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As Seth brought us home, disappointment thrummed through me. I didn’t want it to be over yet. I wanted more time with him, reading thankful notes to each other and just talking. But I guess the date had to end at some point.
“What’s wrong?” Seth asked as he turned off his truck.
I glanced at the house. “I’m not ready for our date to end.”
Seth broke out into a massive grin. “Good, because it isn’t over yet.”
“Really?” I raised an eyebrow at him.
“Nope. We’ll get the tree set up and watered, and then we need to eat dinner. There isn’t a date without dinner.” He jumped out of his truck and came around.
After helping me down, he held my hand as we went inside.
“So, we’re going to put it in the living room.”
“Are we decorating it?” I asked.
“Toby and Paxon would murder me if I decorated the tree without everyone, so we’ll have to wait until after Thanksgiving, when I get back. We’re just going to get it set up really quickly. I’ll need your help. Then we eat.”
Moving a massive, eight-foot tree turned into a pain in the ass, but one that left me laughing. Seth had failed walking backwards and managed to land on his ass. And then when we were trying to get it into the tree stand thingy, it tilted and trapped him in the corner.
I loved it and Seth took it all in stride.
“Damn, finally. I swear that tree was trying to assassinate me.” He playfully glared at the tree.
I laughed as I stared at it too. There was still plenty of room for the tree topper.
“Now, we can enjoy dinner. First, close your eyes.”
Doing as he said, I smiled when he took my hand and led me around. We stepped into the backyard from my guess and I shivered as a light cold breeze went by.
Then the breeze was cut off and there was a sound, like rustling. Something was crackling and warmth hit my skin.
“Give me a minute,” Seth mumbled, a little further away from me. I listened to him rustle around for a little bit. Something about the situation made me want to giggle as I tried my best to not peek at what he was doing. “Okay, open.”
I did and gasped.
We were definitely in his backyard, in the small open area just past his pool, but he had redecorated it. We were in a large, black party tent, with one side opened to a firepit. A table sat in the middle, already set up with candles, a cup, and silverware. Small, white fairy lights decorated the entire space, not just the tent, but the surrounding trees too, making me feel like I was stepping into a scene out of a fantasy book.
Seth grabbed a lighter and lit the two candles.
“Candlelit dinner?” I asked. “That’s super fancy.”
“You deserve super fancy,” he said with a grin. “Get comfortable. I’m going to go grab our dinners.”
I did as he said, letting the crackling fire distract me. Between the warmth from it, the soft sounds, and the light, I was put into a daze, my thoughts calm. This was probably one of the nicest things someone had ever done for me. Setting this up couldn’t have been easy. And I never noticed either. It explained why he insisted I get ready at my house. He did say he wanted to do everything, including driving to my house to pick me up. I just didn’t think it was also because he was trying to surprise me like this.
I hadn’t even known he had a fire pit. The huge pentagon-shaped steel contraption sat sturdily in the yard, the fire blazing bright.
“Here we are,” Seth said and placed a plate covered with a steel dome in front of me and put another in his spot. He sat down across from me.
I grabbed the lid of mine as he did the same with his.
“Bon appétit,” he said, lifting his. I did the same.
Thanksgiving dinner.
I laughed, staring at the turkey, ham, stuffing, scalloped potatoes, and green beans. There was even a small bowl of gravy just for me. And a buttery dinner roll.
“You could have just told me you wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving with me,” I said, feeling playful.
“Turning it into a date was even better,” Seth replied. He dumped his gravy over all his food. I kept my gravy to the turkey and stuffing.
“This is amazing,” I said softly.
“Just save room for dessert,” Seth said as he filled our glasses with ice water. He also added two smaller mugs to the table and uncapped a canister. He filled both our drinks with something else.
“Apple cider?”
“Mulled apple cider. Made by yours truly. I’ve been messing around with different flavorings, and this one was my favorite.” He attached a slice of orange to the rim of the mug. “Enjoy.”
I lifted the mug and took a tentative sip. It was hot, but not too hot, so I took a bigger drink, enjoying the spiced flavors as they danced on my tastebuds.
“This is delicious,” I said.
Seth’s grin was infectious, his dark eyes lit up with happiness. “Thank you.”
Everything Seth made was absolutely delicious. We kept the conversation light as we ate and it wasn’t long before I was too full to move.
“I told you not to get full.” Seth laughed. “We still have dessert.”
“It’s okay. My dessert stomach is ready.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.” No, but I wasn’t about to say no to dessert made by Seth.
“All right. Well, digest a little and I’ll go get it. Be back in a minute.”
“Mmhmm.” That was all I could muster.
Laughing, he collected our dishes and disappeared back into the house. I sipped at my second cup of the mulled apple cider, still in love with how all the flavors worked together to make me feel like I was drinking autumn. It wasn’t just apples that I tasted, but also oranges, and the cinnamon, and something else making the drink feel cozy.
I licked my lips, separating the flavors. Cloves. That was cloves.
Seth came back out with smaller plates this time, but still covered with small metal domes like the first time.
He served us and sat down. We both grabbed the lids again and then pulled them up together.
I laughed as I looked down at the small bowl.
“Apple crisp?” The bottom looked to be an apple mixture. There was even a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and it was all topped with pecans and what looked like a caramel sauce.
“The only true desert of Thanksgiving.”
“Not a pie?”
“No, not a pie.”
I giggled and grabbed the big spoon on the plate and then made sure to scoop up a little everything. As soon as I put it in my mouth, I moaned.
It was so good. Hot and cold clashed together, filling my mouth with sweetness. The apples were still crisp enough and everything blended rather well together.
“You are a god in the kitchen,” I said and ate another scoop.
“I try.”
“You should become a chef.”
“Hell no. I’m reserving my genius cooking skills for loved ones only. I have no interest in feeding strangers. I’d start hating it.”
“Fair enough. I’m a little jealous.”
“Don’t be. I’m more than happy to keep you overly fed. And your talents are elsewhere.”
“You can’t keep feeding me like this,” I said. “I think I’ll need to roll myself inside. I’m so full now.”
“I told you not to overeat.”
“Well, who told you to cook good food? Next time add too much salt to something and I won’t devour it all.” I shifted in my seat. “Oh, I think the turkey finally settled in.” I groaned, my stomach feeling like it was going to burst.
“We better get you settled before you slip into a food coma.”
“Mmm,” I said as I rubbed my stomach.
Seth pulled me to my feet and led me inside.
“I don’t want today to end,” I admitted. Everything had been perfect. A date I never would have imagined.
“Then it won’t. Cuddle with me?”
I refused to let my thoughts hold me back, so I nodded. Seth brought me to his room, where he pushed me into his bathroom. “Get changed. I’ll be right back. Need to clean up real quick.”
“Let me help.”
“No. Here.” He shoved clothes into my hands. “Change and I’ll be right back.”
He closed the door and disappeared. I slowly changed, too full really to move. My skin felt hot as nerves settled through my body. I was on the verge of thinking too much, but I didn’t want to do that.
Not tonight.
Not with Seth.
I ran the water in the sink until it turned warm and then washed my face, hoping it’d wake me up. It helped a little. The reflection of the mirror showed me the shirt, and I laughed and looked down at it.
It was a red shirt with a decorated Christmas tree on it. It said ‘Put your balls on me.’ I could only imagine what Seth was going to put on. I pulled up the matching checkered pants, tying the strings to keep it from falling. It was only a little big on me. Obviously, Seth bought this specifically for me.
A small gift.
I smiled, feeling the soft warm fabric.
How could someone be so considerate like him?
I took in a deep breath, trying to steady my heart as my stomach went from being overly full to feeling like butterflies fluttering around.
“Cadence, are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I croaked out. I grimaced as I cleared my throat. “I’m good.”
I opened the door to see a worried looking Seth. Then I took in what he was wearing and broke out laughing hard enough for my sides to hurt.
We really were wearing matching outfits, except his shirt was green with ornaments dangling off the words ‘We’re orna-meant to be.’
“Like it?”
“Amazing,” I said, stepping out of his bathroom.
“Come on, I have my bed set up already.”
“That sounds a bit...dirty.”
Seth actually blushed and swallowed hard. “I won’t do anything like that. Not right now. I do want to, don’t get me wrong, but I also know now isn’t the time. I will never do anything you don’t want and if I do, all you have to do is tell me to stop. Feel free to even punch me if you want.”
“Seth,” I said, resting my hand on his chest. “You’re starting to ramble.”
Frankly, it was refreshing. Seeing him all flustered about us lying in the same bed together only helped to keep me calm.
Seth grabbed the hand I had on his chest and squeezed it. “Come on.”
Seth really did have his bed set up. There were a few pillows, a massive blanket, and he pulled a small table to the edge and had his laptop set up.
“We’re watching TV?” I asked.
“We’re going to go into a food coma. What better way than to watch some cheesy Hallmark movies before we fall asleep.”
I laughed. “I didn’t realize you liked watching those.”
Seth shrugged. “My mom watches them all the time. She loves this time of year because Hallmark comes out with so many movies. And they’re not stressful. They’re all cookie cutter sweet and innocent. We know it ends happily ever after and nothing is ever overly dramatic, their misunderstandings lasting all of five minutes. They’re simple movies. They’ve grown on me.”
Seth lightly pushed me toward the bed. “Get up there.”
I climbed in, his bed sinking as I got comfortable. I found a smaller, slightly flatter pillow and claimed it. Seth crawled in behind me and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me against his hard chest.
I sighed, cuddling into him, appreciating feeling him behind me with his arms around me. I felt warm, safe, and completely comfortable. Something I hadn’t felt in too long.
“Hit play,” he whispered against my ear.
Suppressing a shiver, I leaned forward and did as he said. The movie started and I got comfortable.
With Seth at my back and the simple Hallmark movie to watch, it wasn’t long until I went into a food coma and fell asleep.
Perfect date. Perfect night.
Best happily ever after ending.
