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“What do you do then?”
“If I want to see people, I go to Oceanside. Barnacle Ben’s.” She decided it was a topic she needed to get out of the way. It might get back to him that she was a barfly, and if he had to know about it, it was better that the information came from her.
“I think it’s nice that you have a place to go,” he replied.
“It’s not Cheers, where everyone knows your name,” she said. “I have several close friends who hang out there. Devon was one of them, but I don’t think he’ll be doing that again anytime soon.”
“Yeah, Devon is definitely in denial about his injuries.” Charlie didn’t say more; the confidential nature of being the boss was important to him. Plus Devon was proud in the extreme. “This is probably a good time for me to mention that I won’t be sharing any details of our dates with Devon.”
“I’m glad. If this goes anywhere, I’ll appreciate the discretion.”
They arrived at the house, and introductions were made between Tilly and Charlie’s dogs. They hiked around the property and then the rain began to fall in earnest.
“Let’s get back to the house,” Lila cried, running.
Back in her mudroom, she laughed as water dripped off her nose. They toweled off the dogs and themselves and went inside.
“Are you coffeed out?” she asked, moving around her kitchen.
“Not at all. I drink it all day until my teeth are chattering.” His eyes swept over the house. “This is nice. It reminds me of the old California ranches.”
“That’s what it is. Mid-century modern. My folks never did any renovations, so it’s exactly the same as it was in nineteen sixty-five when the original owners built it. It works for me. Someday I might have the cabinets refinished.”
“They look good. I like the woodwork a lot.” He took a cup of coffee from her. “You have a wonderful view, too.”
“When it’s clear, you can see all the way to the ocean. Today it’s all fog. But I like the closed-in feeling. Sometimes on sunny days, I feel like I might fall off the edge of the cliff. I have to close the drapes. It’s the weirdest feeling.”
“I don’t have a view. I’d trade my place for a place like this any day. Plus it’s closer to the station.”
Lila smiled at him, realizing he probably didn’t get it that he’d pretty much just let her know he’d live with her if invited. “I’d rather live in Rancho Santa Fe. Do you want to trade places?”
“That would defeat the purpose though, wouldn’t it? I mean, if we want to be together.”
There was a tint of red on his cheeks, and that amused Lila. He was already thinking ahead. She’d go along with it. “Right, if we want to be together.”
Their first date ended up lasting until eleven that night, twelve hours of perfect compatibility. When he finally dropped her off at her car parked in San Elijo, he was concerned about her driving up that mountain alone.
“I do it all the time, remember,” she said. “No worries.”
They were in his car, and with the center console in the way, he didn’t feel comfortable leaning over to snatch a kiss, so he got out and walked over to her car with her.
They did kiss, but it was a friendly kiss only, not a passionate kiss that might lead to more if given the opportunity. He felt like she was eager to get in her car and get home, so he didn’t linger.
“I’ll text you later, just to make sure you got in that gate okay.” Already starting to worry, it didn’t help when she’d said she did it all the time. Did she get out of her car at midnight to open the gate? What was it like when Tilly wasn’t there, no dog to alert her to uninvited guests? “Stop it, Saint,” he mumbled, climbing into his car.
He sat there and waited until she pulled out of the parking lot, waving to him. The rear lights of her car zigzagged up the dirt road, finally out of sight. He wondered if he should have offered to follow her back up. He decided to take the long way home, around San Marcos instead of the dirt road down into the Ranch. Then the thought passed through his mind, You might be getting too old for this.
