“Well done, Dorian,” Robbie said. “We’ll be cheering you on. Silently of course. We’re not going on the date with you.”
“I think that’s best,” I said, deadpan, knowing of Robbie’s tendency to take things at face value.
Tyler looked behind me. “There’s my mom coming to pick us up.”
I turned to see Seraphina pull into the parking lot. The boys went to grab their backpacks they’d left on a grassy area in front of Mario’s.
I went over to say hello to my favorite writer. She rolled down the car window.
“Hi, Dorian. Beautiful night, isn’t it? I was writing and almost missed it entirely.”
She had her canary yellow sweater, which told me how focused she’d been before leaving to pick up the boys.
“Summer in Willet Cove. Can’t beat it,” I said. “Hunter still in Nashville?”
“Yes, but he’s home in a few days. Thank goodness. I miss him terribly.”
“It’s nice to have someone to miss.”
“Yes, it is,” Seraphina said.
“I have a date with Delphine tomorrow night.”
She smacked her hand on the steering wheel. “Finally. Gillian texted you were at Annie’s game.”
“Then we went to pizza and I somehow convinced her to let me take her on a date.”
“I’m so happy to hear this,” Seraphina said.
I pressed my left hand into the top of the car. “You have a good kid.”
“I think so too.”
The boys were upon us now, getting into the back seat.
I tapped the top of the car. “You all have a great night.”
“You too,” Seraphina said. “And I’ll come by to talk about the signing. Probably the day after tomorrow. That way I can hear about the date.”
“Looking forward to it.”
I walked back to my car, standing for a moment to watch them pull out of the lot, amazed by the turn the evening had taken. I might be getting in way too deep, but my mother hadn’traised a coward. I had to try. Because I already knew how I felt. What had started out as attraction had grown toward a real friendship. One I hoped, over time and with a little patience on my part, would blossom into something neither of us could walk away from.
12
DELPHINE
The evening of my date with Dorian, Annie was sitting cross-legged on my bed when I came out of the bathroom wearing just my robe.
“Hey, honey, what’s up?”
“I thought you might want help picking out what to wear,” Annie said.
“He said casual, so I’m thinking just jeans and a blouse.”
“It might get cool later, so you should bring a sweater. Casuals my thing, but you never miss with a touch of practicality.”
My Annie. Fifteen going on forty.
