Growth.
I carefully set the sunglasses on the edge of the counter to take upstairs and put away later.
“Well, uh…” Nora said quietly, clearing her throat. “Your dinner is ready now.”
She shifted as if she was about to slip past me and head out.
“You don’t have to rush off,” I said. “I know we’ve now had at least two awkward interactions in the short time we’ve seen each other today, but you should at least grab a bite to eat before you leave.”
When she hesitated, I added, “Just stay long enough for dinner.” I reached into the cupboard and pulled out a plate. “I know it wasn’t in the official contract, but your employment package includes three meals a day. So you need to just accept that. You don’t want to argue with a lawyer, do you?”
“Yes, Master,” she said.
Then she froze.
Color drained from her face almost instantly. Clearing her throat, she quickly added, “I mean… yes, boss.”
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep my expression neutral.
Yes, Masterwas… not exactly appropriate.
Nor did it help with the charged-air situation we’d had between us since this morning.
But definitely memorable.
19
THEO
After Nora agreed to stay,I dished up brisket, mac and cheese, and green beans for Charlotte and me while she prepared a plate for herself. Then, since the evening air was too nice to waste, we carried everything out to the patio table to eat.
“Let me just cut your meat real quick, okay?” I told Charlotte before letting her dig into the mac and cheese.
She huffed impatiently, clearly ready to dive into the pasta, but kept her hands on her lap while I cut her meat into thin strips. Then, since my girl had to be bribed into eating meat with a special dipping sauce, I squeezed a big dollop on her plate and hoped her iron levels would be better the next time we went in for a well-child visit.
“So,” Nora said, once we’d all taken in a few bites. “How do you feel things went with Amanda last night?”
“Um…” I hedged, hoping I wasn’t about to have my third awkward conversation with Nora for the day. “It was good.”
“Good?” she asked, like she’d been hoping I’d explainfurther. But when I didn’t, she asked, “Were there any sparks when you dropped her off?”
“Well,” I said, pushing some pasta around with my fork, not sure exactly how to explain. Then, deciding to just be honest, I added. “I’m not sure I really felt any sparks.”
“You didn’t?” She narrowed her eyes like she didn’t believe me. “It looked like things were going well from where I was sitting.”
“Yeah. I mean, we had a good time, I think. But there just wasn’t much of an opportunity for us to discover if there was any real chemistry.”
“Not even when you took her home? Did you at least hug?”
“Oh, no.” I shook my head, realizing she was probably picturing a very different sort of scene than what was possible when we still had kids to pick up. “I didn’t exactly take her home since we both had to get our kids from Lia and Romeo’s place.”
“Oh, that’s right.” She lifted her glass of water and took a sip. “Probably no real doorstep scene then, huh?”
“Nope.” I cut into my brisket with my steak knife. “But that was just fine with me.”
“Not planning on the goodnight-kiss scene on her doorstep?” she asked, scooping up a spoonful of mac and cheese and blowing on it to cool it.
“Yeah, no.”