Page 31 of The Single Dad's Guide to Recreation

“Oh yes, I’m sorry, Mrs. Harmon.”

“Please call me Frieda, honey.”

“Sure, um, Frieda. Anyway, I was just being a good neighbor. You don’t have to pay me for that.”

“If it were an hour, I’d agree. But you took responsibility for my grandchildren for almost eight hours. Please let me do something to show our appreciation.”

“Really, it’s not?—”

“What, dear? I’m sorry, Avery. My husband is saying something. Oh, that’s a good idea. He said we should give you a gift certificate. Is there a place where you get your nails done?”

I laugh. “I’m afraid manicures don’t last long at my job.”

“There must be something you’ve been wanting to splurge on. How about a restaurant? Treat yourself to a nice meal.”

“Oh, that’s really not?—”

“Hang on, Avery. Oh, that’s perfect, Bert. Josh will take you to that new little Italian place over in Coxsackie.”

By the time I hang up, Frieda has extracted my schedule from me, made a reservation, and promised that Josh will pick me up the following evening at seven. She was probably going to offer to take me shopping for a dress to wear if I didn’t disconnect when I did.

Telling myself that Josh has had as little control over this scenario as I have, I keep my expectations low even as I spend a ridiculous amount of time getting ready the next evening. Applying the makeup Van gave me in a way that makes me look sexy without looking like I made an extra effort takes time, after all.

Choosing an outfit that says,I’m just wearing this because it’s a nice restaurant, not because I want to seduce you,is even more of a challenge. Especially after I reject colors not on Van’s swatch samples.

It’s tough to read Josh's expression when he shows up at my door at exactly seven o’clock, but he’s clearly caught unawares when my mother sidles up next to me to ask, “Who’s this?”

“Josh Harmon, meet my mother, Patricia Mills.”

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Mills.”

As they shake hands, my mother says, “You didn’t tell me you were going to dinner with a young man, Avery.”

A high-pitched giggle bursts out of me. “Josh isn’t a young man, Mom. He’s a dad in Playgroup.”

When my mother raises a single brow, her expression isveryeasy to read:Then why are you going on a date with him?

“And he’s doing some work at the rec center too,” I add.

A second brow joins the first. “Really? What sort of work?”

“I work for Trede, ma’am,” Josh says. “We are funding some changes at the center and I’m working with the staff to facilitate. But I’m taking Avery out tonight as a thank you for stepping in to take care of my kids the other night when my mother had an accident.”

Luckily, this snags my mother’s interest. After Josh reassures us both that his mother is expected to recover fully, I say, “We’d better get going if we’re going to make that reservation.”

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Mills,” Josh calls as he guides me toward his car, catching my elbow when I stumble on the uneven sidewalk in front of my parents’ house.

“Okay there?” he asks.

“I think you’d know by now that this is par for the course for me,” I say, my voice all high and breathy again in response to his touch. “I suppose this sidewalk could use a few repairs.”

He gazes up at the beautiful old tree in our front yard. “Unfortunately, this tree's roots are likely causing the damage.”

“We’re not chopping down a tree to save the sidewalk!”

He winces as he opens the car door for me. “It can be a tough choice. Especially if the tree is old enough that it’s in danger of falling.”

As he crosses around to the driver’s side, I’m reminded of the topic we continue to avoid: what’s on the chopping block at Climax Parks and Rec. I need to make my priorities clear so he won’t ruin my job, but I don’t want to ruin a date with a man I can’t seem to stop fantasizing about. If it even is a date. His mother set it up, but he did say he wanted more.

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