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“I appreciate that.” He turned his hand and gave hers a light squeeze before extracting his and taking a sip of his wine.
“Put my number in your contacts and text me so I can add you and that way I’ll answer.”
“I don’t have my phone on me.”
“Then I’ll put you in mine.” She typed in his name and handed him her phone to enter his number.
Mentioning that he was dating Erin now would make things awkward. Maribelle was sweet, intelligent, and attractive and came off as looking to settle down again; however, he hadn’t thought about her after meeting Erin. Maybe she was offering support as a friend rather than trying to clear all obstacles in her path for him to ask her out. Regardless, he wouldn’t risk things with Erin, even if marriage was off the table with her.
“Should we go inside and fix a plate?” Pete asked when the conversation stalled.
Graham pushed to his feet. It didn’t surprise him that Noelle had picked up a sandwich tray and sides from the PX rather than cook.
They had barely sat back down outside when Maribelle tapped Graham’s arm, then rested her hand there. “I was thinking about what you said regarding other specialties. Daniel thought he needed to follow Kurt into Special Ops. He might be more receptive ifyouencouraged him to consider other areas over some recruiter. I could have you over for dinner. You probably haven’t been getting a whole lot of home-cooked meals lately.” She smiled hopefully at him.
“Actually, the woman I’m dating is a great cook. I’ve put on a pound or two already.” He patted his stomach.
“Oh.” She drew out the word into two syllables, then cleared her throat.
“I can meet up with Daniel at a coffee shop. I don’t want to be an imposition.” Though Maribelle left Graham no choice but to bring Erin up now, he glossed over the semi-veiled invitation in hopes of sparing her feelings.
“It wouldn’t be an imposition since I have to feed two boys already, but I’ll see what he’s comfortable doing.”
Noelle picked up the bottle of wine and moved to refill Maribelle’s glass.
Maribelle waved off the refill. “I need to slow down a bit since I’m driving home tonight.”
“I’m good too,” Graham said when Noelle pointed to his glass. This sudden invitation to dinner smacked of being a setup. Maybe Noelle was trying to sabotage his relationship with Erin. But why? Just because Erin fraternized with enlisted military?
At dinner with the Mahinises, Erin had fit right in, hitting it off with Dianne. He felt like they were a couple in every way. And the longer they were together, the more he wanted them to have a real future.
“I hope you saved room for dessert.” Noelle gathered the empty plates. “You two stay put. We’ll take these plates in and be back out with the cookie assortment.”
Noelle motioned to Pete, who carried the potato salad and condiments into the house.
“It’s nice to see you, Graham,” Maribelle said once they were alone. “I didn’t know you were ready to start dating. I thought you might need more time. If I’d known . . .”
“I wasn’t looking to date. Then I met Erin, and everything changed.” Not quite in that order, though he wasn’t going to explain.
“How long have you two beendating?” She said the word almost as if it were profanity.
“Around two months.”
“Hmm. Then, if you aren’t exclusive—”
“We are at that point in our relationship,” he cut her off.
“Oh. Well, you know what they say in the grief support group about that first relationship after losing a spouse typically being a rebound one that doesn’t last. If things don’t work out, I’d love to be the one you call when you’re ready to try again.”
“I’m, uh, flattered. Have Daniel text me if he wants to get together to discuss different MOS options.” He broke eye contact rather than send the wrong signals.Please come out with the cookies now.Not that he wanted a cookie. It could be that the wine allowed Maribelle to speak her mind more freely, in which case it was good that she’d stopped drinking. However, he was prepared to pull an escape and evade maneuver if she or Noelle tried to make him the designated driver. That could go wrong in so many ways.
ChapterThirty-One
Erin hadn’t even changedthe litter box before Graham knocked on the front door.
“Couldn’t get here sooner?” She teased before offering him a kiss.
“I didn’t want to look too desperate by camping in the parking lot. I also didn’t resort to tracking your phone or task a drone to search for your car.”
