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A slow grin spread across his face. He knew, he felt it. He did the same to her, his eyes moving over her body and then landing on her light blue eyes. Her brownish red hair was down and flowing around her shoulders. It looked soft and silky and he wanted to reach out but wouldn’t.
“So do you,” he said.
“Why don’t we go to dinner? I’m kind of on the clock and hate that.”
“Not a problem,” he said. “I’m sure you’d rather Josie doesn’t know about this.”
“Actually,” she said. “I wasn’t thinking along those lines. At least the way you might think.”
She moved and put Betty in her crate, then grabbed her purse and followed him to his SUV. “What were you thinking?”
“That if Josie knew I was with you, she wouldn’t want to go to art lessons and would rather be with us.”
“Is that a bad thing?” he asked. He’d never had that happen before, but he’d never dated anyone that had a child before either.
“No,” she said. “But I find that I want to be a little selfish right now and get to know you without Josie around.”
“I know she has to come first,” he said. “That’s why I waited to reach out.”
“I could have reached out too,” she said. “I started to think you moved slowly and didn’t want to pressure you.”
“I do move slow. Seems you are too. Doesn’t mean we have to feel awkward about reaching out though,” he said. “I’m always around and will reply back when I can. During the day is hard.”
“You’re telling me,” she said. “I’m glad we are talking about this. I’ll see my messages at the end of the day or on breaks at work, but most know if it’s an emergency to reach me they have to call the clinic. At night if Josie is busy or in bed is when I try to get back to people.”
“The same,” he said. “I don’t have time to text nonstop with people.” He’d dated women in the past that would blow his phone up and wonder why he wasn’t returning their messages. They weren’t for him.
“When you get home you’ve got to clean up and take care of your dogs.”
“Among other things,” he said. “Thanks for understanding. Not many get it.”
“I’m a vet. I understand that your pets are your family.”
For once he didn’t feel internally like an idiot or that he was being judged over that.
He parked at the restaurant he’d decided on. Not one that was owned and operated by a family member or where he’d worry that a family member would see him.
Which meant nothing on this island, but he would at least try for now.
They were seated right away. It was more a pub style and they ordered their drinks fast.
“How does Josie like school?” he asked. “I’m sure it’s much smaller than what she is used to.”
“You went to school on the island, right?” she asked.
“I did. There are two elementary schools now on the island. One closer to the north end which is where Josie has to be and one closer to the south end. The middle school and high school are more in the center and two separate buildings now. The middle school was my elementary school back in the day. The high school served as both middle and high. There are a lot more kids on the island now.”
“It’s nice that she isn’t on the bus as long by having the two elementary schools. She isn’t used to riding a bus either and I am worried about that. But I don’t know anyone else to set up to pick her up or bring her home and it’s not like I can do it. I suppose I could have one of my staff do it, but that doesn’t seem right either.”
“We didn’t ride the bus,” he said. “My mother would bring us and pick us up and if she couldn’t, my father left to do it. Classes weren’t that big and everyone knew everyone else.”
“Josie said it’s great having smaller classes. There is one third grade and there are twenty-eight kids in it. So I’d think if the other elementary has the same, that’s not too bad. It’s a very small graduating class though.”
“More than I had,” he said, grinning. “She’s so friendly, I’m sure she’s making friends fast.”
“She is. One little girl she has bonded with quickly. Adele Young. Being new to the island, she was pretty vocal about how the move came about and who I am. Adele told her her mother passed away when she was little too. I think Josie needed to see that in her life.”
“Adele’s father, Seth, is married to my cousin,” he said.
