Chapter 15 #2
“He will have the grilled cheese kid’s meal and fries, and I would like the chicken wrap and fries, please,” Maren orders.
“Buffalo wrap and fries, please,” I request, sliding my menu toward our server.
Cade orders his usual bacon cheeseburger and fries, while Oaklee chooses a chef salad with fried pickles on the side.
“What do you do, Maren?” Oaklee asks, sipping her water.
“I’m a cosmetologist.”
“You are? That’s cool. Here in town?” she asks.
“Yes, with Jenn and Lila.”
“Oh, I go to Lila, but she’s so hard to get into now since the nail side of her business took off so much. I’ve been thinking of switching.”
“Well, I won’t poach her clients, but if she says it’s okay, I do the walk-ins while I’m building my clientele list. I'd be happy to help," Maren replies, taking a drink of her lemonade.
“Good to know.”
“What do you do?” Maren asks.
“I’m a nurse at the clinic in town,” Oaklee replies.
“Really? I’m going to need a doctor for Theo,” Maren states, sitting up a little straighter. She glances to me. “Is it the same doctor?”
I give her a small nod and a smile. “Dr. Houston is still the doc in town.”
“I love Dr. Houston,” Maren insists, a slight blush creeping across her face. “I admit, physicians are the one thing I didn’t have a chance to research before I up and relocated our lives. To know Dr. Houston is still here is a huge relief.”
“He’s an amazing doctor and man. I really enjoy working there,” Oaklee says.
“She’s also going to school to be a midwife,” Cade adds to the conversation, the pride practically dripping off his words.
“Wow, really? That’s exciting!”
“It is,” Oaklee confirms. “It’s a lot of extra schoolwork, but I’m really enjoying it so far.”
“She’s doing phenomenal,” he adds, leaning over and kissing her cheek.
“How did you two meet?” Maren asks, and I can’t help but kick back and smile, ready to hear the story.
Oaklee laughs. “He hit on me, and I turned him down.”
Cade rolls his eyes. “She’s being dramatic.”
I can’t help but laugh. “No, she’s not. He totally took his shot and she told him no.”
“In Cade’s defense, I was dating someone at the time.”
“It was probably his lame pick-up lines he kept throwing at her,” I mutter loud enough for everyone to hear.
Cade gasps. “Those were my best lines! Besides, they worked,” he replies smugly, wiggling his eyebrows.
“How about you two? How did you two meet?” Oaklee asks, catching me by surprise. My gaze snaps to my brother, who’s looking down at the tabletop.
“Oh, uh, I grew up here,” Maren replies slowly, as if gauging how much to say. “And…we used to date.”
Oaklee’s eyes widen and then it’s as if the lightbulb flips on. “Oh. Oh! She’s the one?” she asks, her gaze sliding to where her fiancé—my brother—sits.
Cade gives me a soft smile and confirms, “Yeah, she’s the one.”
I squirm in my seat, suddenly feeling the heat of being under the microscope. Even though no one is looking at me, per se, it feels like all eyes are on me, and it’s a bit annoying, knowing they’ve clearly been talking about me.
“So, you two used to date and are now living next to each other. I bet it was a relief to see a familiar face when you returned to town,” Oaklee says, and I want to roll my eyes. Relief was most definitely not the word I’d use when we discovered we were neighbors.
Maren just smiles, not wanting to get into the guts of our first few interactions. Then, she glances down and sees the sparkler on Oaklee’s finger. “Oh my gosh, you’re getting married?”
“We are,” Oaklee replies with an excited grin as she holds out her hand. “In April.”
“I love springtime,” Maren gushes, and suddenly, they’re neck deep into wedding talk.
Cade rolls his eyes, but I can tell he’s loving it. And I don’t blame him. He’s lucky to have found the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with.
My own gaze automatically moves to the woman sitting not too far from me and to the little boy between us.
I’m still confused by her reappearance and the feelings it evokes inside me, but I’m getting used to it.
In fact, I’m more than getting used to it.
I rather like having her back here. I enjoy talking to her and getting to know the woman she became in the years since I last saw her.
I turn my attention to Theo and watch him color. The paper is full of red, yellow, green, and blue scribbles, but he’s happy and content. When he catches me watching him, he lifts up the paper and hands it to me. “You did a great job,” I tell him.
“For you,” he insists, shoving the paper toward me.
“For me? Thank you,” I tell him, taking the coloring sheet.
He nods eagerly as Emma approaches with a tray of food. “Cheese!”
“A grilled cheese with fries for the little guy,” Emma says, placing the first plate on the table.
“Tank you!”
The rest of the food is placed in front of us, and Emma hurries off to refill our drinks.
Maren cuts up Theo’s sandwich, and we all chat as we eat. Theo tells Cade all about us building blocks last night, and brings me into the conversation when he says, “Cam brokedid it down,” and starts giggling.
I feel my brother’s gaze locked on me. “He did, did he?”
We finish our meal, and when it comes down to dessert, Maren insists she’s too full to order the strawberry shortcake she had talked about.
I make a mental note to bring them back soon…
I grab the bill before Cade can and smirk when he grumbles. “You get the tip,” I tell him.
Finally, it’s time to go. Maren helps Theo with his coat and hat while I go to the front counter to pay the bill. By the time I get back to our booth, everyone is ready to go.
“Oh, why don’t you come with us to paint night next Saturday?” Oaklee says to Maren.
“Paint night?”
“Yes, it’s a totally fun evening, where we paint canvas pictures with the help of an art teacher. It’s at The Tipsy Lizard, Lizzie’s bar,” she informs Maren, referring to Collin’s fiancée and the owner of the bar, Lizzie Meyer.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Maren mutters. “I’d have to talk to my dad and see if he would be willing to watch Theo for me.”
“Papa!”
She smiles down at her son. “Yes, Papa.”
The ladies start talking about the paint night as we walk out the door. Theo’s hand is in one hand and his coloring in the other.
“Cute kid,” Cade whispers the moment we reach the sidewalk.
I glance down and nod. “He is.”
Oaklee turns to Maren. “It was so lovely meeting you. I really hope you’ll consider coming with us next Saturday night. I think you’ll have fun.”
“Thanks, I’ll let you know either way,” Maren says, placing her phone back into her coat pocket after, what I assume, was inputting Oaklee’s number into her device.
“We’ll talk soon,” Oaklee says, stepping forward and pulling Maren into a quick hug.
“Sounds good.”
“Good night, Camden,” Oaklee says with a wave as Cade takes her hand and leads her toward his truck.
“Night, Oaklee. Later, Cade.”
He waves goodbye, leaving us alone on the sidewalk.
“Ready to go?” I ask them both.
“Yep!” Theo replies as Maren nods.
We make our way to Maren’s vehicle, and even though my brother and his fiancée crashed our dinner, I really enjoyed it. It felt natural and easy, and the entire night was a stark reminder of how flawlessly Maren’s life wove into mine.
Then and now.
She just fits.
Her and her son.
And I don’t hate it.