“So, how about I pick you up at about nine on Saturday?” Nate suggested.
“That sounds good,” she replied. “Are you okay to pick me up from here? That way, I can set up the kids in the morning and leave my car here.”
Nate nodded, though he was a little bit disappointed at missing out on seeing her apartment, but hopefully, that would happen sometime soon. What did sound good to Nate was spending the whole weekend with Tamara. He’d tried to stop thinking about her. He’d tried thinking about her simply as a friend. Yet the truth was that friendship wasn’t the only thing he wanted. Nate couldn’t stand by and let the opportunity to be with Tamara slip through his hands. He was going to borrow a leaf from Travis’s and Daniel’s books and just be patient.
The stupid part of it was that he was fairly sure Tamara felt the same way. Everything she’d said in the last few days, everything she’d done, had suggested that she would love to be with him. If only she would allow herself to consider the possibility. It wasn’t just that one kiss. They’d come close to another kiss again last night. They were both working hard to stay just friends, but it was getting harder every time they spent more time together.
Nate knew she was scared by the possibility, which meant that he needed to be careful, but he also needed to start being honest with himself. He’d seen Zach and Yuriko, and he knew how good things could be. He knew that a relationship with Tamara was what he wanted, all he wanted. He needed to start finding ways to show her that it was possible and that it could work despite what had happened to her in the past.
This weekend away was the best chance he had. The two of them, in a beach house together, at a wedding. Not to mention they were going to do their best to convince his family that they were a couple. Nate was determined to find a way to take that pretense and turn it into something real.
Chapter Nine
On Saturday morning, Tamara was standing outside her café, ready to go and waiting for Nate. Apart from a surprisingly big bag for a weekend away, she was holding two large coffees.
“Looks like you’ve packed for a week, not the weekend,” Nate said, laughing as he heaved her bag into the trunk of his car.
“I just want to be prepared for every eventuality,” Tamara said. “I hate not having everything I want, and I wouldn’t want to embarrass you by not wearing the right stuff. As your ‘girlfriend,’ I have to make a good impression.”
“I’m sure you are going to look great whatever we’re doing,” Nate assured her as he accepted one of the coffees. “And there is no way you could embarrass me. That’s not going to happen.” Tamara always looked perfect no matter what she was doing. She had a great sense of style. Today, for the drive down, she was wearing a light cotton dress in pale yellow, with hints of a leaf pattern along the hem. “The only person causing any embarrassment this weekend might be me. Well, me and most of my family.”
“You’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about,” Tamara assured him. “I think we know one another well enough for that not to happen.”
“Tell me that once you’ve met my parents,” Nate replied with a smile.
The thought that he would be introducing Tamara to his parents really hit him then, and the nerves followed right behind. How would they react to her? Would they like her? Would they ask too many personal questions? Nate could have laughed. These were the kinds of considerations that would apply only if they really were a couple. He should be worrying about whether his family would believe that the two of them were actually a couple. And although he and Tamara had come up with this ruse so that he wouldn’t be hassled by family members wanting to hook him up, he realized he really did want his family to believe in their romance.
“Well, I guess we should hit the road,” Nate said as he opened the door for Tamara. “The traffic will have died down a bit by now.”
The drive to San Diego would take a couple of hours at least. Nate had made the trip plenty of times before to see his family, to go to their various weddings, and, of course, for things like Thanksgiving and Christmas. He planned to use the driving time to really get to know Tamara better. He was going to do everything he could to woo her, although that word made it sound old-fashioned, like something out of an Austen novel. Still, he wanted to impress her and make sure she had a good time.
In any case, he’d made a couple of preparations for this journey, and he told Tamara to look in the glove compartment.
“You packed Danish pastries!” Tamara said with obvious excitement as she opened the bag. He knew they were her favorites and had been hoping for this kind of reaction.
“I didn’t want you getting hungry on the way,” Nate said, although he had other plans to avoid that. “Also, there is extra coffee in the thermos in the back. I figure if you have to put up with my relatives for the weekend, the least I can do is make sure you’re well fed.”
Tamara gave him a wide smile, and he pulled out onto the road. They followed the coastal highway going south, and it was a gorgeous day for a drive. Nate put Tamara in charge of the A/C and the radio. In her shop, Tamara mostly played the more obscure side of pop, with plenty of ’80s love songs mixed in. Nate was easy when it came to music, and he was happy to let Tamara choose.
They talked about their favorite bands and the last concert they had been to. Between the two of them, their musical interests covered many genres, and their musical tastes also crossed over.
After a few minutes, Nate asked, “Tamara, is there any kind of music you don’t like?”
She thought for a minute and said, “Just one— barbershop quartets!” They laughed at that, and Nate had to agree with her.
As the miles rolled by, a comfortable silence filled the car, and Tamara’s music choices turned out to be perfect.
Nate found himself thinking about the beautiful woman sitting beside him. She was so easygoing and friendly, and he loved talking to her about anything and everything. The chemistry between them was electric, but she also made him laugh. With her great sense of humor, he was pretty sure that if anyone could cope with his family, Tamara could. All of this convinced Nate that winning her over was the most important thing in his life. And the more he thought about it, the more he couldn’t imagine the rest of his life without her. Just being friends was not enough, and Nate knew he was crazy if he thought he’d be able to persuade himself otherwise.
He just needed to show her that he was worth the risk and help her overcome the way she’d been treated in the past. It might be a challenge, but Nate was going to do everything he could to make Tamara realize that they could be more than just friends. He’d already put some things in place to make her feel special this weekend. To start, he’d called one of Kate’s florist contacts to arrange for a bouquet of forget-me-nots to be delivered to the beach house before they arrived. Tamara had once mentioned that the small purple blooms were her favorite, and the detail had stayed with him. How could he ever forget anything about her?
“You’re doing a lot of thinking,” Tamara said. “What has you so preoccupied?”
“I’m just thinking about where to stop along the way,” Nate said, because he couldn’t tell her what he’d really been thinking about without ruining the surprise. “Have you been down this route before?”
Tamara shook her head. “I mostly take the I-5 when I go south. I guess because it is faster. Do you always take the coast road?”
Nate shrugged. “Well, it’s a little bit slower than the interstate, but it’s way more beautiful. I thought we might stop in a while and take in the view.”
