“What I’m trying to say is we’re going to have steaks here. Do you like steak?”
Another long moment passed.
Damn, I sure messed this up.
“Grant, are you asking me to dinner?” Maude’s directness pulled him out of his sudden awkwardness.
“I am. Greg and I would like to have you over. The boys would love to see you as well. They keep asking about you.”
“Grant, I feel head-over-heels in love with your boys, and I certainly don’t want to hurt them when I leave here.”
“You won’t hurt them, I promise.”
“I thought they might be getting too attached to me.”
“You let me worry about that. We’ll have a great time tonight. The boys will be just fine. You’ll see.”
“Maybe they weren’t as attached to me as I thought they were. Still, I’m just not sure it’s a good idea. It’s going to be tough for me to leave them.”
What he and Greg knew that Maude didn’t was that she was meant to stay in Wilde. They just needed time for her to figure that out for herself. “It’s not like you won’t come back to visit your sister.” You won’t ever leave if Greg and I have anything to do about it. “When you do, we’ll make sure that you get to spend time with the boys, as much as you want. What do you say? Dinner tonight?”
“It’s against my better judgment, but okay. But not tonight. Mary was just attacked yesterday. How about Saturday?”
Today was Wednesday. He hated to wait that long, but Maude was worth being patient for. “Perf
ect. I’ll pick you up at seven.”
“That’s okay. I’ll drive to your house. I’m sure Carol can give me directions.”
He realized she needed to feel a little in control of the situation. He was willing to let her think she was. For now.
Chapter Six
Maude hung up the phone and felt her heart racing in her chest. “Oh my God, did I just do that? What have I done?”
Carol walked up behind her. “What’s the matter, honey?”
“I just accepted a dinner date with Grant and Greg for Saturday night. Is it really a date? Grant only asked if I would be hungry later. I said ‘yes,’ and maybe he thought I was hinting at an invitation. Oh my God. The offer was for dinner, not a date. I’m so confused.”
“I just love my nephews. I can hear Grant getting all tongue-tied. Am I right?”
She nodded.
Carol hugged her. “Either way, Maude, that’s wonderful.”
Mary walks in. “What’s wonderful?”
“I don’t know if it’s wonderful, sis, but I just said ‘yes’ to dinner Saturday at Grant and Greg’s house. I love those little boys so much. They already seem so fond of me. I’m scared I will hurt them when I leave Wilde. Maybe I should cancel the date.”
“You worry too much,” Mary said. “Things have a way of working themselves out. Perhaps we should have our dates together. My guys are taking me out on my date Friday. The doctor promised to release Craig for horseback riding by then. I could ask them if we could push our date back to Saturday.”
“Not a chance, sis.” Dan, Dillon, and Craig had come to her in private to ask if she would give her blessing for them to ask Mary to marry them. “Those guys rescued you. They deserve a little alone time. Besides, I think I’m going to call Grant and Greg back and cancel.”
“Don’t. Be brave. You can do this. I know you can. You deserve to be treated to dinner by two incredibly nice men like Grant and Greg.”
“I wish I was more like you, but I’m not. I am more traditional when it comes to these kinds of things.”
“Maybe you should open your mind to new possibilities. Remember how upset I was when you had to leave when we were teenagers for that boarding school?”