Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
When the next day came and went with no response to the birthday card he sent Erika, Cody didn’t sweat it. And that was despite the fact that he’d signed it and left his number at the bottom. He could be patient.
It was only after a week had gone by that he knew he had a decision to make. This was a crossroads he’d arrived at before when pursuing a woman to date. He could either let this go without another word, or he could make it clear to her that he remained interested.
Cody chose to do the latter.
Not that he would normally chase a woman who’d told him no. Cody would never want to come off as creepy or worse. Yet the way she’d smiled at him as she’d declined his invitation to go out had seemed… not unsure exactly, but Erika’s expression and light tone had contradicted her words.
He kept reminding himself that her words were the bottom line. He decided he had to try one more time and he prayed this next try to show her he’s a nice guy wouldn’t be too much.
So he sent her another card. Not a birthday card. No, that would be weird and he was skirting weird as it was. This was just a simple, regular generic greeting card. It had a smiling calf on the front that said, Hope you’re having a great day. On the inside, he simply wrote his name and number.
Another week passed with another similar result. He could let it go, but some impulse in his gut had him wondering if she’d received either of his cards in the place. So once at work, he approached Zeke.
“Hey, man, can I ask you a favor?”
The Feed Manager tensed, “What sort of favor?”
“Could you ask your wife if the cards I’ve been sending to Erika at the pediatrician’s office have been delivered?”
All Zeke’s tension evaporated. “You’ve been sending Erika cards?”
“Yes.”
The Feed Manager’s eyebrows winged up. “You should know that she doesn’t date much. And honestly, that sounds a little stalker-ish.” He recognized the warning. Not a protective type of warning but the brutally candid kind. Seemed Zeke didn’t expect Erika to react well to his inquiries.
“I understand, but I need to know if she’s getting the cards at all. If so, then I know what to do from there.” He couldn’t say why he felt so compelled to double check, but he did. It might seem silly, but there was something about Erika he didn’t feel ready to ignore out of hand. But if she was getting his cards, he needed to get the message that she wasn’t interested and leave the girl alone.
“I’ll check.”
The next day, Zeke was the one who approached Cody. “Callie said there were two cards propped up next to her computer. One with birthday greetings and one with a grinning calf.” Immediately, Cody sighed in relief and smiled to himself. All hope wasn’t lost then. “I take it those cards were from you.”
“They were from me,” Cody told him, happily slapping him on the back. “Thanks, man.”
The next week he sent one that had a puppy jumping for joy. Inside it, he wrote a message, hoping this would be the one she’d feel compelled to respond to. If she’d chosen to keep his cards—especially right there visible at her workstation—that had to be a positive sign. But this one would be his last attempt. If he saw her in out in public he’d definitely say hello. But no more cards after this one.
Hey, Erika,
I hope the image on the front brings a smile to your face today. I’d really love to have another conversation with you. In case texting is best for you, so I’ve included my phone number again.
Cody
This one firmly planted the ball in her court. She could volley it back to him or walk completely away from the tennis match. He didn’t think she’d walk, though. Not now. If she had every intention of ignoring him, why keep his cards taped to her workstation?
Still, he didn’t hear a word from her until three days after he’d mailed off the last card. He’d taken advantage of the Friday lunch provided by the Duncans inside the main house and had been listening to Sam Duncan bemoan his lack of sleep.
“I understood twins would be a lot, but I didn’t imagine they’d approach sleeping through the night like a relay race.”
“Relay race?” Aaron, the supervisor of the field hands asked. “What do you mean?”
“I mean just as we get one down, the other will cry and wake the other up. We haven’t had more than two hour’s uninterrupted rest since they were born.”
“I’m sorry,” Cody spoke up. “My son used to have his days and nights switched, but that doesn’t compare to what you and your wife are going through.”
“Two hours?” Aaron shook his head, looking a little shellshocked. “That’s all?”
Sam pointed at the dark bags beneath each eye. “Can’t you tell? Josh keeps asking me if I’m starring in some zombie movie.”
Cody repressed his laughter. He was still getting to know all the Duncans, but from the outside in, Josh seemed to be the jester of the family.
“Have you tried taking them on a drive? That’s what my wife and I used to do.”
Sam peeked up at Cody. “Did it work?”
“Like a charm. Every time.”
“Does your son sleep through the night now?” Aaron asked, and Cody grinned at him.
“He’s in college now, so I hope so.”
He’d better be , he thought to himself.
Cody trusted Gabriel, though. He might be young, but he tended to make responsible decisions. Right after thinking this, his phone buzzed with a message as if Gabe had heard him thinking to himself. Since the phone told him this was an unknown number, whoever was messaging him wasn’t his son. But seeing who had reached out lit Cody right up from within.
Unknown : Hey, this is Erika. I liked your cards, but you do realize that the escargot punchline means this is a dad joke.
Quickly changing her info in his phone so she’d show up properly, he texted her back.
Cody : I’d say that’s appropriate since I’m a dad.
Erika : Should’ve known. You give off that vibe.
He gave off what vibe? What did that mean?
Cody : The dad vibe?
Erika : Yes. When we met, I felt like you had that whole caring, quirky, yet hard-working thing going on. To me, that’s a dad vibe.
Cody : So, that’s a good thing?
He hoped it was.
Erika : Absolutely.
He huffed out such a loud breath that Aaron glanced over at him. Cody made sure to hold his phone at an angle that kept his discussion with Erika private.
Cody : How about another dad joke, then?
Erika : Fire away.
Cody : What do you call a cheerful cowboy?
That seemed appropriate considering where he was now employed.
Erika : What?
Cody : A jolly rancher.
Erika : ROFL! LOL!
He felt his grin splitting his face just as Sam remarked, “You’re all too well-rested and chipper for me, especially Cody over there.” It was only the sound of his own name that yanked Cody back into the conversation. “So, I’m gonna go ride fence just to get some fresh air.”
That was how it went over the next few weeks. He’d send various greeting cards, each with a new joke, and he and Erika would text back and forth. Since he and Stacey had dated prior to the point of everyone texting incessantly, this felt different than everything had back then.
Being in contact with a woman like this almost felt like it’d given him a new lease on life, even though they hadn’t even gone out on an actual date. When he’d mentioned going out again, Erika had sidestepped his question, so he kept up the text jokes instead. Although he felt anxious to take this to the next level, he didn’t yearn to rock the boat so much that it sank.
Still, after another week zipped on by without further indications of anything ever changing, Cody knew he needed to take matters into his own hands and give this thing a nudge. That’s why he took the chance of showing up unannounced in the parking lot of the pediatrician’s office. He leaned against his truck, waiting for Erika to appear, his heart racing.
This would either be the best or worst idea he’d ever had, and which way it turned out would be based on her reaction.
Callie exited first, acknowledging him with a smirk the second she saw him. Then, Erika ambled out beside another lady who had been at Callie and Zeke’s wedding. Must be Julie , Cody thought, the other nurse who worked there. Tim appeared and locked up behind them just as Erika peeked up and caught sight of him.
Cody threw on his most confident expression despite this possibly making or breaking everything between them, approaching her and popping out the silly little gift he’d brought her.
“What’s all this?” she asked him, and he fanned out the bouquet of paper flowers. They looked quite realistic all things considered.
“These can’t wilt,” he said, catching a whiff of her jasmine perfume. It made him yearn to lean in and sniff at her like a bloodhound, which, he reminded himself, would not be something she’d probably appreciate.
“I know just where to put these,” she said as she took them, and despite normally feeling confident around women, he hoped she didn’t mean the next available trash can.
Internally, he shook himself. He hadn’t been invested in any woman so much that he felt this nervous about how their relationship—or lack thereof—was proceeding. Yet somehow, everything with Erika felt more important. Like every action he took was weighted more heavily than usual.
“Did you know that Humpty Dumpty had a great fall?” he attempted to lighten the moment with another joke. It was the main component of their communication, after all.
“I did, actually.”
“He said his summer was pretty good, too.”
Erika rolled her eyes at him like a teenager, but then, almost as if in slow motion, she doubled over and snickered. “That one’s solid, gotta say.”
“Justice is a dish best served cold. Otherwise, it’s just water.” She blinked, contemplated this for a few beats, then snorted.
“Oh, dear…”
Encouraged, he kept going. “Why are Christmas trees bad at knitting?”
“I’m afraid to ask,” she said, amusement glowing behind her features.
“They always drop their needles.”
This one had her blasting a single, loud howl that had him grinning from ear to ear.
“These are so bad they’re good,” she declared, her hazel eyes sparkling, and her lips turned upward. He felt so tempted to drop his head down to kiss her that he had to actively restrict the action.
That hadn’t happened in a long time. A long, long time.
“Go out with me?” His question left his mouth as more of a challenge than a request. He couldn’t seem to alter his tone, either. Maybe because he felt like a fish that had been on the end of the line for too long. “We can do anything you want. Hang-gliding. Mountain biking. Dinner or lunch or coffee. Going around the world in a hot air balloon, I’m up for whatever.”
“Cody Stiers,” she said on a giggle. “You are a mess.”
“True, but that doesn’t answer my question.”
She shook her head at him, her face still jerking now and again with amusement. “Fine, you wore me down. Coffee, then. Just coffee.”
And all Cody could think during the secret inward celebration boomeranging through his head was, Finally .
“How about now?” he asked her on the fly.
“Now?”
“If you’re available.”
She glanced down at her work attire, and he felt certain she was about to say no. Which made sense. He’d been trying to strike while the iron was hot, but he might’ve overreached a bit. That was why he felt totally floored by her answer.
“Why not?”