Were they friends?
He wasn’t sure she would say that they were, but hopefully after this evening, she would answer in the affirmative. And if she moved in with him and his children, surely they would be good friends. He would try to make sure of it. If he could on his end. Although, he hadn’t considered that maybe she would be bitter about having to live in the house that she used to own as basically a renter who didn’t pay rent.
Thinking that maybe he should have talked to someone before he made such a crazy offer, he realized that the time for getting advicewas over, since she had spotted him, gave him a little wave, and then talked to the woman beside her before she pulled her apron off over her head, hung it up, and waved goodbye.
She came around the counter, and before he knew it, she was standing in front of him.
Chapter Thirteen
Summer took a deep breath and tried to look friendly, not scared. She was nervous, and she couldn’t explain exactly why. He was the one who had propositioned her. She was supposed to be giving a yes or no answer. It wasn’t supposed to be her hoping that he was going to take her.
But still, her hands trembled as she tried to unobtrusively wipe them on her jeans. She’d taken a little extra time with her hair, brushing it until it shone and then ruining the effect by putting it all up in a ponytail for work.
She didn’t know why either. It was silly. She just…wanted to look her best for this man.
“Hey,” she said as she stopped in front of him, offering him half a smile.
“Hey,” he said in return, seeming to be as tongue-tied as she was. Then, almost as though he shook himself, he jerked his head. “Are you off for the night? Want to walk for a bit?”
“Yes. I think the crazy crowds have dissipated some, and Sunny said that if she needed me, she’d text me.”
“All right. Then let’s head out. Did you get supper?” he asked,and she wasn’t sure if he was offering her supper or just wanted to know if he needed to wait while she got something.
“I had a croissant earlier and a cup of tea. I’m good.” She paused, wondering if maybe he was hungry. “Did you eat?”
“Yeah. I had my kids here earlier. We watched the parade. We grabbed a bite before that. Health food, that included funnel cakes and candied apples.”
“Mmm. Fair food. It’s so good.”
“I know, right?” he said, chuckling a little.
They walked along side by side until they reached the edge of town and the last bench.
The crowds were much thinner here. It was just people walking back and forth from where they parked at the swimming pool parking lot, which was closed for the season.
“Is it good to sit here?” he asked, indicating the bench.
“Sure,” she said, having used the walk to try to arrange her thoughts in order. She’d written down a list of things that she thought they ought to have in an agreement between them, but she didn’t really want a lawyer. She wanted just their signatures and their agreement. Maybe that was a dangerous way to do it, but she didn’t like to have a whole bunch of legal mumbo jumbo between her and the people she dealt with. She had to have the kids that she gave therapy to sign a waiver, even though the law in the state of Virginia said that anyone who was working around horses admitted that they were dangerous and they could get hurt, and they would not hold the barn owners liable. Regardless, there still needed to be an agreement, but she kept it as simple as she could.
But she didn’t want to have legal stuff any more than they needed to.
“So, have you been okay the last two days?” he asked, not seeming to know where to start their conversation either. He rubbed his hands together, then clasped them and set them in his lap, before shifting a bit and stretching his legs out and pressing them.
She was sitting far enough away from him that he could put hishand up on the back bench and not touch her at all, and that seemed to be a comfortable position for him. She wanted to squirm, but she made herself sit still, slightly tilted toward him with her hands clasped in her lap, too. She would not give in to these nerves and whatever weird feeling she was having around him. Which she decided had to be mostly gratitude, for the generous offer he had given her.
“I think good. I hope you have too?”
“I have.”
“Did the kids have fun watching the parade?”
“Larissa was disappointed, because she said she’d rather be in the parade riding a horse than watching the parade beside me.”
“Ouch,” she said, wrinkling up her nose, and he laughed.
“Yeah, I guess it was a bit of an insult, but it made me more hopeful that you would say yes to my proposition.”
“Well, yes. But I did think that we probably ought to discuss how it will look. I mean, I can’t just live there and not do anything. And you have rules for your house and that type of thing.”
