Anthony’s face lit up at the prospect of feeding the owner of the bakery he obviously loved. “You picked the perfect day to come in. I’ve just put the finishing touches on that new menu I was telling you about. I was actually trying some of the new dishes out. Maybe you’d like to test some of them?”
Vince looked over at me with a questioning expression, and I nodded. “Sounds like fun.”
We sat down at a table nestled in the picture window at the front of the bakery. It couldn’t have been more perfect, but I tried not to let myself get too excited about it. This wasn’t really a date. He’d had a bad night and obviously knew about Grant coming to the bar, so he thought we could commiserate with each other.
I didn’t have a lot of time to really think about the whole situation. Within a few minutes of us sitting down, Anthony was back. He balanced a large sheet tray in either hand, and when he lowered them down onto a nearby table, I saw a dozen little plates collected on them. He stood beside the trays and introduced each of the new dishes. When he was finished, he took the first two plates and set them in front of us.
When he left, I leaned across the table toward Vince. “I feel like a judge on one of those cooking shows.”
We smiled at each other and dove into the incredible-looking sandwich in front of us. Vegetable cream cheese stuffed into a croissant with cucumbers sounded simple but was surprisingly delicious. When we got through those, we moved on to the next dishes. There was a lot of laughter and talking as we made our way through all the new menu items. I didn’t want it to end, but finally, full and happy, we got up to leave.
Anthony rushed toward us with hopeful, anticipation-filled eyes. “So?”
“Everything was amazing,” Vince said. “I think your new menu is going to be extremely successful. I look forward to tasting what you come up with for fall.”
The baker looked deliriously happy as we left. We walked outside, and Vince reached down to take my hand. Our fingers linked effortlessly. I didn’t pull my hand away from his, and he grinned down at me. My heart soared. Just that simple gesture was enough to confirm he had, in fact, been flirting with me. My feelings weren’t off base. There really was something between us.
We got into his truck, and he held my hand between us as he drove toward the compound. He didn’t ask if I wanted to go with him, but even if he had, I wouldn’t have said no. There was no way I would give up more time with him.
We got to the complex and went down to the garage where the crew was starting to unload from the weekend. Even though Vince said I didn’t need to help, I jumped right in. It was good to be out in the sun, doing something physical. It kept my mind clear and boosted my mood even higher.
It took a few hours to get everything completely unloaded, cleaned up, and put away. We were just finishing up when Darren looked down at his phone, then over at us.
“Mom and Dad want everybody over at their house for a barbecue tonight,” he announced. “Dad already has the ribs and chicken going. Kelly, you’re on potato salad. Merry has a Jell-O pretzel whipped cream thing going on. Mom is grilling corn.”
“What do they want me to bring?” Vince called.
“Lindsey,” Darren answered.
He grinned and wrapped his arm around my waist for a quick hug. “I can do that.”
It wasn’t the first time I spent a Sunday evening at the Freeman house. Their weekend family dinners were an institution. Over the years, they changed venues a couple of times. There was a stretch when they spent most Sundays over at Quentin’s house. But recently, the parents reclaimed at least two Sundays a month, alternating with their oldest son.
Nick often brought me along to the dinners, as well as celebrations, holidays, and other gatherings. It was easy to see why a lot of people just assumed the two of us would eventually end up together. But there was never even a hint of anything like that. Instead, we were each other’s official backup date. Anytime either one of us needed to go to something where we were expected to bring a date and didn’t have a romantic interest to bring along, the other was there to fill the slot.
But it was a new dynamic to go over to Minnie and Gus’s house with Vince. In all reality, I still would have been invited even if to go along with Nick. Arriving on Vince’s arm, though, felt significant. Not that I was going to say anything. Holding his hand was natural and sweet, but I didn’t want to push it.