19. Eden
19
EDEN
A s they waited for their food, Eden let herself get just a little bit lost in Axel’s dark eyes.
Her cheeks were still warm with embarrassment for letting it slip that she had watched his video, but he’d put her right at ease about it. And it was clear she wasn’t the only one in Tarker County who was still celebrating that amazing victory.
His words warmed her heart.
It’s like they’re telling me I’m still part of the community, even though I’ve been away so long.
How could Axel not see that the community revered him—not just for the game, or even for his years of military service, but because of the person he was under that gruff exterior? He was a person who could tame a gymnasium full of rambunctious boys and girls, a person whose first instinct was always to help—whether it was volunteering at the school, or replacing her spilled coffee on that very first day .
He might be hard on himself, but he was easy to be with. In her mind, she’d made the idea of going on a date into something big and scary. But even tonight, she felt at home—so relaxed and happy, just like she always did whenever she spent time with him.
“What are you thinking about?” His deep voice was so intimate now.
“I’ve never felt this way on a date before,” she heard herself admit.
“What way?” he asked, his brow furrowing.
“Relaxed,” she replied simply.
“You go on a lot of dates?” he asked.
She laughed when she realized he was joking, and shook her head.
The waiter came back then with a big tray of food and her attention was taken up for a little while with talking to Axel about the dishes.
To her relief, he loved everything, and they ate and chatted casually for a long time. Everything felt almost perfect, so perfect that she tried to ignore the question that kept rising in her mind.
Why did he take me to a restaurant so far outside the village? And why did he call ahead to reserve a table all the way in the back?
It felt awful to even acknowledge those feelings. Axel had found a Thai restaurant because she mentioned liking the food. And he’d reserved the most romantic table in the place. It was just a coincidence that they were hidden away.
But the restaurant we went to in the village wasn’t even open to the public …
He had to know that rumors were circulating at school anyway. She’d caught so many knowing glances and looks of respect from her female colleagues in the last few days that it made her feel like they had practically known before she did that she was falling for Axel Williams.
“Hey,” he said softly. “I wanted to ask you something.”
“Okay,” she said, glad for a reason to get out of her own head.
“I know I promised you the other night that we’d take it slow,” he said. “And I know we’re still on our first date. But I want to ask for a second one.”
“I thought this was our second date,” she teased. “Because you tricked me into one already.”
“Excellent,” he told her, chuckling. “Then I’m still not playing it cool, but maybe it’s not so bad to ask you for a third date if you want to go to the Hometown Holiday Celebration with me tomorrow—with Jack, obviously. I think he’ll love it.”
“Oh, wow,” she said, feeling almost overwhelmed with relief and gratitude.
“I get it if you don’t want to be seen out with me yet though,” Axel said. “And if you say yes, I will have to peel off for an hour because I promised the chief I would take a shift selling trees for the fire station…”
“You weren’t sure if I wanted to be seen out with you yet?” she broke in.
Is that really why he brought me all the way out here?
“I know it’s important to you to go slowly,” he said. “I thought that might include not being out together in public yet. And it’s okay to tell me if you’re not ready. ”
“ Yes,” she said right away. “I’d love to go with you tomorrow. Sorry, I should have started with yes. And I know Jack will love it. We’ve been seeing posters around town.”
“Great,” he said, grinning at her. “Great, great, great.”
She wasn’t sure if she’d ever seen a bigger smile on his face and she beamed back at him.
Please don’t let it be a mistake to trust him…
But something deep inside told her it wasn’t.
Later that night, Eden got out of Axel’s truck in front of Daisy and Kellan’s house, and ran on up to the front door through the snow flurries.
Like before, Axel had insisted on bringing her over to pick up Jack and drive them both back home, just one more sign that her trust in Axel was well-placed.
“Did you guys have fun?” Daisy asked, peeking over Eden’s shoulder at the truck out front.
“We did,” Eden said. “And he invited Jack and me to hang out at the Hometown Holiday Celebration tomorrow.”
“Amazing,” Daisy said, shaking her head and smiling as Jack came barreling through the door.
“ We had so much fun, and Benny and Mara are going to ride bikes with us again on Monday ,” Jack yelled, hugging Eden around the waist.
“It’s so good to have good friends,” Eden said, hugging him back and looking to Daisy, hoping she realized she was included in that. “What do we say, Jack? ”
“Thank you, Mrs. Webb,” Jack said politely.
“You’re very welcome,” Daisy told him. “You were a lovely guest. You’re welcome back anytime.”
“We should head out, Jack,” Eden told him. “We have something fun to do tomorrow. And Coach is waiting to take us home now.”
“What is it?” Jack asked, scampering out to the truck, and then launching into an explanation of the game he and Benny had invented, without even waiting for her to answer.
“Thank you again,” Eden called over her shoulder. “I’ll be waiting for you to let me know when I can take your kiddos so you and Kellan can have a date night.”
“That sounds great,” Daisy called back to her.
The short ride home was very pleasant. Jack talked a mile a minute and Axel smiled and responded in all the right places. When they pulled up in front of the little house on Rutgers Avenue, Eden was sorry the night was over.
Axel walked them up to the porch and gave Jack a high five.
“Go on in and get ready for your bath,” Eden said to Jack. “I’ll be up in a minute to start the water and tell you about our plans for tomorrow.”
“Okay,” Jack said. “Good night, Coach.”
“Good night, Jackrabbit,” Axel said.
Jack slipped inside, and suddenly Eden was alone on the porch with Axel.
She felt almost breathless as she turned back to him.
Axel gazed down at her with a serious expression on his face. He always seemed larger than life to Eden, but especially here on the porch where the light glinted in his eyes and caught the snowflakes melting in his dark hair. The small space made his wide shoulders look even broader than usual.
He stepped closer, and she caught that hint of deep forest and spice that made her think of him.
“We didn’t even talk about the football club tonight,” she heard herself chatter nervously. “The kids got all their candy bars sold already, isn’t that amazing? And we still have to decide where we’re meeting up tomorrow.”
“Do you want to talk about those things right now?” he asked.
He stood perfectly still, giving her plenty of space and time to answer.
“Not really,” she admitted softly after a moment.
“Well, I know you want to take things slow,” he said, his voice husky and low. “So I guess I should get going.”
But he didn’t move to leave. He stayed right where he was, his eyes sliding down to her mouth.
She felt herself drift forward to meet him.
The moment she moved he stepped in, wrapping a big hand gently around her arm and bending slowly, as if wanting to give her plenty of time to change her mind.
“Mom,” Jack yelled, suddenly, pulling open the front door again. “How do I know when the bathtub is too full?”
“Oh, goodness,” she heard herself say as her cheeks heated. “I’d better come up and help you.”
“Good night, Eden,” Axel said.
“Good night, Axel,” she replied. She could hear the smile in his voice, and she was grateful for it .
And as she followed Jack upstairs, she was very grateful that he hadn’t burst outside two seconds later.
But she also couldn’t help feeling more than a little disappointed not to know what it was like to be kissed by Axel Williams.