23. Chapter 23
Chapter twenty-three
“Hey, I notice things.”
As Abe lingered between sleep and wakefulness, the prospect of kissing Maggie again brought him fully awake, and he started to sit up.
His pounding head, dry mouth, and upset stomach stopped him, and he lay back down.
Sleep. More sleep might give his body time to recover.
But his bladder wasn’t going to let that happen.
He sat up slowly and rested his hand on his head.
“Morning, sunshine.”
Abe groaned. “No. No sunshine. No morning.” He swung his legs over and sat for a moment, then slowly got to his feet.
“Can I get you something?”
“Pee. I need to pee.”
“First door on the left.”
Abe went to the bathroom. While he washed his hands, he splashed some water on his face, then looked at his reflection in the mirror.
“When did you become such a lightweight?” A wave of nausea hit him, and he took a moment to see if it would be more than that.
It passed, and he left the bathroom and returned to the couch.
Maggie had straightened the blanket, and he dropped onto it with a groan.
“I don’t think I ate dinner last night. I remember feeding Kai…” He shook his head. “I don’t know. I shouldn’t feel this bad.”
“Let me get you some water.” She left him, and he lay down.
She returned with a glass of water and set it on the coffee table.
“What time is it?”
“Eight.”
“So I can sleep some more.”
“Yes, Gentry is opening this morning. He said we can come in at eleven.”
“So, he knows I’m a little…under the weather today?”
“He knows.”
“Did you tell him?”
“No, he called me.”
“Hmm. Justin. If you have a secret, don’t tell Justin.”
“Get some more sleep. I’ll leave you alone.”
“Um…are you going back to bed?”
“I was thinking about it.”
He patted the couch. “Maybe you could…lie here with me.”
Maggie smiled, then lay down next to him. “Cozy.”
“Mmm. Just the way I like it. And you’re perfectly safe. I couldn’t take advantage of the situation even if I wanted to.”
“Abe, wake up.” He groaned and opened his eyes. Maggie was still beside him on the couch, her arm over his, which was hung over her waist. She patted his hand. “Time to get up.”
He moved his arm, and Maggie sat up, then got to her feet. “It’s almost ten.”
“Crap.”
“Do you want to shower?”
He looked up at her. “Yeah, but I’ll take a quick one at home.” He sat and stretched. “I don’t have any clothes to change into, and I don’t want to go to work smelling like honeysuckle.”
She put her hands on her hips. “You know what my shampoo smells like?”
“Of course. Once in a while you change it up and use something that smells like lavender.”
“Wow.”
“Hey, I notice things.”
“Like the way my hair smells?”
“Yeah.” He stretched again. “Not in the creepy way you’re suggesting, though.”
She took his arm and pulled him to his feet. “Not creepy. Really cute.”
“Hmm. Are we about to have that fourth first kiss?”
“Have you decided on four?”
“Yeah. The first night of the storm. The second night of the storm. Then our non-date before our first official date that never happened because…”
Maggie put her arms around his neck. “Sometimes you talk too much.”
He leaned in and kissed her. “Only sometimes?” He smiled. “Once again, I’m reminded of what an idiot I am.”
“You’re not an idiot.”
“Of course I am. If I weren’t, we wouldn’t be having our fourth first kiss. It would be our bazillionth unlabeled kiss.”
“A bazillion kisses. Wow! We have a lot of kisses to make up for.”
“We’ll get to work on that on our second, first official date.”
She shook her head. “This is all getting very confusing.”
He stepped back and tapped his forehead. “I’ve got it all up here.”
“How is your head, by the way?”
“Not too bad.” He put a hand on his stomach. “A little queasy.”
“You should eat something.”
“Not really feeling that yet.”
“Coffee?”
“Definitely not coffee.”
“Water then.”
“I’ll get myself some water. You go get ready to leave. We’re going to be late.”
They left Maggie’s house fifteen minutes later and drove to Abe’s. His mother was still there, and he remained in the truck after Maggie got out. She went to his window.
“Come on. Your mother is the sweetest woman in the world. It’s going to be fine.”
“You’ve never made her mad.”
“I can’t even picture your mother mad.”
He got out of the truck. “It’s more of a simmering disappointment.”
“Ah…well, time to face the music. Do you want me to wait outside?”
He took her hand. “No. I might need backup.”
They went in the front door and found Kai sitting on the living room floor surrounded by large plastic blocks. Abe went to him, and Kai held out his arms.
“Papa.”
“Hey, kid.” He picked him up. “Look at you all better.”
Allie came from the kitchen. “He had a slight temperature this morning, but the Tylenol took care of it.”
Abe turned to her. “Hi.”
She went to Maggie and hugged her. “How are you, sweetheart?”
“I’m great, thanks. I’m glad Kai is feeling better.”
“Would you mind taking him to the room and getting him dressed? His clothes are on the bed.”
“No.” She went to Abe and raised an eyebrow. He nodded, then handed Kai to her. “Come on, sweetie, let's get you dressed.” She headed for the bedroom.
Allie looked at Abe. “You’re going to make mistakes, Abe.
You’re going to make a wrong decision or say the wrong thing.
You’re going to miss something you should’ve seen coming.
Those are things all parents go through.
” She stepped toward him and rested her hands on his arms. “But running away isn’t an option. ”
“I didn’t—”
“I was partly to blame. I should’ve sent you to the backyard or the garage.”
“I just…”
“I love you, honey. Kai loves you. You need to be here for him, no matter how difficult that may seem sometimes.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She hugged him. “Did you eat breakfast?”
“Can’t really eat.”
She looked at him for a moment. “I’ll make you some toast, and you should eat a banana.”
“Mom, really.”
“It will help.”
She headed for the kitchen, and Abe followed her. “I can do the banana.”
Allie picked up a banana and cut it in half. “Start with this.”
The first bite nearly made him gag, and the smell of coffee and Cheerios was unbearably strong.
“Are you okay, honey?”
“Cheerios.”
“Kai had some for breakfast. He likes to put them in his applesauce now.”
Abe set the banana on the counter. “I’ll eat at work.”
Maggie came in with Kai. “Sorry, but you need to take that shower, or we’re going to be late.”
“Right.” He kissed Kai on the cheek and thought about kissing Maggie, but stopped himself. Allie might think they had some crazy night last night when he should’ve been home with his sick son. “I won’t be long.”
The shower helped, and by the time they left for work, Abe felt almost back to normal. Maggie wanted to drive her car, so he followed her in the car he was still borrowing from his parents. He needed to buy something. He’d put it off long enough.
They arrived at work fifteen minutes late, and Gentry seemed perturbed. He scowled at Abe from the prep counter, then motioned toward the three tables of customers. Maggie nodded, set down her things, and went to tend to them.
Abe went into the kitchen area and put on his apron. “Sorry.”
“We have three pickup orders to make. I’ve got two of the three customer orders in the oven.”
Abe looked at the orders. “I’ll get to work on these three extra-larges for the Rotary Club.”
“Check the oven first.”
Abe went to the oven and adjusted the pizzas, then prepared the dough for the order.
Gentry glanced at him. “How is Kai this morning?”
“He’s much better. You’d never know he was sick last night.”
“That’s kids. They bounce right back.”
“Mom said Micah had those seizures when he was younger.”
“He sure did.”
“How did you feel the first time you witnessed one?”
“Nearly crapped my pants. It scared the hell out of me.”
“So, you get it?”
Gentry looked at him for a moment. “I get it.” He carried the pizza he had just made to the oven. “It gets easier.”
Maybe it will. Or maybe some other crazy, scary thing will happen that makes the seizure look like nothing. Maggie smiled at him, and he gave her a nod. If things go as he’d like, he might not have to face those things alone.
Gentry nudged him. “So, we’re back there again, are we?”
“Just put toppings on these damn pizzas.”
“When you’re ready to admit that you guys are a couple, Marti and I would love to have the three of you over for dinner.”
Abe turned to him. “You’ve never once invited me and someone I was…dating over for dinner before.”
“You’ve never dated someone like Maggie.”
Abe was finally hungry by the time his break came around, and he had a cup of chicken noodle soup and some crackers. He was sitting in a booth at the back of the restaurant when Maggie approached him.
“How’s the soup?”
“It’s good. It’s better when I make it, but it’s good.”
“You guys don’t follow a recipe?”
“We mostly do. Gentry just goes a little light on the spices.”
She sat for a moment. “Where are we going to go on our date?”
“You mean our second—”
“Don’t even start.”
“We could wait until Memorial Day. Of course, that would mean sharing it with Kai.”
“I don’t mind that. But that is still five days away.”
“Hmm. You could come over for dinner.”
“When?”
“Um…tonight?”
Maggie smiled. “What time?”
“I put Kai to bed at eight. So, it depends on whether you want to be there for story time or not.”
“Don’t you need to close tonight since Gentry opened?”
“Dammit. I guess Kai is going to bed at nine tonight.”
“Text me when you’re leaving your mom’s and I’ll head over.”
A family came in through the door, and Maggie bent down and kissed Abe. “Back to work.”
He took her arm as she started to leave and pulled her down for another kiss.
She put a hand to her chest. “My goodness, Mr. Buchanan.”
He grinned. “You started it.”