Jamie shakes her head as she slips her shoes on. “No, it’s more important that you don’t leave him waiting.”
She might be right, but I can’t not walk her to her car either. I stand and pull her with me, tossing the blanket into the recliner. “Come on.” There’s a path from the front door to the driveway. I can go barefoot, so no need to waste time with shoes. My feet just might suffer from the coldness of the concrete.
“How did you know he was here?” she asks.
“He woke me up.”
“So he saw us.” She winces. “Could’ve been worse, I guess. I really am sorry, Brent.”
“Don’t worry about it, Jamie. I’ll talk to him. See if he can keep it to himself for a little while longer. I’ll let you know what happens. You go get your morning coffee and relax.” I open her car door for her, thankful Gregory didn’t block her in and instead parked next to my truck.
“I’ll relax up until I go into work. Hope everything goes well.”
I lean in to kiss her, but keep it short in case Gregory decides to peek through the curtains. Once she’s safe in her car, I head back into the house. Gregory doesn’t appear to have spied. He’s sitting at the table, eating from a bowl of cereal.
“Not going to introduce me?” he drawls.
“It’s not that serious yet.” I fix myself a bowl of cereal and sit down next to him.
“Is she the same one you went on a date with Friday night?” I must look surprised because he says, “Kayla called and told me you were on a date. She thought I might know about it already and know who it was.”
“Yeah, it was with her. Her name is Jamie.”
“She’s hot.”
I laugh. “I noticed.”
“Dad, seriously?” He sets his spoon down and folds his arms over his chest. “You’re not even going to acknowledge, like, the obvious? She looks like she’s in college.”
“She is,” I confirm. “She turns twenty-two in July.”
Gregory stares at me for a moment before laughing. “Mom and Kayla are going to flip. You know that, right?”
“More concerned about you at the moment. How do you feel about it?”
He shrugs. “It’s kinda weird.” He eats two spoonfuls of cereal before adding, “But she gets bonus points for being worried for you.”
“You heard her?”
“She wasn’t exactly quiet, Dad. Plus, I was eavesdropping.” He flashes me a quick smile. “You don’t want me to tell anyone, do you?”
“No, I don’t. Not until I’m ready for you both to meet her. But if you don’t want to keep the secret from your sister, then that’s fine, too.”
Gregory snorts. “I’m not about to break the news to Kayla for her to blow up at me first. Your secret is safe with me, Dad.”
It’s good that Gregory seems to be taking this well, but my concern has heightened as far as his sister is concerned.
Jamie shows up the next morning at six exactly, invited this time. I take her coffee cup to set it down on the nearby end table for her, but hesitate. I got on a roll with a special project at the shop last night and didn’t get home until thirty minutes ago because I eventually realized how late it was and just caught a few hours on the couch there.
“Mind if I have a sip? I could use a pick-me-up this morning.” I lift the drink to my nose to see if it smells like pure coffee or some sugary mess.
“No!” Jamie reaches out with horror all over her face just as I get a whiff of chocolate.
I take a sip and sure enough, it’s hot chocolate. I laugh while she narrows her eyes at me. “I thought you were drinking coffee! It’s been hot chocolate the entire time?”
Jamie snatches her cup from me. “I don’t like coffee, but hot chocolate doesn’t always seem very adult-like, so I let everyone make their assumptions.”
“Why are you drinking hot chocolate so early anyway?”