Chapter 30
Dave drove toward Beth’s street before he admitted he was going to turn onto it.
He’d spent most of the day at Finley Point dealing with a delivery that had arrived three hours late and a subcontractor who’d somehow managed to read the wrong set of plans. By five-thirty, he was tired, hungry, and more than ready to go home.
At least, that was what he’d told himself. Then he’d remembered Kathleen’s sign outside her café that morning.
Friday Special: Bison Burgers and Huckleberry Pie.
And somehow his truck had ended up two blocks from Beth’s house.
Dave slowed at the intersection. He could go home. There was food in his refrigerator. Not much, but enough to make an omelet. He could watch television, call Mark, and get an early night.
Or he could ask Beth to have dinner with him. His hands tightened around the steering wheel. He’d spent forty years making decisions that involved hundreds of thousands of dollars, complicated building codes, and crews of men waiting for him to tell them what to do.
Apparently, asking a woman to eat a hamburger with him was where his courage ended.
Dave turned onto Beth’s street.
Her truck was in the driveway and the kitchen lights were on. Before he could talk himself out of it, he pulled up beside the curb.
He was halfway to the front door when he wondered whether he should have called first. Maybe Beth already had plans. Maybe she’d eaten. Maybe showing up unannounced after they’d kissed was too much.
He nearly turned around.
Then the porch light came on and the door opened.
Beth stood there wearing jeans and a pale blue sweater. “Dave?”
Too late now. “Hi.” He lifted one hand in greeting.
Her surprised expression became a smile, and just like that, he was glad he’d come.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I was on my way home from Finley Point.”
Beth looked toward the end of the street, then back at him. “You don’t live this way.”
“I know.”
Her smile widened.
Dave shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. “I took a slight detour.”
“A slight one?” Beth leaned against the doorframe.
“About four miles.”
She laughed and opened the door wider. “You’d better come inside.”
The warmth of her house wrapped around him as soon as he stepped through the door. Something smelled faintly of cinnamon, and a pair of reading glasses sat on the table beside an open magazine.
Ordinary things.
For some reason, they made him want to stay.
Beth closed the door. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine.” Dave unzipped his jacket. “I wanted to tell you about the faucets.”
Her expression immediately changed. “Did you talk to the plumbing store?”
“I did. They made a mistake with the order.”
That much, at least, was true now. Dave had spent twenty minutes on the phone with the store manager earlier that afternoon, untangling the paperwork he’d helped create.
“They sent the upgraded faucets instead of the ones on the original order,” he continued. “Because it was their mistake, they’re leaving them where they are. They’ll send you a new invoice for the price of the faucets you originally chose.”
Beth stared at him. “We can keep them?”
“You can keep them,” Dave confirmed.
“And we don’t have to pay the extra eighteen hundred dollars?”
“No.”
Relief swept across her face. “Oh, thank goodness.” She pressed a hand to her chest. “I’ve been worrying about that invoice.”
“I told you I’d sort it out.”
“I know, but eighteen hundred dollars is a lot of money.”
Dave knew that better than she realized.
Beth smiled. “I suppose knowing everyone in town has its advantages.”
He nodded, hoping she changed the subject soon because he felt bad about keeping the truth from her. “It occasionally comes in handy.”
Beth studied him for a moment, amusement dancing in her eyes. “And here I thought you’d only stopped by because you missed me.”
The words were teasing, but the second they were out, something changed in her expression.
Dave’s heart gave one hard beat. “I did.”
Beth went still.
He could have softened it. Made a joke. Instead, he remembered Hank telling him to stop hiding behind work every time he wanted to spend time with Beth.
“I missed you,” he said again, holding her gaze.
A flush warmed Beth’s cheeks. “Oh.”
Dave smiled. “That wasn’t the reaction I was hoping for.”
She laughed softly and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I wasn’t prepared.”
“Neither was I.” For a moment, they simply looked at each other. Then Dave remembered why he’d taken the four-mile detour in the first place.
“Have you eaten?” he asked.
Beth shook her head. “I was going to make soup.”
“Kathleen’s making her bison burgers tonight.”
Beth’s eyebrows rose. “The ones with Swiss cheese and mushrooms?”
“Those are the ones.”
Beth sighed. “That’s unfair.”
“I haven’t got to the huckleberry pie yet.”
Beth put a hand over her heart. “Now you’re fighting dirty. Kathleen’s Huckleberry pie is the best in Montana. I’ve tried replicating the recipe, but it never tastes as good as hers.”
Dave grinned. “Have dinner with me.”
Beth’s smile softened. “At the café?”
“At the café,” he confirmed.
“Are we having dinner as friends?” she asked carefully.
There it was.
A month ago, he would have taken the escape she’d offered. Friends was safe. Friends required nothing he wasn’t certain he could give. But Dave had kissed Beth. He knew what it felt like to hold her. And he’d spent most of the time since then thinking about when he could do it again.
“No, not as friends,” he said.
Beth’s eyes widened slightly.
Dave took a breath. “I’m asking you on a date.”
The silence lasted long enough that he heard every sound in the room. The refrigerator humming. The clock on the wall. A car passing outside.
Then Beth smiled. A real smile. The one he liked the best.
“I’d love to have dinner with you,” she said softly.
Relief hit him with enough force to make him laugh. “Good.”
“Were you worried I’d say no?”
“I wasn’t worried,” Dave told her. “I was terrified.”
Her smile widened. “You didn’t look terrified. Give me five minutes.”
Dave nodded. “I’ll be right here.”
Beth took two steps toward the hallway before glancing over her shoulder. “You’re not going to change your mind, are you?”
Dave shook his head. “Not a chance.”
Beth was still smiling when she left the room, and Dave couldn’t have been happier.