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Cassie was fidgeting with her hands, and trying to calm herself to no avail. She could think of a hundred reasons to back out, but decided it was probably too late.
“Are you sure your mom and Emily are going to be okay with all of them?”
“Mom had five boys and we were a handful. Emily has numerous siblings and a two year old. I think they can handle a couple hours with your brood.”
“Okay.” She nibbled on her bottom lip. “I did leave them my number just in case. We aren’t going somewhere I will need to turn off my phone are we?”
He glanced over at her where she sat in the passenger seat of his truck. Then he reached out and laid his hand over hers, which did nothing to settle her jumpy nerves, he noticed as she warily looked over at him.
“Cass it’s okay. You don’t need to turn off your phone where we are going. And I promise they’re not only going to be fine, they will love being with the kids. So tell me about the nanny interviews yesterday and today, anything pop?”
“Actually, yeah I think I found the one.”
“Seriously? That’s great. What is she like?”
“She is thirty two, her name is Angela Emmerson and she is trained in early childhood development. She just fit...you know. Willing to take the kids to sports, ballet and help with doctor’s appointments. Which is great, since Mrs. Tokarski couldn’t drive it was always necessary for me to try to fit all of it into my schedule. The girls have all met her, and instantly took to her. She doesn’t have kids now, but she did not want to live in, so I assume she has a life and would like kids of her own someday. Her mom and dad live in Kansas a couple hours away, and she likes to see them on the weekend. But Mrs. Tokarski was never available after eight and seldom on the weekend, and she lived with us so I think that is manageable. I felt really comfortable with her. She was easy to talk to...and she worked for one other family for five years until they moved to Washington. They only had two kids, but they loved her. You should have heard the mom’s glowing recommendation when I called. Seriously, I think I was on the phone with her for thirty minutes.”
Cassie stopped realizing she was babbling a bit, but was so happy with the turn of events that she was excited to share.
“That is wonderful. I know it was weighing on you. So how are you going to work that with Mrs. Tokarski? Will you have both of them until the end of the year?”
“No, we talked today and I’m going to pay for Mrs. Tokarski to go back to Poland in two weeks. She is in her seventies and jumped at the opportunity to go home. I think when she first took the job it was to build up her savings. Based on how much we paid over the last couple of years, while providing lodging and food, she should have a nice nest egg. Besides she is ready, and it’s becoming more of a stress than a help to me. So cutting the ties and starting fresh with Angela just feels right.”
“Well sounds like that weight should be lifting and you will have a bit more dependable care for the kids.”
“Yes, thank goodness. I truly thought it would get easier as they got older, but now they need to go in six different directions and multiple schools next year...yikes!”
“I don’t know how you do it, and always seem so...together. If I had to do all that by myself, I think there would be times you would find me sitting in a corner sucking my thumb.”
She laughed, “You would not! You just do what has to be done, no point in stressing about it. Occasionally I will sit on the porch nursing a glass of wine at the end of an especially hard day, but that’s as tough as it gets.”
“I guess,” he stopped the truck.
Cassie looked out the window. It was a Lake Carson, the sign said and she recognized the name but not the scenery. She had never had the opportunity to visit the park.
“A lake? You aren’t planning on drowning me tonight are you?” She looked over to Trent.
“No ma’am...I just thought it would be nice to have a quiet low key dinner by firelight.”
“Hmmm,” she said turning to open her door.
He was digging in the back seat as she rounded the front of the truck. Closing the back door, she noticed he carried a large cooler with a blanket on top and two stadium seat carrying cases flung over his shoulder.
“Not what I was expecting,” she said with a smile. “Can I help carry something?”
“Nope we don’t have far to go.”
She followed for just a minute or two in silence, the sun already all but gone so she concentrated on her footing, almost mowing Trent over when he stopped without a warning.
He quietly sat the cooler down, laid the chairs down and walked over to a fire pit. As he busied himself getting a fire started, she opened each of the chairs and placed them a safe distance back from where the heat of the blaze would soon warm.
“There are hotdogs, and other options in the cooler. Also a selection of drinks, help yourself.”
“Okay, did you want anything?”
“Yeah, if you could grab me a water that would be great.”
She opened the cooler and there on top were Hershey’s, marshmallows and graham crackers. She grinned to herself.
“I love smores. Me and the kiddos do the marshmallows in the microwave, and they love smooshing them all together. We go out on the porch and sit and pig out,” she said grabbing the waters and letting the lid close.
“They are way better over an open fire, just wait,” he said walking over to grab the water. The fire behind them was roaring to life and lightening up the night. She moved to sit in the chair, and moved it a couple hops of the leg closer to the warmth of the fire.
Resting her head lightly on the back of the seat, she listened to the sounds of nature all around her.
“This is perfect,” she sighed.
“I thought you might like some peace and quiet. This is one of my favorite places to just come and unwind after a tough week. Do you camp with the kids?”
“No. I don’t have much time to make friends that would make a group outing like that possible. I couldn’t take all the kids camping without at least one more set of hands. I know Alex and Will would love to try camping, and I thought about Boy Scouts last year but just couldn’t make it work. Besides they didn’t seem interested in making the commitment. They hound me about camping though because their friends get to go throughout the summer. For a boy, it has to be magical...nature, exploring and roughing it,” she grinned over at him. “Even the girls would probably like it.”
“Well my brothers and I still go so maybe we can take the boys sometime.”
“Don’t say anything to them yet. They would be so disappointed if it didn’t work out.”
“I wouldn’t. But Cassie even if we were on the outs down the road...which I don’t foresee by the way...I wouldn’t break a promise I made to a kid.”
Somehow Cassie knew that to be a fact. Trent didn’t say or do anything he didn’t mean. Sometimes what he said wasn’t popular because he chose to not sugar coat it, but it would always be the truth.
“So what did your mom have to say about this outing?”
“Date, Cassie. This is a date. And my mom told me to take it slow, and just have a good time.”
“Good advice. You’re lucky.” she said nodding her head.
“I know. Did you ever know your mom?” he asked sliding into the chair next to her.
“No, sometimes I have glimpses...you know memories, but I was two when I went into care. Over the first couple of years she did get some visitation, but they stopped altogether when I was five. So whatever I remember is fuzzy at best. I know that she passed away the year I turned eleven. Megan found out.”
“Wow, I’m sorry. It had to be tough not having a mom growing up. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without mine.”
“Yeah, it was. But Megan was wonderful to me. She kind of took the place of a mother. My caseworker Suzanne was supportive and kept in touch with me for years. She actually was Alex and Will’s case worker too. I learned not to dwell on the bad stuff and be grateful for all the good.”
“That’s a good way to be,” he said. “So when was the last date you were on?”
“Wow, you really are going for gold in the questions department,” she teased. Looking off she tried to remember the last date. “I only ever dated Jason. We met in college, and were together for a long time. He took me to the musical “Oklahoma” six months before he split, and that’s probably the closest to a date I had toward the end of that relationship. Back then I thought the reason we spent so little time together, was because of our jobs and the wedding planning, but it turns out he had met his future wife. The accident ended up being a heaven sent excuse for him, and he didn’t have to look like a shmuck for cheating on me. But I still found out later.”
“I’m sorry. The guy sounds like a jerk.”
“He was, but I didn’t know it at the time.”
“What did you two like doing together when you did go out? Sounds like theater, maybe?”
“He loved theater, cocktail parties, museums and dinners out where we got dressed up and tried foreign cuisines.”
“Really, you don’t seem like that type?”
“I’m not. Give me a great movie on the couch, bowling...or a camp fire with smores, and I would have been perfectly happy. But that was the thing back then... Jason loved all that stuff and I wanted to make him happy.”
“Okay, here’s the deal. If you don’t want to do something you need to tell me. Not saying we may not agree and have to compromise once in a while, but I like the fact that you just say what you are thinking. Even if sometimes it drives me crazy. I don’t expect you to stop in a vain attempt to make me happy.”
“Be careful what you ask for,” she said.
“I think I can take you,” he said winking at her. “Now for dinner, we have some high cuisine choices... burgers or hotdogs?”
She giggled, “If you could manage a burger out of raw meat and a fire that would be amazing.”
“Watch this,” he said pulling some meat and tin foil out of the cooler.
Cassie watched him as he worked the fire and dinner. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt so relaxed and at ease. It was effortless being with Trent in this place. All her nerves from earlier had evaporated. He didn’t take himself too seriously, spoke his mind, asked her opinions and was by far the sexiest man she had ever seen up close. He made Jason look like a much smaller, pastier version of a male companion, in comparison. Even the little voice in her head warning her about staying alert and not getting too involved was overshadowed by the happy lethargy seeping through her body. For just this moment, she wasn’t worried or contemplating what the next hour or day would hold. It was just this singular, perfect sliver of time she wanted to bask in and carry forever in her heart. Tomorrow would dawn soon enough.
***
Trent knew that the time was getting advanced, and they needed to wrap the evening up, but he hated to end things. They had talked, eaten, talked and then even gone for a hike along the shoreline to work off the food. The nearly full moon reflecting on the lake made the walk just that much more spectacular, and he had to admit, intimate. Cassie was the most straightforward woman with whom he had ever been. Tonight she had left all her anxiety and fears at home and just been in the moment. She didn’t mind the wet surf, sandy hike, subpar food or casual dress. In fact she had seemed to thrive on it.
Most of his choices and those of his mother’s over the last few years wouldn’t have enjoyed the venue. To be honest, he wouldn’t have thought of taking most of his dates on an impromptu picnic at the lake. They had needed parties, people and entertainment. Cassie with all her kids and responsibilities seemed relaxed, young and happy just to listen to nature and enjoy the quiet and company. Even those pauses in conversation had seemed natural with the crickets, birds and other critters keeping the air filled with nature’s melodies.
“I hate to end this evening, but we really need to get going.”
He saw her glance at the watch circling her wrist.
“Oh my goodness, four hours sure flew by.”
He grinned over at her. “Is that your way of telling me you didn’t mind the company tonight?”
“I really enjoyed the company.” She looked at him as the firelight played across his handsome face. “This was more fun than I can remember ever having without my kids present.”
That from her was big praise. If he hadn’t known before hand, tonight had cemented it. Cassie’s kids might have been foisted on her through tragedy, and caused her to lose a fiancé, but given the chance, she wouldn’t change anything. She loved them as if they had been hers from birth. The joy she got in recanting stories of their escapades radiated from her face. It was amazing to him that someone whose life should have been a train wreck, and who had plenty of excuses for self-pity, was such a happy joyous person
“I had a great time myself,” he bent to gather up the bag of marshmallows at his feet. “You want one more?”
“What a dumb question,” she said reaching for the bag and withdrawing one. “You want me to do one for you?”
“I’m good, I may just sit here and watch you eat yours. You should see the look you get.”
“I don’t know what you are speaking of Mr. Thomson,” she grinned and turned toward the fire with the pole extended.
He put half of a chocolate bar on a graham cracker. Just before it looked like she might lose the golden glob to the fire gods she reeled the stick in and quickly deposited the hot, sticky marshmallow on the bed he had prepared.
He took the stick as she squished the sandwich together and licked the side. The stroke of her tongue cleaning the edges might as well have been executed across his skin for the sensations it evoked. He wondered what she would do if he was to run his tongue along her pert little mouth. As she finished the journey around all four sides, he turned away. Watching her devour the confection earlier had caused him to need an extra few minutes leaning into the cooler. She was messing with emotions he thought were dead and buried behind his thick skin.
He didn’t want to risk the evening getting weird, so he had already resolved that single good night peck upon deposit at her home would be all the misbehaving they would be doing this evening. That didn’t stop his oversized imagination from hatching a few scenes in his feverish brain. He busied himself repacking the cooler. Everything stowed, he folded the blanket that had recently laid across their laps and placed it on top. He took a last peek to see her pop the final huge piece in her mouth, and reach to fold her stadium chair as he did his. He needed to get everything to the truck and come back to extinguish the fire.
“Ready?” he said turning to her and breaking into a giant grin.
“What?”
“You have chocolate,” he reached out and rubbed his thumb across the corner of her mouth. The tiny squeak she made caused all good intentions to flee, as he bent down to help fully erase the errant candy from the crease by her mouth.
She didn’t hesitate in meeting him half way. When their mouths collided it was beyond any imaginary scene he had conjured earlier. Her small hands were flat against his chest as his arms went around her, pulling her closer as they explored, tasted, relished each other. When he lifted his head to make sure she was alright, her hands moved up and around his head to draw him back down to her. He could feel every nerve ending come to life. She was wrecking the last bit of control he possessed. His hand dropped to her derriere and pulled her closer so there was no misunderstanding about how much he wanted her.
When at last they pulled apart, both were breathing harshly trying to catch their breath. For long moments they just stared at each other. It was Cassie who finally spoke.
“I...I think we should go now. I had a great time...”
“But?”
“No buts, except I think we really need to get home.”
“You read my mind, and just so we are clear. I think this might have been my all time, best date ever.”
“I bet you say that to all the girls,” she teased.
“No Cassie, I don’t. You have to know this was special. Most women have all these first date rules, and expectations...but this...this was wonderful.”
“I agree.”
“So you willing to do it again?”
“I think we need to wait and see how things went with the kids and your mom.”
“If all is good on that front...then...next time you pick the place and activity.”
“Let’s see how things went at the house.”
“Just so there is no misunderstandings between us, I still intend to kiss you when we get to the house.”
“You are incorrigible,” she said swatting at him, but she couldn’t stop the warmth he saw making her eyes sparkle and skin flush.
He couldn’t resist. He leaned down and brushed a quick kiss across her lips. She was addictive, he thought as they made their way to the truck. He would give it a few more dates, before he jinxed things. By then, he was sure he would find her flaws. After tonight they better be doozies because her assets were already filling up a column of his pros and cons list he always found himself making with new dates.
