Chapter Twenty-Two
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Beth could hardly eat all day on Friday, she was so nervous about the date with Sean. She was looking forward to it, of course, but she worried that she was so out of practice that she might mess the whole thing up.
She admitted as much on the phone to Jess, who’d called to wish her luck.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Jess assured her. “You’re just nervous and it’s normal. Sean is a great guy. He’s one of Ryan’s best friends and I’ve met him several times. I have to admit, I may have secretly hoped the two of you would hit it off when I recommended him for your repair job.”
Beth smiled. She wasn’t surprised by the admission. Jess had been overly enthusiastic when she’d suggested Beth call him for the repair work. She hadn’t thought anything of it at the time, though.
“I’m sure it will be fine,” she said.
Jess laughed. “Just relax and have fun. Think of it as being out to dinner with a new friend. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself. If it works out, great. If not, then no big deal.”
“You’re right.” Jess’s advice calmed her somewhat.
“Call me tomorrow to let me know how it went,” Jess said.
“I will.” Beth ended the call and checked her appearance in her bedroom mirror. She’d tried on a few other options, but came back to the blue sweater and jeans that she’d picked out earlier with Riley. She checked her makeup, adding a swipe of rosy pink lipstick and running a brush through her hair one last time.
Sean arrived right on time to get her, at six thirty. Riley was at the inn, handling the wine-and-cheese hour. Beth had offered to help as usual, but Riley didn’t want her to feel rushed and they were only half full this weekend now that the stroll was over.
Sean knocked on the front door and when she opened it, he grinned. She saw the warmth in his eyes and relaxed a little.
“You look pretty,” he said and something shifted inside her. It was a simple thing to say but it had a powerful effect on her. She hadn’t felt appreciated like this in a very long time.
“Thank you. You’re looking sharp yourself.” Sean was also wearing jeans with a navy button-down cotton shirt that looked really good on him.
“I’ll just grab my coat.” Beth looked around and saw it hanging over a chair in the kitchen. She pulled it on, along with her hat and gloves and they headed out. They went in Sean’s car, a big blue truck that he also used for work. The front area where they sat was clean, though, with comfortable leather seats. It didn’t take long to get to the restaurant as there was no traffic in December on the Cape. They chatted easily as they drove. Sean told her about his work week and his latest project.
“It’s a fun one—custom built-in bookcases for a home office and a desk.”
“I didn’t realize you did that kind of woodworking.” Beth was impressed.
“It’s a great time of year for this kind of project because I’m not as busy. I used a dark wood and just finished polishing it up today. It came out pretty sweet if I do say so myself.” She could hear his enthusiasm and love for what he did.
“Did you take any pictures? I’d love to see it.”
He laughed. “You might be sorry you asked. I took a ton of pictures. I’ll show you over dinner.”
They arrived at the restaurant a few minutes later. There was a wait for a table as the restaurant was busy, but there were two open seats at the bar.
“Do you want to have a drink first? We could eat there as well, unless you’d rather wait for a table?” Sean asked.
“The bar is fine.” Depending on the restaurant, Beth was usually happy to eat at the bar and Mahoney’s had a gorgeous one. It was long and made of polished hardwood. The bartender had been there for as long as she could remember. She didn’t go to Mahoney’s often but whenever she did it was almost always the same bartender. As soon as they sat down, he came over and gave them menus and took their drink orders.
“I’ll have a glass of Cabernet,” Beth said.
“Maybe we should get a bottle. I was thinking of having red wine, too.” They decided to try a bottle of Readers, a Cabernet from Washington State. While the bartender opened their wine, he told them about the specials.
“We have a stuffed haddock with Newburg sauce and a veal chop.” He poured a small amount in Sean’s glass for him to taste.
Sean sipped and nodded. “That’s fine. Thank you.”
The bartender filled Beth’s glass and then Sean’s. “I’ll give you some time to look at the menu.”
Beth took a sip of her wine. It was smooth and delicious. She glanced around the room. The restaurant was very busy but she liked the overall feel of the place. It was welcoming and warm with soft lighting, dark wood, and leather seats. She turned her attention back to the menu. There were a lot of seafood dishes as well as chicken and steak. She was tempted by one of the specials, though.
“What do you think?” Sean asked her.
“Everything looks good, but I may go for that stuffed haddock. What about you?”
“That veal chop sounds pretty good, but I think I’ll get the New York strip steak. Any interest in sharing an appetizer? The tuna nachos are always good and the calamari is excellent.”
“I love fried calamari.”
They put their orders in and while they waited for their food, Sean pulled out his phone and showed her the pictures of the office he’d just built. Beth was impressed. His work was beautiful. “I’d always want to work from home if I had that office,” she said.
Sean laughed. “Thanks. I’m pretty happy with it and thankfully, my client is, too.”
The bartender returned a few minutes later and set a plate of lightly fried calamari between them. It had a roasted garlic aioli for dipping. Beth dipped one of the rings into the sauce and took a bite. The calamari was cooked perfectly, nice and tender.
As they ate, they chatted easily about all kinds of things. Beth had worried that there might be some awkward silences but she was thrilled to discover that it was the opposite—they both found themselves rushing to talk and almost finished each other’s sentences twice. Sean was fun to talk to and he made her laugh, especially when he talked about his mother.
“I love her dearly, but she is obsessed with my dating life and constantly tries to fix me up.”
“Did you ever take her up on any of those offers?” Beth asked.
He grimaced. “Twice. Let’s just say she’ll never make a career out of being a matchmaker.”
“I bet she says that the third time will be the charm?” Beth teased.
He laughed. “She does, actually.”
“Did you tell her you were taking me out tonight?”
“No. The less she knows, the better. If she knew, she’d be grilling me for updates. She means well, but I’m too old for that.”
They talked about their kids. He was close to his daughters even though he didn’t see them as often as he would like.
“They’re busy. I know at their age, I didn’t get home much. I’ll be seeing them soon, though.”
“Will they come to Chatham or are you heading off-Cape?” Beth asked.
“My mother and I are heading up to my older daughter, Becky’s house Christmas Eve. She will have a nice dinner that night, and then Christmas brunch the next day. I’ll be back in Chatham by Christmas night. What about you?”
“Similar, but I don’t have to go far. Everyone comes to my place Christmas Eve and Christmas Day we’ll head to my daughter Amy’s house. We’ll have dinner there midday and then a light supper later at the inn. It’s usually a relaxing day. I do most of my work the night before.”
“Do you cook up a storm?” Sean asked.
Beth smiled. “We do a lot of appetizers, shrimp cocktail, cheese and crackers, stuffed mushrooms, and then we usually do a surf and turf, filets and lobster meat with butter.”
“That sounds great. Ours is more casual. Neither of the girls is big on cooking, but they do a great job with takeout. There is an Italian place near them that makes up trays of pasta and antipasto.”
“That sounds really good, too. Not cooking takes a lot of the stress away.”
He nodded. “That’s what they said. It’s all good to me. I just show up and eat whatever they give me.”
When their meals arrived, they were quiet for a minute as they took their first bites. Everything was delicious and they dove back into easy conversation for the rest of the meal and over dessert when they shared a crème br?lée.
The time flew by and Beth was having such a good time, better than she’d expected. They’d shared their relationship stories, too. Beth told Sean about her marriage ending years ago.
“It just didn’t work out. We married young and it was the next step. We were in love at first, but over the years we grew apart. I’ve mostly focused on the girls since then. I’ve dated a little here and there but nothing serious.”
“It’s been similar for me. I married young—in my early twenties. We’d only been dating nine months. And it was fun, at first. We had kids right away, too, and I love them, but it changed things. As the girls got older we realized we just didn’t have enough in common.”
Sean took a bite of crème br?lée and then continued. “I was recently in a relationship that was heading toward being serious. Marcy and I dated for almost a year and she was ready to get engaged. She’d never been married. I wasn’t there yet though, and I’d told her when we started dating that I didn’t know if I’d ever want to get married again. She said she didn’t care about that, but it turned out to be important to her. She gave me an ultimatum and I didn’t want to be forced into something.” He paused and took a sip of water. “I recognized that it wasn’t fair to her if I wasn’t there and didn’t know if I ever would be. So we ended things. I thought it was amicable, but I’m not sure if she would agree.”
“That’s too bad.” Beth smiled. “I’m honestly not sure I ever want to marry again. I did it once and I’m really fine on my own.” Marriage was the last thing on her mind. She didn’t want to get stuck in a bad marriage again. Best to avoid it completely.
Sean grinned. “I’m glad we’re on the same page, then. I think it’s different when you’ve been married before and you know what you don’t want.”
“Exactly,” Beth agreed, as she scooped up another bite of the creamy dessert. She loved the crackle the layer of hardened sugar made as she dipped her spoon into it.
Sean grabbed the bill when it came and waved away Beth’s offer to chip in.
“This is on me. It’s my pleasure.”
“Thank you.”
It was almost ten by the time they arrived back at Beth’s house. She thought about inviting him in, then decided against it as it was their first date. He walked her to her door, though, and she thanked him again.
“This was such a fun night. I really enjoyed it,” she said.
Sean looked pleased to hear it. “Good. Maybe that means you’ll want to do it again sometime?’
Beth laughed. “I’d love to.”
He leaned in and Beth held her breath for a moment. He kissed her sweetly on the cheek. “I’ll call you in a few days and we’ll make a plan. Good night.”
“Good night.” Sean waited until she was inside and she watched out the window as he walked back to his truck and drove away. When she turned around, she saw Riley on the living room sofa, watching TV with Lily on her lap.
“I take it you had a good time? You look smitten,” Riley said.
Beth made her way over to her favorite chair, set her crutches down, and shrugged out of her coat. She collapsed into her chair and smiled. “It was a great night.” She told Riley all about it and as she drifted off to sleep later that night the last thing she saw was Sean’s smiling face. She couldn’t wait to see him again.