Chapter Twenty-Eight

The aroma of bread baking greeted them when they opened the door into Dan’s Place. Shay sniffed the wonderful aroma while admiring the eclectic decor.

Dark wood paneling and a beamed ceiling from which a wagon wheel chandelier hung, gave a Wild West feeling. Booths with high backs lined the walls, and wooden tables were scattered around. Near the fireplace, a brown leather sofa and comfy chairs flanking it held a group of people who were talking and enjoying drinks. The restaurant was rustic and warm.

“Aden House.” A big burly man with a bald head and neat whiskers called out. He smiled from behind the bar, wiped his hands with a towel, and walked toward them. “I wondered if you would ever find your way up here.”

“Dan, it’s good to see you.” They gave each other a man hug. “This is my girlfriend, Shay.”

“Hi, Dan. It’s nice to meet you.” Shay shook his hand, giddy as a teenager. Aden called her his girlfriend. They were in a relationship. She was now half of a couple.

“Come on. Let’s get you a seat.” Dan led them to a booth near the back, out of the path of main traffic. When Shay and Aden were seated next to each other, Dan plopped down on the other side. “How’re you doing? Heard you hit a rough patch.”

“Let’s order, and while we’re waiting, I’ll fill you in.”

“Let me order for you. Do you mind?” Dan waved over one of the waiters.

“As long as it’s not some crazy thing you scraped up off the road, I don’t mind.” Aden turned to Shay. “Do you?”

Laughing, she answered. “I’m game. I’d probably even try it scraped up. You do know some crazy guys down south have opened the Roadkill Restaurant?”

“My kind of girl you have there, House.” Dan winked at her. “Adventurous.”

Shay listened as Aden caught his old friend up with a condensed account of the past few months.

He finished with, “But the good thing is Jazz House will open soon. There are TV people still interested, and most important of all, I met this beautiful woman beside me.”

“I didn’t know the show was back on.” Shay’s stomach sank.

“I was waiting until later.” Aden lifted the hand he’d been holding and pressed it to his lips.

“Are you still planning to do it?”

“We’ll talk about it later. Here comes the food.”

She pushed the uneasy feelings aside when a sizzling plate arrived. “It looks and smells heavenly.”

“I’m not fancy like your man over there.” Dan chuckled. “I put out simple, comforting fare, with the best ingredients I can locate.”

“Can’t ask for more.” When she placed the braised meat in her mouth, words left her. Then her eyes rolled back when she dug into the garlic smashed-potatoes. “Mmm.”

“Enjoying it, are you?” Dan laughed. “Hang on to her, Aden. A woman who not only cooks but enjoys the food is a keeper.”

“Don’t worry, Dan.” Aden gave her a smoldering stare. “I plan on keeping her.”

Shay had a hard time swallowing the food after his statement. Excitement and doubt fought for room in her head and heart. Did he mean forever? Or only for a while? It’s your first date, Shay, get a grip. Besides, if he planned on going ahead with the TV show, would Kayla be coming back? Where would that leave Shay?

Aden tried to include her in the discussion with Dan, but she was happy to sit back, listen, and eat. By the time the meal was over, her stomach was as full as her thoughts.

“Do you want dessert?” Dan asked once she folded her napkin.

“No.” Shay declined. “I’m so full, I’m ready to pop.”

“Well, let me have something packed to take with you. My treat, if you save some for Margaret. Tell her to let me know what she thinks.”

****

“Are you ready to go?” Aden wanted to be alone with Shay.

“Sure, I just need a minute.” She excused herself to go to the ladies’ room.

Neither man said anything until she disappeared through the door.

Dan sat back in his chair with a grin on his face. “She’s your one, isn’t she?” Having married the woman he called his one several years before, he’d told Aden he believed Angie was fated for him.

At the time, Aden said he was foolish. He couldn’t imagine having only one woman forever. Then Eli fell the same way for Margaret.

“Yes.” Aden didn’t hedge it with an ‘I think so.’ He was now a believer. “Shay is everything I didn’t know or think I wanted.”

“She suits you.”

“You think? She’s not the kind of woman I ever thought of as my type.” His previous type had always been the Kayla variety, gorgeous, sexy—easy. Shay was the first two. Beautiful and sexy, but not like the grasping, fatuous, shallow women he had relationships with in the past. Those were easy to dismiss. Not Shay.

“No, you made sure none of your priors were relationship material.” Dan thumbed over his shoulder toward the restrooms. “And she is forever material. Don’t screw it up.”

“Yeah, I get it. We’ve known each other for a while now, but this is our first official date.” Aden stared at the door, waiting for her to reappear. “Things are better for me now. I still have a ways to go. I don’t want to scare her off.”

“Get your priorities straight, man. And don’t take too long doing it.” Dan stood as Shay reentered the room. “She didn’t seem happy about the idea of the show. I’ll bet other guys are waiting in the wings.”

“Yeah, I’ve met a few.” Aden frowned down at the table. Shay did grow subdued after he’d mentioned the TV show talks resuming. He needed to assure her DH&D was only a thought right now. It wouldn’t change anything between them.

“Ok, I’m all set.” She joined them at the table and lifted her jacket from the bench.

Dan took it and helped her into it.

“Thanks.”

By the time they were done, Aden was on his feet, pulling out his wallet. He laid some bills on the table to cover the dinner and tip. “Good, we have some stargazing to do.”

The waiter arrived with a bag and two to-go cups.

“Here’s dessert, and I figured you might want some coffee.” Dan took the to-go cups and handed one to each. He passed Shay a bag.

She opened it, sniffed, and then held it under Aden’s nose.

Aden took a long inhalation of the buttery-cinnamon aroma and rolled his eyes before grabbing his cane. “Smells great.”

“It was so nice to meet you, Dan.” Shay extended her hand. “You have a great place here.”

“Thank you. And I don’t do handshakes.” He pulled her into a bear hug and then walked them to the door with Shay tucked under his arm. Waving goodnight, Dan called out, “Don’t be strangers. You come back soon.”

Aden returned the wave before opening her car door. “We will.”

“Tell me more about Dan?” Shay hitched a leg under her, so she sort of faced him.

“When Eli and I were working our way across the country, we met Dan. He was doing the same thing, but traveling in the opposite direction, west to east.” He filled her in while they drove. “Then he met his wife, Angie, and settled down here, opening the restaurant.”

“I like him. He seems like the type to be a good friend.”

“He is.” Aden hesitated, and then he decided to just put it out there. “You got kind of quiet during dinner after I mentioned the show. I haven’t made a decision about DH&D. It’s nice to know they still considered me despite everything.”

“Is it what you want?” White-knuckled hands were clenched in her lap. “A celebrity lifestyle?”

“I gather it’s not something you’re interested in.”

“Not really.” She turned to face forward and stared out the window into the dark night for an uncomfortable minute or two, and then said, “Let’s not talk about it now. Let’s just enjoy our night.”

Panic gripped Aden’s gut as hard as he gripped the wheel. She may as well have said, “enjoy our last night.” Dan’s voice echoed in his head—get your priorities straight, man. Aden swallowed hard.

Was Down Home and Delicious truly what he wanted?

****

Shay tried to relax in the bucket seat and forget about the possibility of the show. If the night ended what they’d only begun, she wanted to remember it in a good way. They both remained quiet for the rest of the ride—an uneasy quiet. The turn signal pinged loud in the car when Aden slowed to turn into the parking lot.

A sign read Point of the Gap.

“We’re here.” He pulled into a handicapped spot and hung the red, temporary placard from the mirror.

The parking lot was empty except for them. Leaves, caught up in the wind, blew past.

Shay opened the door and shivered. Though warm for November, the wind put a bite in the air. She zipped her coat up and pulled a scarf out of her pocket. Aden stood still near the back of the car while she approached.

“I’m not doing the show.” He leaned on the edge of the trunk and turned his head toward her.

“Because of me?” Shay stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest. “Don’t give up your dream. It is your dream, right?”

“Not really.” He tilted his head and then he stilled except for his rapid blinking. A crease deepened between his brows. Then his face relaxed. He stood, reached over, and pulled her into his arms. “I’d never dreamed of a TV show. Especially that one. I’ve always wanted to teach about food and share my love of cooking with others. DH&D seemed a means to an end. It also fed my ego. Big-deal television chef. It was glamorous, and I became star-struck.”

“Is that true?” Her heart beat faster. Please let it be true.

“I realize now it was a shortcut.” He loosened his hold and tilted her head back. “You know what they say about shortcuts.”

“They don’t take you where you’re meant to go.” Peering up into his eyes, she tried to discern the reality versus her hope. Did he really mean she meant more to him than the show?

“Yeah.” Aden ran his thumb back and forth over her cheek. “Besides, dreams change.”

All the angst building in her fled when he leaned down and kissed her forehead.

“Let’s go check out some stars.”

They walked side by side in silence up the cobbled pathway. Sometimes dreams did change. A settling in her heart clicked like a missing piece in a puzzle. Maybe this time, her dream would come true. Coming around a bend, she spotted a small, circular, stone pavilion. “I never knew about this place.”

“There are other spots higher along the Delaware River, but the mountains protect this one, so there’s not much light pollution. Also, this one is handicapped accessible.” The last sentence almost a whisper.

“It’s perfect.”

They set up oversized camp chairs and the telescope. Shay shivered, glad for the structure. The wind cut through the Gap there, and even though it was warm for the season, when the sun went down, so did the temperature. Below them, surrounded by rocky cliffs, the dark ribbon of the Delaware River cast sparkles by the light of the moon. So close to the cities, yet this place seemed like a million miles away.

“It’s chillier than I expected.” Aden’s deep voice breathed right next to her ear. He wrapped a blanket around her shoulders, and then his arms around her from behind.

Shay snuggled back into his warmth. “I’m not cold now. You throw heat off like a furnace.”

“Happy to keep you warm, m’lady.” He smiled into her neck before kissing under her ear.

A different kind of shiver trickled up her spine and tickled her insides while Aden continued to nuzzle her neck. He’d found her sweet spot, and she loved the prickle of his whiskers on the sensitive skin. Tilting her head to the side, she gave him more access. “Aden…”

“You smell so good.” He ran his nose from her shoulder up, stopping to nip at her earlobe.

Her heart raced, and she lifted her arms, dropping the blanket between them. Looping her arms backward over Aden’s head, she melted even more against him.

He took in a ragged breath and spread his hands over her abdomen, pulling her tight against his chest.

Releasing him only long enough so she could face him, she tilted her head up and pulled his lips to hers.

Aden gripped the back of her head and deepened the kiss while taking a couple of steps back, drawing her with him. He brought them to the edge of the stone structure. Turning them around, he lifted her onto the low stone wall and broke the kiss.

Aden’s brown eyes were nearly black in the moonlight as he gently stroked and studied her face.

She smiled. “What are you looking at?”

“You. I’m making sure this moment is imprinted on my mind.” His eyes crinkled at the corners. “Your face.” He took a deep breath through his nose. “The scents of the season mixing with yours. Even how the cool air contrasts with your warmth.”

“Aden House, you’re a romantic.”

“Only with you, Shay.”

Large calloused hands clasped her face.

“Only with you.”

He closed the distance between their lips.

She opened her jean-clad legs to allow him closer.

Before his lips pressed hers, he whispered, “I love you.”

****

Aden never wanted to forget that moment. The taste and feel of her on his lips, and in his arms, drove him crazy. He hadn’t lied with the previous cheesy lines.

I’m going to marry this woman.

The thought kicked off rapid-fire arguments in his head. For crying out loud, this was their first real date and too soon to put it out there. But when he did, would she say yes?

He might always walk with a cane and have weak legs. What about when he got old? When arthritis set in? He wasn’t a kid anymore.

“Aden? Hey.” Shay pulled her head away and pushed at his chest. “Easy, big guy, you’re crushing me.”

He quickly released her and backed away. Wow, how tight had his grip been? “I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok.”

“No, it’s not.” Aden limped back over and sat in the camp chair with his head in his hands.

“Tell me what’s going through your head.” She’d jumped down from the wall and now stood behind him with a hand on his shoulder. She leaned down and whispered in his ear. “I love you too.”

“Yeah, but what if I never walk properly again?”

Shay eased around in front of him and carefully straddled his lap in the big camp chair. She placed her small hands on either side of his face and lifted his head. “Do you think it would matter to me? I wouldn’t care if you were in a wheelchair for the rest of your life.”

“I want to be able to take care of you. To protect you.” He stared past her into the dark sky. “I don’t ever want to be a burden. I need to be a whole man for you.”

She sat up straight. “You listen to me.”

It took him a second, but he nodded.

With her hands now on his shoulders, she considered him carefully.

He couldn’t tell if the flare in her eyes was a reflection of the parking lot lights, or emotion. Was she angry?

“You—big—jerk.”

Yep, angry.

“I’m not shallow like Kayla. Yes, I can appreciate you’re a good-looking guy, but it’s not all there is to you. I like what’s up here.” She popped him lightly on the head. “And I love what’s here.” She placed her hand over his heart. “Aden House, don’t you ever do my thinking, or especially my feeling, for me.”

When she went to pull away, he grabbed her hand, holding it over his heart. With the other, he cradled the back of her neck. “Don’t get up, stay right here.”

“Tsk.” She shook her head. A small smile fought at the corner of her lips. “Insecurity is my wheelhouse, not yours.”

“Let’s promise not to let either of our insecurities win.” She grew more pliant in his hands. “We’ll trust each other. Ok?”

“Ok.”

“Good.”

“Aden?”

“Yeah?”

She threaded her hands in his hair and her voice grew low and sultry. “I couldn’t care less about the stars.”