately, her request resulted in him removing his arm from around her. Though she would have liked to stay sitting close to him, she shifted slightly, so she wasn’t crowding him.
Her phone chimed just as he said, “There you go.”
She leaned forward to retrieve her phone from the camera bag. When she settled back, Lee braced his arm behind her as he showed her his phone.
“It’s my lock screen,” he said.
“I want it for my lock screen too.”
Rori didn’t move away from the press of Lee’s arm against her back. She’d lived pretty much her whole life without physical contact with people. It had been hard, but she’d gotten used to it over time. She’d had no choice.
There were moments when she intensely craved some sort of physical connection, and there had been a point in her life when she’d thought about sleeping with a man, just to have that connection.
However, she’d realized that doing so would likely lead to more emotional heartache, given her tendency to develop crushes on guys. Knowing her luck, she’d sleep with a guy, fall in love with him, only for him to move on, leaving her broken-hearted.
But now… the desire for that physical connection with Lee was overwhelming. Would that be what she could give him? Her body was all she had to offer.
The very thought of doing that left her unsettled. It just didn’t feel right for her.
So far, aside from putting his arm around her, Lee hadn’t pushed her for anything. What would she do if he did?
Even though being close to him was appealing, her feelings were already focused on Lee. Being physically close to him would only make the inevitable heartache even worse.
She just had to hope that Lee wouldn’t pressure her for anything because the temptation to give in was great.
“Did you want to take more pictures?” Lee asked.
“Yes, I think I would.”
Lee jumped to his feet, then held his hands out to her. She grabbed onto them and allowed him to pull her up. He bent to pick up her camera, then handed it to her.
“I thought I saw some wildflowers over there,” Rori said, pointing to the far edge of the grassy area. “I want to try shooting them.”
This time, instead of hanging out on the blanket, Lee followed her to where she’d seen the wildflowers. She took a couple of shots, then showed them to Lee.
“You see the beauty in the most unexpected places,” Lee said as he looked at the screen on her camera. “Is that a daisy?”
“I’m not sure. It looks a bit like a daisy, but it has pink petals. Do daisies have pink petals?”
Lee shrugged. “Honestly, I have no clue. I don’t know much about flowers, beyond the fact that my mom loves hyacinths.”
“I don’t know much about flowers either,” Rori said.
“So you don’t have a favorite flower?”
Rori lifted the camera to take a few shots from a short distance away. “Not really. I kind of like them all, though I’m partial to the fragrance of lilacs. Especially on a warm day. I used to love walking through my neighborhood and smelling them.”
“Mom and Dad have several lilac bushes out at their house.”
“Do they still live in the place where you grew up?”
“Yep. It’s a bit big for them now, since they had it built when all of us were still at home. But it’s nice that there’s room for when we all come home. Especially at Christmas. Mom likes to have us kids stay there overnight on Christmas Eve, even the ones who live in Serenity.”
“I bet that would be lively,” Rori said, hoping the wistfulness she felt in her heart didn’t reveal itself in her voice.
“Oh, it is, and it will be even more so this next Christmas. Two new grandchildren will certainly liven things up.”
Growing up, she’d been present at holiday celebrations. However, her gifts had never been anywhere near as expensive as her siblings’. And whichever parent she wasn’t with didn’t give her anything.
“It’s hard to even imagine Christmas when it’s so warm,” Rori said, hoping to direct the conversation away from the holiday.
“I know, but snow will be here before you know it. Time flies.”
“It sure does.” Although time really dragged for her sometimes.
“I’d love to celebrate Christmas with you this year.”
So much for the redirection. But also… he thought they’d still be together in five months?
“That would be nice.” This time, her voice wavered just a bit.
“Lots of stuff goes on at Christmas in Serenity,” Lee said. “Christmas in a small town. Our own personal Hallmark movie.”
Rori chuckled. “Get lots of people falling in love here at Christmas time?”
“Apparently. Personally, I don’t think I’m going to be able to wait until Christmas for that to happen.”
The breath in Rori’s lungs stuttered. Was he talking about loving her? Would he want her to tell him she loved him?
She absolutely would say those words if he wanted to hear them. Even right at that moment. Her love for him had been present in her heart for a little while now, which was why she’d agreed to the date.
Rori didn’t know how to respond, so she was almost relieved when the sound of laughter and conversation interrupted the moment.
Turning, she saw a handful of people coming along the path. They each lifted a hand and called out a greeting but kept walking along the path. Lee returned the greeting.
“Do you know them?”
He shook his head. “Just small-town friendliness.”
“I’m still getting used to that,” Rori said as she lifted the camera once again. “It’s nice.”
“It can be,” Lee agreed. “Sometimes it’s annoying. I don’t always want to run into someone I know when I’m buying underwear and deodorant.”
Rori laughed. “Yeah. I can see how that might not be desirable.”
“It’ll start happening to you soon,” Lee warned. “Just you wait.”
For all that Lee made it sound like a bad thing, Rori kinda liked the idea that people would not only recognize her but would want to spend some time chatting with her.
Rori spent a couple more minutes taking pictures of the flowers, even catching a bee landing on one of them. Out of the corner of her eye, Rori saw Lee walk up to a nearby tree, reaching out to touch the bark.
Again, she focused the camera on Lee and took a quick succession of pictures. Lee glanced over at her and grinned when he saw the camera pointed at him.
After she got a couple of shots, Lee straightened and then struck a bodybuilder pose. Rori grinned as she snapped another picture. He went through a series of crazy poses, each one making Rori laugh harder, until she wasn’t sure that the pictures she was taking were in focus thanks to her laughter.
“You’re crazy,” Rori said as she lowered the camera.
“But I’m making you laugh.” Lee sauntered over to her. “I count that as a win.”
And he should. It was a rare thing that she laughed so hard, and Rori loved that Lee had been the one to make her do it.
“It is a win,” she assured him. “I haven’t laughed like that in a very, very long time.”
Lee grinned. “That makes acting like I’m crazy worth it.”
Rori wanted to cap off the moment with a hug, but she wasn’t sure that was appropriate just yet. Hopefully soon, though.
As they settled back on the blanket, they continued chatting about everything and nothing. Rori was glad they seemed to find lots to talk about because she just didn’t want their time together to end.
The group who’d gone by earlier reappeared, once again giving them a wave.
“Want another sandwich?” Lee asked. “More potato salad?”
Rori wasn’t especially hungry, even though it had been a few hours since they’d eaten, but she still agreed to eat more. The cooler bag with ice packs had kept the food cool, so it was still delicious.
Neither of them ate quickly, and this time, they talked about the movies and TV shows they enjoyed. They shared a lot of the same interests, mainly because even though Rori loved reading romance novels, she didn’t care much for romantic movies.
The more she discovered she had in common with Lee, the more she hoped that they would be able to make a relationship work.
A little after six, they finally packed everything up. Rori found it hard to believe they’d hung out for over six hours. It felt like it had only been a couple.
When they pulled up to her building, Rori expected to just say goodnight and get out. However, Lee turned off the engine and climbed out as well.
Did he expect something… more?
Rori hoped not because she wasn’t mentally prepared for that yet.
But when they got to her door, he lingered in the hallway when she opened her door.
“Can I pick you up for church tomorrow morning?” he asked.
“Isn’t it kind of out of your way?”
Lee shrugged. “Not really, and I’d love to walk into church with you. To sit with you. If that’s what you’d like as well.”
Rori hadn’t really thought about it, but now that Lee had put the thought in her mind, she wanted it too.
“Sure. What time should I be ready?”
After he gave her a time, he said, “I had a wonderful time this afternoon. Thank you so much for sharing it with me.”
“Thank you,” Rori said. “You put a lot of effort into preparing everything. I really appreciated every moment of it.”
“Want to do it again sometime?” Lee asked with a grin and a wink.
“Yes.” Rori’s smile felt like it was literally stretched from ear to ear. “I absolutely would.”
“Good. We can figure out our next date together.”
“I’d like that.”
“Well, guess I’d better go.” Lee took a couple of backward steps toward the staircase leading to the main floor.
Rori leaned against her doorjamb, watching him until he reached the stairs. He paused there, then gave her a little wave before turning and jogging up the stairs.
Once he was out of sight, Rori went into her apartment. Closing the door behind her, she leaned back against it.
Was this a dream?
If it was, it was a pretty awesome one, and she didn’t want to wake up.