AllFreeNovel
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Dinner at the rectory sure in hell would’ve been the safer choice but once she opened the door, and I saw her smiling face, I didn’t want to play it safe tonight.
“Flowers for me?” she said, beaming.
I handed them to her and she said, “Well you better come in then so I can put them in a vase first. It’s been so long since I’ve gotten any that I don’t want them to die while we’re out.”
In some sick way, it pleased me to hear that receiving flowers wasn’t an everyday occurrence. Yet it also shocked me. She’s the type of woman that deserves them. Why wasn’t she being showered with them?
One thing we’ve both avoided talking about is our past relationships. We had a drive ahead of us, and I easily could broach the topic, but why ruin a perfectly good night with hearing her talk about some other guy? If we continued to date, I’m sure eventually we’d discuss them.
She returned and said, “I’m ready and really excited now.”
“Why is that?” I asked.
Danielle pointed. “You brought the Mustang.”
“Let me guess, you want to drive,” I said.
“No. I can enjoy the feel of it from the passenger’s seat just fine.”
It didn’t take us long to get on the road, but I opted for taking the long way, using the back roads instead of the highway. I wasn’t in a rush for us to get out of the Mustang. Here I have her all to myself.
“How did your meeting go today?” she asked.
“Not the way I wanted, but I’ll keep working at it,” I said.
She reached over and placed her hand on mind. “Robert, it always seems impossible until it’s done. You’ll figure it out. And if I can be of any help, just ask. I’m only a phone call away.”
I lifted her hand to my lips and kissed her delicate fingers. “I’m glad you’re a lot closer than that tonight.”
She smiled, and I continued to hold her hand until it was time to shift gears. That was the one drawback from a manual transmission, but I couldn’t picture having a Mustang any other way.
“Oh, Robert, look.” I had no idea what she was pointing at until she added. “Ice cream. And it’s on a cow farm. I bet it’s made with their own milk,” she said, her tone filled with excitement.
How could I not pull over now? I turned onto the bumpy dirt driveway and down to the barn shaped store. We went inside and found it was a lot more than just ice cream. They carried a wide variety of desserts, many with real whipped cream. I knew instantly that this stop wasn’t going to be grab a quick cone and leave. She was standing and just eyeing the menu.
“It all looks so good, but I don’t see any grapenut pudding,” I said from behind her.
She turned and smiled at me. “I have leftovers at my house that you can have when you bring me home. But right now, I’m looking at the strawberry shortcake.”
“Are we sharing?” I asked.
She wrinkled her nose and said, “Are you getting a different dessert and we share both?”
I chuckled. “We could do that.” I looked at the menu and really didn’t care what we got as long as I was eating it with Danielle. “How about a piece of the black forest?”
“Oh, that does look good too. Chocolate cake with cherry filling and fresh whipped cream. I think you should definitely get that one,” she said.
I placed the order and grabbed us some coffees too. The woman said she’d bring it out to us. We went outside and found a gazebo off to one side with a wooden swing inside. “How about we snag that spot while waiting?” I asked.
“It’s not the ocean, but it really does look inviting,” she replied.
A cool breeze kicked up and I said, “I have a blanket in the truck. You go sit and I’ll grab it for us.”
She took the coffees and I jogged over, got the blank and headed back to her. The swing was large enough to hold four, but she’d sat close to the middle, a hit for us to sit close together. I parked my ass down and opened the blanket to cover our legs. Then she handed me my coffee. The woman walked over with our desserts and told us that they would be closing, but to feel free to stay and enjoy the swing for as long as we wanted.
We shared the desserts which were huge and filling, but it also took the place of dinner. I collected the trash and said, “Wait here, I’ll dispose of this and be right back.”
“Are you sure you want to stay? I mean yesterday you sounded like you really wanted to be by the ocean.”
