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“All those dinners I had with you growing up are paying off.”
She laughed again and started to turn to walk away. I wanted to reach out and grab her and make her stay, but I knew I just had to wait a few hours until I would see her again.
“I’ll see you this afternoon!” she called.
I watched her walk away for longer than was probably appropriate before I closed the door. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been this excited to have dinner with someone’s family. They were all so lovely and welcoming that I knew it was going to be a phenomenal afternoon.
“Girls,you need to be on your best behavior tonight, alright?”
“What does that mean, Daddy?”
“It means you need to say please and thank you, and not get into any trouble.”
The two girls nodded their heads at me, and I hoped they would follow through on their agreement. Although, with the amount of young children in Skye’s family, I probably didn’t need to worry too much.
We walked down the pathway and across the small courtyard to the chalet next to ours and knocked on the door. When Annie swung the door open, the smell of roasted vegetables and fresh baked bread hit me like a ton of bricks.
“Hello! Come in, come in!” she said as she ushered us inside.
The girls clung to me as we stepped inside the chalet, but I could see their curiosity growing with each second as they heard the sounds of kids playing upstairs. Annie crouched down to their level with a huge smile on her face.
“Girls, the kids are upstairs playing in the bunk room. Would you like me to show you up there?”
They nodded their heads enthusiastically, and each grabbed one of the woman’s hands as she guided them towards the stairs. Just a second later, Skye emerged from one of the back bedrooms.
“Oh, you’re here!” she exclaimed.
“Did you think I wouldn’t be?”
“Well, you never know these days. People flake on plans all the time. I didn’t want to get my hopes up.”
She didn’t want to get her hopes up. She really wanted me to be here? I tried to hide the excitement that was threatening to burst out of me.
“Well, here I am. I would never flake on your family. But I have to say, I have never met someone who makes an entire home-cooked meal on vacation. Especially not on a travel day after being up all night and jet-lagged.”
“You know my mom,” she said with a shrug.
Skye crossed the room towards me and sat down on an armchair next to the fireplace. She pulled a blanket onto her lap, even though it was quite warm in the cabin. Or maybe that was just me. I sat down in the chair opposite hers and smiled over at her.
“Oh! I should have offered you a drink, I’m so sorry. What can I get for you?”
“Don’t worry about it. I can wait until dinner.”
“Well, I think I’m going to have some hot chocolate, and that means you are, too.”
I didn’t bother arguing as she stood from her chair and slipped into the kitchen. When she reemerged a moment later, she was carrying two steaming mugs piled high with whipped cream.
“I hope you don’t mind a little something, um, extra in your hot chocolate,” she said as she handed the mug to me.
“Extra? What do you mean?”
I took a small sip and realized exactly what she was talking about. A bit of alcohol might actually help me relax and enjoy this evening like I wanted to.
“Cheers,” she said as she clinked the edge of her mug with mine.
We pickedup our conversation exactly where we had left it on the plane. Skye had been telling me about the handful of relationships she had been in in the last twenty years, and I listened to every last tale like it wasn’t ripping my heart apart to hear how poorly she had been treated by some of these men.
It was clear that every person she dated was not good enough for her. They were threatened by her success. They were only after her money. They thought they were above her. It was all too much.
