12. Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Beth
I ran home after my shift on Saturday to get ready for my lunch date. I showered, and shaved, faster than normal. Not that I expected anything to happen, but having smooth legs was a luxury I rarely bothered with. I even put on matching bra and panties. He wouldn’t see them, but they weren’t for him, they were for me. It was empowering to wear something lacy and silky instead of my normal cotton mom-undies.
I pulled my wavy brown hair off my face in a cute hair clip and brushed on some neutral brown eyeshadow before applying mascara. I had long thick lashes, thanks mom , and liked to highlight them, knowing it made my caramel eyes stand out. The warm Texas sun had given my cheeks a natural sun-kissed color, so I skipped the foundation and finished with a red tinted lip gloss.
The yellow amber pendant and matching earrings I wore were a gift from Phil and matched my outfit.
Before turning off the light, I checked the mirror to make sure everything was as good as it would get, then went to the kitchen to wait.
A glance at the clock on the microwave let me know I only had twelve to fifteen minutes to wait, depending on how early Doug was. I knew he’d be at least a few minutes early; it was a man-in-uniform thing—they were often early, and never late. I couldn’t sit still so I picked up my book. After reading the same sentence three times, I put it down.
I shouldn’t be nervous. But I was.
Sure enough, the doorbell rang at three minutes before one. I filled my lungs and slowly let the air out. Why am I so nervous? I hadn’t been nervous about any of my other dates. Because I hadn’t cared that much. But I’d been crushing on Doug for the last year, and I cared about this date. The thin curtain covering the window in the door wasn’t enough to prevent me from identifying Doug, so I opened the door without asking who it was.
The first thing I noticed was his smile. The second was the bouquet of gorgeous bright yellow and orange sunflowers in his hand.
“Hi.” His eyes looked me up and down as his smile widened. “You look beautiful.”
I wasn’t prone to blushing, but I wasn’t used to being called beautiful either, so of course I blushed. “Thank you.” I held the door open and stepped back. “Come in.”
“Thanks.” After he crossed the threshold and I closed the door, he handed me the flowers.
“They’re lovely, thank you. Do I have time to put them in water?” I asked as I held them to my face, letting their scent fill my nose. How’d he know they’re my favorite?
“Of course.”
I motioned for him to follow me into the kitchen, grateful I’d cleaned up Chase’s mess before leaving this morning. My house wasn’t dirty, but with an energetic five-year-old it frequently looked like a hurricane had blown through.
Doug waited patiently as I quickly found a vase, filled it with water, and arranged the flowers. After rearranging them a little, I took one last sniff before turning to Doug. “Ready.”
Damn he looks good . Now that the flowers were taken care of, I had time to take a nice long look. His black slacks hugged his muscular thighs, thighs I’d dreamed about on more than one occasion, and a pale green button-down shirt that complemented his red hair and fair skin. It fit snug, showing off his strong upper body, and the top button was undone. Someone taught this man how to dress . My brown slacks, and pink knit sleeveless shirt with matching cardigan felt like the perfect matching level of casual, erasing my concern about being over or underdressed.
I grabbed my small purse, happy I didn’t have to lug the gigantic bag I always carried when Chase was with me, and keys off the table. Doug opened my door and held it for me, then closed it behind me. He waited as I locked the deadbolt before tossing my keys in my bag.
“Here you go.” Doug opened the passenger door to his truck and helped me climb in. I wasn’t at all surprised his personal vehicle was a large, black, dual cab truck. It fits him, size and personality .
“Thanks.” I looked around the interior as I waited for him to walk around and get in. It was clean and organized, no fast-food wrappers, empty water bottles, or unopened mail to be seen. He’d probably think I was a slob if he saw my car, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t keep up with Chase’s mess.
Doug got in and looked to make sure I was buckled in as he clicked his seat belt in place. It was a sweet gesture; one I didn’t think any of my previous dates would have done. Not that I’d let them pick me up . John had made me promise not to give my address to any of my dates when I joined the dating site, so I’d driven myself.
John was the big brother I’d never had, but always wanted. He was more than a tad over-protective, a trait he’d passed on to his two oldest sons, but I appreciated it.
I hadn’t even considered telling Doug I’d meet him at the restaurant when he asked what time to pick me up. Not even John could fault me for that since he trusted Doug enough to hire him. I’m surprised John didn’t do background checks on my other dates . I chuckled at the absurdity of it.
“What’s so funny?” Doug asked as he started the car.
“Just thinking about how protective John can be.”
He looked at me and laughed. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure he ran a background check on me before he agreed to let me take you out.”
Did he read my mind? I couldn’t help laughing at the idea of John running a background check on him.
“I was literally just thinking I’m surprised John didn’t do that to my previous dates.”
“What makes you think he didn’t?” he asked.
His grin made my insides melt. “I was smart enough to not give him their names,” I paused before adding, “or tell Mary anything except their first names.”
“Can’t say I blame you.” He laughed.
Once the pleasantries were out of the way, Doug asked if Chase’s cup situation had been resolved.
“It has.” I chuckled. “I could have helped him but understand why he wanted John’s help.”
“Is this his first year playing?”
“It is. I’m lucky my schedule allows me to go to his practices and games. I’m not sure what I’d do otherwise.” I hated the idea of someone else taking him, especially since Phil would never get to see his son play sports. Or graduate from school, or go on his first date, or give him fatherly advice when he needed it.
At least I can be there.
Not wanting to think about it anymore, I changed the subject. “Did you play sports as a kid?”
“I did, like Chase I started with tee ball. My dad wanted me to play hockey, he’s a huge Blackhawks fan, but I hated it. I played little league for a while but gave it up after I discovered computers and gaming.” He chuckled. “I was a total geek by the time I started high school.”
He was a geek. Looking at him now, I never would have guessed he wasn’t a jock. “Do you like sports?”
“I like watching them, especially baseball and football. How about you? Did you play sports?”
I hadn’t. And as an adult I’d only watched them with Phil—so I could spend time with him. Now I’d have to become a fan of whatever sports Chase decided to play.
#
When we got to The Breakfast Joint, Doug parked and told me to wait a second before hopping out and running around to open my door for me. It had been a long time since someone had acted like such a gentleman on a date. I’d denied my dates the opportunity to open my car door, but they’d missed other opportunities to act gentlemanly.
The restaurant was cute, with flags and pictures of foods from all around the world hung on the walls and a bright colorful atmosphere. When the hostess showed us to our table, I made sure to let Doug have the seat with a line of sight to the front door. I figured he’d prefer to sit there. Phil said it was a cop thing. John told Mary the same thing, explaining he was never really off-duty.
“This place is really colorful,” said Doug as he looked around.
“I like it.”
This week’s specials were from Turkey and included: Menemen (a dish with eggs, tomatoes, green peppers, and spices such as ground black and red pepper cooked in olive oil), and Shakshouka (described as eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, olive oil, peppers, onion, and garlic, spiced with cumin, paprika and cayenne pepper).
The Menemen sounded intriguing, so I ordered it without so much as a glance at the rest of the menu. Doug ordered the other special. We both ordered Turkish coffee.
“Do you come here a lot?” Doug asked after we placed our order.
“No, but now that Chase is a bit older, I’ll probably come more often.” It’d be a fun way to introduce him to different foods and hopefully expand his palate beyond hot dogs and macaroni and cheese. Though I didn’t have high hopes he’d order more than pancakes for the first few years. Maybe I can convince him to try my dishes.
The conversation shifted to foods we’d tried, what we liked and what we didn’t. Doug told me he’d developed a love for Italian food when he was stationed in Italy. Then he shared some of his European adventure stories. When I asked him why he chose the Air Force over the other branches, he said a recruiter at a college fair sold him.
“It wasn’t a hard sell. I loved their high-tech gadgets and ended up signing my intent to enlist that day.” His pensive look didn’t match his words.
“Did you like it as much as you thought you would?”
“I loved it.”
Something in his voice told me there was more to the story, but I didn’t want to pry so I changed the subject.
When our server brought us our meals, we inhaled deeply before commenting on how amazing they smelled. The heavy scent of rich spices promised us a culinary delight, and they didn’t disappoint. We ate in relative silence, only speaking to praise the food or offer each other samples.
While we ate, it occurred to me, based on his timelines, Doug was probably younger than I’d thought. Not that I had a hard number in mind, but I’d assumed he was only a couple of years younger than me. Now I second-guessed myself.
Will it be a problem for him if I’m a lot older?
I was about to ask him, but he asked me about the Wyatt Foundation before I could.
This year was the third annual fundraiser. Mary loved Halloween, so she’d scheduled the first fundraiser as a Halloween bash and went all out with decorations, costumes, dancing, and raffles. Now it was an annual party.
“It’s great how much Mary and John do for the community,” Doug said.
“It is. They’ve lived here their whole lives, so they have deep roots.”
“Have you always lived here?” he asked.
“No, I grew up in Louisiana and moved here after getting engaged to Phil.” We’d met while he was stationed at the local Marine base.
“Is your family still in Louisiana?”
“No, my mom moved here after my Dad died. She said it was because she wanted to see her grandkids, but I think she didn’t want to be alone.” I sipped my water. “It was a blessing having her here to help with Chase after Phil died.”
“Does she still help out?”
“No, she recently got sick and never fully recovered. Sadly her health has been declining ever since.” I paused while the sadness washed over me. “She doesn’t have the energy to handle him anymore. But we visit her as often as we can.” She was his last grandparent and I wanted them to have as much time together as possible.
He nodded in understanding. “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“No, I’m an only child.” I ate my last bite of egg and closed my eyes in appreciation. When I opened my eyes, I felt heat rush to my cheeks when I saw the look Doug was giving me. I wiped my mouth with my napkin and tried to hide my flushed cheeks.
“How about you? Where are you from?”
“Chicago. Both my parents still live there. So does my older sister.”
“Are you close?” I had a feeling they weren’t.
“No.” He didn’t elaborate.
He sounded sad when he talked about his family. I couldn’t help but wonder what had happened. Before I could ask anything else, our server brought the bill and started clearing our table.
I would have liked to sit and talk more, but people were waiting so we didn’t linger. Doug paid the bill and held the door open for me as we walked out.
“This place is great, thanks for suggesting it.” He patted his stomach as he spoke.
“I’m glad you liked it.”
We talked more about our families on the ride home. I told him about growing up in a small town in the south, and he told me about growing up in a big city in the north. I joked about how I didn’t think I could handle northern winters and he joked that he couldn’t handle hurricanes and sweltering summers.
“Wait, aren’t summers in Chicago hot and humid?”
He laughed as he answered, “Uh huh.”
“And you live in Texas? Where we get hurricanes.”
“I do.”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “You’d be fine in Louisiana.”
When he asked about my Dad, I told him he’d died from cancer the year before Phil’s accident. His death hit us hard but it wasn’t a surprise. He’d been suffering for so long; we almost considered it a blessing that he was finally at peace.
When I asked about his parents, his voice took on a cool edge as he shared very little about them. It wasn’t much better when he talked about his sister, who’d joined the family law firm. The almost robotic quality to his voice made it clear this was a sore spot in his history.
“Did your family expect you to join the firm too?”
“They did.” His answer was stiff.
I debated changing the subject but had one more question. “Are they disappointed you didn’t?” I have a feeling I know the answer.
“They are.”
“Would you rather talk about something else?”
“I would.” Doug released a deep breath and uncurled his fingers, loosening the white-knuckle grip he had on the steering wheel. “Thank you.”
After a few seconds of silence Doug apologized for being rude.
“Forgiven. Family can be a touchy subject.” I appreciated his apology, but was curious why he had such a negative reaction to talking about his family. I could understand them being disappointed he’d joined the military instead of going to law school, but this felt bigger than that.
“They can be.” His chest rose as he inhaled deeply then fell as he slowly released it.
Doug put the car in park after pulling into my driveway. I didn’t want the date to end yet so before he could say anything, I said, “I have about thirty minutes before I need to leave to pick up Chase. Would you like to come in for a coffee, or I have a pitcher of sweet tea if you’d prefer that?”
“I’d like that,” Doug answered with a smile as he shut off the engine.