Chloe avoided my eyes. “She hasn’t. It’s a little on the pricey side.”
“That’s okay,” I said. “I want Jess to have a night to remember before we leave.”
“Speaking of leaving,” she said. “I know you are her boss and all that, but this week has been special for me. Maybe you can give her some time off in the future to come down again?”
I reached across the table and touched her hand. “I will do that for the both of you.”
“Thank you, love,” she said.
We shared a silent moment together, filled with unspoken words before I let go of her hand and we finished our lunch.
I spent the remainder our time without Gina and Jess making arrangements for our date. Little did Chloe know that this was to be our first date and I wanted it to be perfect.
When Jess and Gina returned from the beach later that afternoon, they looked exhausted but were grinning from ear to ear.
They both sat down at the table and regaled us with their boogie board adventures.
“On our seconds run, the board broke,” Jess said laughing.
“And I rolled into the water!” Gina said.
“I picked up another board from the surf shop down the road,” Jess said. “Sorry, Mom.”
Chloe waved a hand at her daughter. “It was decrepit. I’m surprised it didn’t disintegrate when you got into the water.”
Jess laughed.
“I’ll pay you for the boogie board,” I said, reaching for my wallet.
“Don’t worry about it,” Jess said. “It’s just a boogie board.”
There was an awkward silence in the room before Chloe’s chair scraped across the floor. “Let’s get some water in the both of you before you shrivel up like raisins.”
Gina hopped off her chair to help Chloe. I turned to Jess. “So, tonight your mom is going to watch Gina while we go out to dinner.”
“Really?” Jess asked.
“Yes, and I have the whole night planned out for us.”
Jess smiled. “I can’t wait.”
I glanced at the clock. “How about you go take a shower and get ready? I want to leave around six.”
She got up and lightly squeezed my arm. She went over to Chloe and took the glass from her hand. “I’m taking this to go.”
Jess went off to go get ready, and Gina wrinkled her nose.
“Where’s she going?”
I opened my mouth to tell her, but Chloe spoke first. “You and I, love, we’re going to spend the night together. I got crackers, chokkie, and marshmallows to make s’mores out on the porch.”
“Yum!” Gina said.
I said a silent “thank you” to Chloe. Gina wouldn’t ask questions about Jess going out when she clearly had better plans than us.
Jess was ready for six on the dot. She wore a white dress with a subtle pink and purple floral pattern along the edges of her curves. Her tanned skin made her eyes pop. Her hair was in soft waves around her face. I couldn’t wait to touch her silky hair. I booked a hotel room just in case she wanted to get some alone time tonight, but I would let her be the one to suggest it. Tonight was all about her.
“You look beautiful,” I said and kissed her.