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“Oh,” I muttered.
“He didn’t let me explain. I didn’t know she was his girlfriend. I didn’t even know he was dating anyone, so I definitely didn’t know he was planning to ask her to marry him.”
“Oh, no!” I felt my heart break for them both.
“He broke up with her and hasn’t talked to me since.”
“And just so you know, I’m not a man ho—” He stopped walking and wiped a few tears from his eyes. He let out a little laugh, despite his breaking heart. “Cass, I love my boys more than anything. I loved Meredith, too. I would never do anything deliberately to hurt them. But I managed to hurt my Junior.” He shook his head. “I completely understand if you don’t want to see me anymore. I just hope you understand. It was a horrible mistake and a misunderstanding.”
I reached up and held his cheeks in my hands, looking him in the eyes. “Ray, I understand. It’s okay.”
“No.” He shook his head. “It’s not. My son hasn’t forgiven me.”
“He will. Just give him time.”
He shook his head again but didn’t say anything. I gave him a hug. He cried a little bit, then sniffed. “I’m not a wuss,” he said into my hair.
“Nope, you are definitely not a wuss,” I said into his chest.
“Thank you for listening.”
“You’re welcome.”
We held each other for a bit longer. Ray was the one to let go. “Let’s start walking back,” he suggested. We turned and headed toward the hotel parking lot.
“How many siblings do you have?” I asked.
“Two sisters. You?”
“A brother. He lives in Georgia. So do my parents.”
“Are you originally from Georgia?” Ray asked.
“No, I was born and raised here in Southern Cali. My parents are from Louisiana but moved to California after they married. When they retired, they decided to go to Georgia.”
He nodded. “Do you miss your parents and brother?”
“Yep. It was really hard after the divorce. Aunt Annie was all I had out here.”
“How would they feel about you dating me?”
“They only want me to be happy. My parents really are open-minded. I sometimes wonder if they were hippies in the seventies.”
Ray laughed. “The seventies were awesome.”
I laughed, too.
We reached the hotel parking lot and slipped our shoes on. “Cass…” Ray’s voice was husky.
My heart felt full. “Yes,” I said in an equally husky voice.
“I don’t want to take you home.”
I shook my head and moved closer to him. We hugged again. “I don’t want to go home,” I whispered, looking into his eyes.
He grinned.
“You’re smiling like you believe you’re getting some tonight.” I laughed.
