I thanked Muriel by pulling her into a hug. “Thank you. For everything.”
She understood what I was saying. “You’re welcome, sweetheart. You take good care of our Captain, and I’ll make sure Bertha doesn’t come knocking on your door at 7AM tomorrow wearing that skimpy robe she thinks will land her a young pilot.”
Carter kissed her cheek. “Night, Muriel.”
After everyone was out of the Bingo hall, Carter locked up with a key on his key ring and we headed back to his place. He took my hand while we walked.
“Can I ask you something?” I said.
“Anything.”
“How did you know all those Bingo terms? That O-eighty-three was time for tea or that I-twenty-three was thee and me?”
“They told me a few of them. I saw that they got a kick out of it when I used the lingo. So I looked more up on the Internet and memorized the terms and some games.” C
arter shrugged. “Long stretches of time to learn new stuff on overseas flights.” He chuckled. “Although I think my co-captain thought I was losing it when I had him quiz me the whole trip from Germany to New York.”
“I don’t know what to make of you, Carter. One minute you’re dirty talking in my ear and the next you’re taking me to Bingo.”
“Not exactly the date you’re used to, I’m guessing.”
“Definitely not.”
“Tomorrow night I’ll take you out on a real date. Just me and you to some fancy restaurant.”
I stopped on the sidewalk. “I didn’t mean it like that. This might have been the best date I’ve ever been on.”
“Really?”
I nodded. “The whole purpose of dating is to get to know the other person. It’s sad, but I don’t think I figured that out until tonight. I’ll be honest, dating for me was always about what restaurant some guy would take me to. I judged men based on what they spent and the designer they wore. Their last name meant more to me than how they treated the people who’d passed down that name. But seeing you up there tonight, I had an epiphany.”
“An epiphany, huh?”
We were still stopped on the sidewalk, holding one hand. I reached out and took Carter’s other hand into mine. Taking a deep breath, in the middle of a retirement community, I decided it was my moment of truth. “I’m crazy about you, Carter Clynes. I’d rather be with you in a Bingo hall sitting between Bertha and Muriel as they argue, than be in a five-star restaurant with a descendant of the Rockefellers. You sing Kenny Rogers because you know they love him, clip your fake father’s toenails, and buy women sneakers to help their bad backs.” I stepped to Carter and wrapped my hands around his neck. Taking one more deep breath, I spoke directly into his eyes. “I’m crazy about you, Carter. There is nowhere else I’d rather be than standing next to you, wherever that might take me.”
Carter leaned his forehead to mine and closed his eyes. He was silent for a moment before he spoke. “Perky, you have no idea how much it means to me to hear you say that. I feel the same way, maybe even more. I don’t have all the answers, but I want to be the one to help you find them.”
Tears streamed down my face. “I’m happy, Carter. So damn happy. And I’m terrified at the same time.”
His thumbs at my cheeks caught my tears. “So am I, beautiful. So am I.”
Just then, a small red car slowed to a stop, and the window rolled down. “You need a lift, Cap?”
Carter lifted his hand. “I’m good, George. But thanks.”
The old man waved back. “I look younger in here, don’t I? The babes dig my car.”
“You look great, George. Go slay ‘em, old man. But watch out for that hip.”
The car slowly pulled away and then something dawned on me. “Was that, by any chance…a Targa?”
“It was.”
“That’s your car, isn’t it? The car you traded to a friend who had surgery?”
“He needs it more than I do, anyway.” Carter slung his arm around my shoulder, and we started walking again. “Apparently, I don’t need the car. I can pick up hot little blonde chicks at a Bingo hall.”
IT WAS A TYPICAL FLORIDA NIGHT, breezy with a hint of drizzle in the air. But there was nothing typical about the moon tonight; it was spectacular—magical, even. There was also nothing typical about the way I was feeling, like my heart was about to beat out of my chest; like I was stepping into territory that I’d never ventured into before with Kendall. Like something big was about to happen.