“Have you not told him about this date?”
He stiffly shook his head.
“Why not?”
Felix scratched his cheek with a gloved finger. “It didn’t come up.”
“But will it soon?”
Felix spared a glance at me. “I wasn’t ready to have the ‘Dad is dating again’ talk this morning.” He put both hands on the wheel. “But I will soon. I promise.”
I smiled to myself. “Does that mean you’d like a second date?”
“I, uhm… yes.”
“Great. Call me crazy, but I’ve got a good feeling about this.” I reached over and gave Felix’s thigh a quick squeeze.
Glorious muscles….
It started snowing on the way to the hub of Lancaster. Big fat snowflakes stuck to the windshield, and Felix had to turn the wipers on. He parked alongside the street, and a few doors down from Eatery was the aptly named Main Street Café. As we got out of the car, a huge orange plow rumbled down the road, dropping salt as it passed.
“It’s barely started snowing,” I protested through the folds of my scarf.
Felix glanced over his shoulder before joining me on the sidewalk. “Preemptive. It’s supposed to storm overnight.”
“I guess I have to start paying more attention to the weather up here, huh?” I put an arm around Felix’s waist as we walked to the front door, and he didn’t get stiff the way other guys did when they’d have preferred to be the one doing that.
Felix tugged off his winter cap as we stepped inside, then combed his fingers through his brown hair. I noticed the edges around his ears were sprinkled with gray. His whiskers matched, which I thought made him even more appealing. He held up two fingers at a passing waiter, who pointed us toward a corner booth. We seated ourselves, and as I struggled free from my winter gear, piling it beside me, I watched Felix out of the corner of my eye. He’d hesitated, rubbing the fabric of his scarf between two fingers before he finally decided to remove it and the jacket. He didn’t remove his gloves until the waiter had swung back around with menus and two glasses of water.
Felix cleared his throat, holding the menu with his left hand while keeping his right tucked out of view. “The pizza is good,” he suggested, breaking the silence. “But you’re from New York, so you may have a difference of opinion.”
I laughed and motioned with my hands. “If it’s not as big as my face and dripping with grease, I want no part of it.”
“That doesn’t sound very appetizing.”
I mock gasped and put a hand to my chest. “You’re not one of those deep-dish pizza lovers, are you?”
“No, no. If I want something the size of a casserole, I’ll make casserole,” Felix insisted. He smiled at me, and it was heart-achingly sweet.
I held up the menu, scanning it briefly. “Well… what the hell. I’ll try it if you share with me.”
“Can’t eat six slices on your own?” Felix asked, and I dare say he was teasing.
“Well, I can, but I’m watching my figure,” I answered, winking.
We placed our food and drink order with the waiter upon his return, and then Felix settled back in the booth.
“What now?” I asked.
His eyebrows rose, and then he shook his head. “I keep staring, don’t I?”
“A little.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
“I keep replaying in my head how we ended up here,” Felix said. “What’re the chances of meeting, you know?”
