Cait heard the little bit of hurt in her tone and sighed. “We’re still getting to know each other, so I guess I just don’t want it to be a thing in case it doesn’t work out and then everybody knows.”
“Are you afraid to share being happy with a new love with me because I’m still struggling with losing Duke?”
Cait squirmed, not really wanting to answer that. It had been important to her from the beginning that her mom not feel bad or shamed about her grief, but she also couldn’t deny that it might play a part in how little she’d shared about seeing Gavin.
“I want you to be happy, Cait. I want you to fall madly in love and make a home and a family. I lost your dad and I lost Duke, but I wouldn’t trade the years I had with them for anything. I want you to...” The words trailed off into a sob, but instead of coming undone, she took a deep breath and continued. “Will I get to meet him soon?”
“Actually, he wants to take all three of us out to dinner tomorrow for Valentine’s Day.”
“Was that his idea or yours?”
“It was his. He wants to meet you and it’ll make the day more special.”
Tears shimmered in her mom’s eyes, but they didn’t fall. “That’s so sweet. But I don’t want to intrude on your date. It’s a day for romance.”
“I want you to go out with us, Mom. And so does he.”
She smiled. “I guess you can always have dessert privately after dinner.”
“Mom!” Cait laughed. “That might be part of the plan, yes.”
“I love how happy you look lately, so I definitely want to meet this young man. And it’ll be nice to have an occasion to dress up a little.”
Cait grimaced, which made her mom laugh. She hadn’t considered the dressing-up part. She and Gavin were perfectly happy going through life in jeans and sweatshirts or sweaters, but her mom was right. Valentine’s Day dinner out was an occasion for a little bit of glamour.
She just hoped she had something in her closet that didn’t look like she was going to a funeral or holding a bride’s flowers.
Chapter Thirteen
Jeff barely let Gavin get in the door before he brought up the accident. “Hey, Boudreau, I saw you on the news last night.”
He’d been expecting that. Even if not a single guy on either crew had watched the news, Scott’s wife had responded to the scene, so he knew. And what he knew,everybodyknew.
“It could have been a lot worse,” he said. It was a pretty standard response for anybody talking about an accident with no fatalities, but the sentiment behind it had cost him some sleep last night.
It could have been worse. He could have been unable to stop and plowed into the rolling car. Cait could have been the one in the neck brace with a shard of glass in her thigh.
His stomach rolled and he tried to shake off the what-ifs.He was usually good at that, since it was a useful skill in his line of work, but too many scenarios had tormented him as he lay in his bed in the dark.
“Jamie said he was playing the EMT’s assistant when she got there,” Scott said, obviously trying to get a reaction out of him.
“She had it all under control,” was all he said, refusing to rise to the bait.
He had to retell the story several times as they did their equipment and apparatus checks before moving on to some housekeeping chores. He’d just finished stowing the vacuum when Rick Gullotti reached past him into the storage closet for the broom and dustpan.
“So you and Cait are a pretty steady thing now, huh?”
“We seem to be, I guess.”
“I’ve gotta be honest with you. I didnotsee that coming.”
Gavin laughed. “Trust me, neither did I.”
“Got plans for the big day tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I’m taking her and her mom and brother out to dinner.”
Rick’s eyebrows shot up. “So you’ve already met the family and you’re doing family dinners?”
