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“It would be nice to have you join us,” I say, my heart pounding in my chest. I haven’t been this nervous around a man in so long. I don’t feel like my usual confident self, and it’s unnerving. “What about Rob, though?”
“Rob will be fine. He was just talking about heading back to the hotel to FaceTime his family, anyway.” Nate reaches out and takes the pumpkin from my arms. I’m so stunned at everything that’s happening, so I don’t stop him. “Lead me to your car.”
I’m in a daze as we walk to the car. Noah talks Nate’s ear off the entire time, telling him his plans for carving his pumpkin as well as what his Halloween costume will be this year. Not only am I surprised by how quickly Noah warmed up to Nate but I’m also surprised by how sweet Nate is being toward Noah. He engages in conversation with him all the way to my car, as well as on the way back.
Mom and I walk behind the two of them. She leans in closer to me and quietly says so only I can hear, “He certainly is handsome.”
I roll my eyes. “Mom.”
“What? I’m just saying.” She smirks. “Very nice, too.”
Not wanting Nate or Noah to overhear us talking, and also not wanting to have this conversation with my mom right now, I don’t reply to her comment. Luckily, we approach the game area, and both Nate and Noah turn around to talk to us.
“Mom! Can we do the corn maze?” Noah asks, his excitement evident as his big blue eyes practically bulge from his little head.
“Oh. Well, I guess,” I reply. He’s never asked to do the corn maze before. Last year, he was afraid of getting lost inside.
“Yes!” he shouts as he pumps a fist in the air. “Come on, Nate. Let’s go!”
Nate smiles as he shrugs at me. “Yeah, come on, let’s go,” he says before turning and following Noah to where the corn maze starts.
Mom and I follow, and she pats me on my shoulder. “We’ll have to talk about this later,” she says with a wink.
Great.
We follow Noah’s lead through the corn maze. Unlike last year, he doesn’t seem to be concerned at all about getting lost. Whenever we come to a dead end, he just turns around and tries another path. After having no luck, and seemingly going in circles for quite a while, Nate convinces Noah to stop.
“Hey, I have an idea,” Nate says, looking down at him.
“What is it?” Noah asks.
“Maybe we should split up into pairs. If one pair makes it out, we can call the other pair and explain the path to take.”
Noah looks thoughtful for a moment, then looks up at me. “Can we do that, Mom?”
I look from Noah to Nate, who’s grinning at me mischievously.
Before I can say a word, Mom speaks up. “I think that sounds like a good plan. Come on, Noah. You can be on my team.”
Mom takes Noah’s hand and looks back at me with a mischievous grin herself.
“That means you’re on my team,” Nate says, taking a step closer to me.
My heart’s in my throat, and I don’t know what to say. All I can do is force a smile through this nervous feeling. I’m still not over the shock of running into Nate. He’s convinced my son to split up into pairs, and now my mom has forced Nate and me to be alone together.
What is happening?
“Does that mean it’s a race?” Noah asks. “Whoever makes it out of the maze first wins!”
“I guess so,” I reply.
“Okay, me and Grandma are going to win!”
Mom laughs. “We’ll try, buddy. And”—she looks at me—“we can track each other on our phones once one of us makes it out. I’ll call you if we get out first!”
I laugh. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll call you if we get out first!” Before I even finish speaking, Noah is leading my mom away. Nate and I are left standing alone in the middle of the corn maze pathway.
“So which way should we go?” he asks.
