Chapter 17
Chapter
Seventeen
I t had been an amazing day, watching Eryn come into her own as she chatted with the artisans she’d selected for the gift shop. She might think there was a chance her proposal to Sweet River’s board might be rejected, but Maxwell knew it wouldn’t be. Not only because no one else wanted the job, but because she was clearly capable of taking on the challenge.
He pulled into the parking lot at the Chuckwagon Bar & Grill and grinned across the cab at her. “Ready for dinner?”
Eryn bounced a little on her seat. “So ready. It seems a long time since food.”
“That’s because it was.” He laughed and jumped out of the cab. They’d had lunch in Missoula after visiting the candy maker, who was thrilled to be a supplier and even offered to design wrappers specially for the ranch gift shop.
Maxwell opened the passenger door. It had taken most of today’s stops to convince Eryn to stay put until he got to her. He held out his hand to help her descend, then kept a firm grip on her fingers as he shut the door and beeped the locks.
Eryn pulled back. “I’m not dressed for a fancy dinner.”
“This isn’t a fancy place. No worries on that score. They have great ribs and steaks.” His stomach rumbled as though on cue. “Just in time.”
She laughed and fell in step beside him as they crossed to the front door and then entered. The host ushered them to a table tucked into a bay window with a fireplace nearby. Maxwell seated Eryn.
“I love this!” she murmured. “The trees turning color, the carpet of leaves, the little fountain.”
They’d have to request this table for a winter date, when snow would blanket the view and the blazing fireplace would be even more welcome. And again in spring, because weren’t those fruit trees? The blossoms would be lovely.
Maxwell wanted to bring her here in every season, over and over again. He couldn’t picture his future without her in it. They’d only reconnected a few weeks ago, but he was growing certain that he loved her. Was it too soon to know that?
In his mind’s eye, Tate busted a gut laughing.
Okay, maybe not too early, but Eryn wasn’t Stephanie. She wasn’t chasing him back as determinedly as he was chasing her. Not like Stephanie, who’d seen a good thing in Tate and had been all in from the first minute.
Maxwell hadn’t understood his brother’s full, deep dive back then. How could a confirmed bachelor like Tate change his mind with the flick of an on-off switch? Of course, there’d been Jamie. Accepting custody of their young nephew had already rocked Tate’s world, readying him for love and marriage.
Maxwell hadn’t been shaken, not that way. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t completely enthralled with the woman across the little table from him.
She gazed out the window, looking more relaxed than he’d seen before. Her blond hair hung in loose curls, framing her heart-shaped face, and cascading down her pale green sweater.
He reached over and covered her hand with both of his. “You’re beautiful.”
“Me?” Her other hand pressed to her chest as her wide eyes met his.
“You.” He smiled. “I’ve never met anyone who affected me the way you do. It’s not just your outward beauty — although you have that in spades — but your inner beauty, too. You light up when you’re talking about something you’re passionate about. I saw that over and over today.”
She glanced down at the table before peeking at him again. “I really enjoyed meeting everyone. I was super nervous, because I don’t really do people. But they were so nice.”
“It helped that you had something to talk about, that you didn’t have to chat about the weather or your move from Kansas or whatever.” Although those things had come up, of course. The conversations simply had an end game.
“Yes, that helped.” She bit her lip. “Thanks for agreeing to come with me today. I know you couldn’t really afford to take the day off.”
“Nothing came up that Jordan couldn’t handle. Yeah, he phoned a few times, but it was all good.” Heather had been with Maxwell long enough that she wouldn’t have bothered him for these minor details. She would have made decisions on her own, and it would have been fine, but Jordan didn’t have her level of experience. Not yet, anyway.
Time to change the subject. He retrieved his hands to open his menu. “Do you like seafood?”
Eryn looked down and toyed with the linen napkin. “I don’t know. I’ve had popcorn shrimp, and it was okay.”
“Right.” Maxwell chuckled. “Kansas isn’t known for great seafood, not that Montana is coastal, either. Game to try some for an appetizer? They have a sampler platter that looks good.”
“Sure.”
“And then what’s your fancy? They have steak, ribs, and chicken. I’ve never eaten here—” the Chuckwagon had a reputation as a date place “—but I’ve heard it’s all good.”
Eryn opened her menu and scanned the entries. “The smokehouse ribs sound yummy.”
Whew, he’d been hoping she wouldn’t turn out to be one of those women who pretended they were overweight and dabbled in salads.
“I’ll have the Caesar and fries for my sides,” she concluded then closed her menu.
“Perfect. I think I’ll have the same.” He placed their order when the server returned with their drinks then leaned back and studied Eryn. “Are you happy you moved to Montana? I need to ask you before winter, just in case stormy weather makes you change your mind.”
Eryn laughed. “Yeah, I think I am glad.”
His eyebrows popped upward. “You’re not sure? Here I thought you were settling in like this was where you were always meant to be.”
“It seems presumptuous to say that when I lived 28 years in the same house a thousand miles away.”
Maxwell wanted to know everything about her. “When’s your birthday?”
Her gaze flew to meet his. “April fourth. Yours?”
“Uh…” He should have thought that question through. “November 18.”
“Just a few weeks away.” Eryn eyed him thoughtfully. “Now that you mention it, I do remember you being one of the older kids in our class.”
“Yeah.” There had been pros and cons to that. Time to cut to the chase. “Eryn? I like you a lot. Would you be willing to go out with me?”
“Isn’t that what we’re doing right now?”
Wait, was that a tiny smile playing at the edge of her mouth?
He groaned. “Woman, you’re killing me. Yes, that’s what we’re doing right now, but what I’m asking is if you might consider me your boyfriend. This sounds all high school, right? Eryn, would you go steady with me?”
“No one ever asked me that before.”
“I haven’t asked anyone before.”
She peeked up at him. “I find that hard to believe. You seem to have everything together. You’re cute, you’re confident, you’re…”
“Wait, you think I’m cute?”
“Yes?” She peered through her eyelashes.
“Man, I was hoping for an adjective that wouldn’t fit Jamie or Simon. Manly. Handsome.” He paused, but she didn’t fully look at him. He bobbed his eyebrows, hoping she’d catch their motion. “Hot.”
Eryn snickered, and her face pinked, but at least she was looking at him now. “Okay, all of those. How did some woman not snap you up already?”
Maxwell sobered. “A few reasons, I guess. I wasn’t looking for a relationship before, but also, I… I keep pretty busy, which is a socially acceptable way of saying I’m a workaholic.” A long breath whooshed out of him. “My parents — let’s just say I take after my father. Every spare minute goes into my work. That’s why my parents divorced, because my mother refused to put up with Dad’s nonexistent spare time. He had no leftovers for her or for us boys, honestly.”
Eryn studied him. “But you moved to Chicago to be with him after high school.”
“I did. I couldn’t wait to get out of Gilead, to be honest. There was nothing for me there.” He chuckled. “I didn’t know you, even though technically we’ve known each other since kindergarten.”
“No, everyone knew Amelia. Not me.”
“I’m sorry.” He started to reach for her hands, but the server chose that moment to appear with their seafood platter. Maybe it was time to change the subject, anyway.
“I’m not ready for this day to end.” Maxwell tangled his fingers with hers as they exited the restaurant.
“Me, either.” Dinner had been delicious, even the suspicious-looking mussels. They’d talked about lighter topics over the meal, and for the first time in her entire life, Eryn felt seen for herself. It was a heady feeling.
“Since there isn’t a great movie playing, let’s go for a walk.” He nudged her shoulder toward the park across the street.
Eryn reveled in the heady emotions surging through her. She still couldn’t believe that a man like Maxwell had singled her out. She shoved thoughts of her twin’s journals out of her mind. Amelia’s infatuation had been childish. Just because she’d doodled hearts all around Maxwell’s name every time it appeared in her entries didn’t mean… Right. Eryn pushed Amelia out of her head.
Lamp posts in the park illuminated the pathways. They strolled beside the pond, and Eryn imagined children feeding ducks there on summer days. Imagined moms sitting on the benches watching their kids on the playground, chatting with each other.
She sighed. Could this ever truly be her life?
“Cold?” Maxwell whipped off his fleece jacket and wrapped it over her shoulders before she’d had a chance to reply.
“Thanks, but now you’ll be freezing.” Maybe this walk on a late October evening was a bad idea, after all.
“There are other ways to keep warm.” Maxwell slipped his arm around her waist and tugged her close to his side.
And… maybe this walk was perfect. She snugged her arm around him and let herself enjoy the closeness as they crossed the lakefront drive and stepped onto the sandy beach. The lake lapped gently at the shore in the moonlight.
“You didn’t answer my question before.”
Eryn knew she hadn’t. “What question was that?”
Maxwell stopped and turned her to face him, both arms looped behind her back. “Will you be my girlfriend? Because I’m falling for you, and I can’t get enough time with you.”
“What about that whole workaholic thing you mentioned?” She was stalling. She knew it, but she couldn’t help drawing out the moment. She wanted to savor this for the rest of her life, even if things ended badly next week.
“I hope I’ve learned from my father’s mistakes.” Maxwell’s dark eyes were in the shadows, but she could feel the intensity of his gaze even so.
“I’d like to be with you,” she whispered, slipping her arms around his neck.
His hands tightened on her back, slowly pulling her closer.
Was he going to kiss her? Was she ready?
“May I?” he whispered.
Forget her inhibitions, her shyness, her inexperience. Eryn rose on her tiptoes and met his lips with her own.
She’d never been kissed. Not even the guy who’d tried to get to Amelia through her had gone this far.
And she was kind of glad that Maxwell was her first, because the feelings for him that had been building up for weeks now were more real than anything she’d ever experienced before.
He deepened the kiss, his hands roving her back then tangling in her hair.
She cupped the back of his head and thrilled at the feel of his curly strands beneath her fingers. As his girlfriend, she had the right to kiss him, to touch him, to enjoy moments such as this.
How could heaven be any better?
No need to consider heaven right now, either. Just Maxwell and the thought that he cared about her. Not just a thought. He was proving that this wasn’t a figment of her imagination, that someone could care about her, because she, Eryn Ann Ralston, was worthy.
Heady knowledge.