Page 18 of Stunts and Sparks

Mike shook her hand with a twinkle in his eye and said, “So this is why you wanted the good table, Cole, you bastard. Why didn’t you tell me you’d have a doll like this on your arm tonight?”

Heather blushed, and Cole answered, “Why ruin the surprise?”

After Mike told them to seat themselves, Cole lead Heather out the back to the patio. There was a table waiting for them right in front of the fire. From the raised patio, you could see the boardwalk, the ocean, and the sun that would be setting soon. The weather was mild and pleasant enough that Heather actually removed her jacket. It was the perfect evening, Cole thought — more than perfect now that she was with him.

A server walked up and asked them if they’d like some drinks. Heather ordered sangria and Cole got a pint.

“So,” he said after their server left. “Tell me everything I should know about you.”

“Not even going to beat around the bush a bit, are you?” she said, laughing.

He shook his head. “I’m a direct sort of guy.”

“I can appreciate that.” She looked out at the ocean for a minute before she answered, and Cole took the opportunity to appreciate her profile. She had these large, wide eyes and a ski-jump nose that made him adore her all the more. The way the orange light of the setting sun made her skin glow was like something out of a dream.

He tried to steer the conversation because if he didn’t, he’d probably be content to just sit and stare at her. He imagined she wouldn’t be comfortable with that. “What were your hobbies when you were a kid?” he asked.

She laughed and shook her head. “There was only ever one. I got into gymnastics pretty young. Some class my mom got me to take so I could make friends, but I was good at it. The teachers said I had natural talent, whatever that means.” There was a sad nostalgia in her smile that Cole wanted to know more about, but he knew better than to ask. “It became my whole personality for a long time. I planned to compete at the highest levels, and hopefully become a professional gymnast one day.” She frowned. “It didn’t work out.”

“Life rarely works out the way we’d like it to,” Cole said. “I wanted to be an astronaut, but I didn’t have any talent in that respect. It was just a silly dream.”

“You didn’t even go to space camp or anything?” she asked.

The question made him sadder than he expected it to. The truth was, his parents were only parents in the strictest sense of the word. They hadn’t wanted to have him and made that clear on a regular basis. He’d gotten out of there as quickly as he could. It only took one military recruiter to make him look to the Navy as a way out. At the very least, it was a way he could be of some use, a way he could be appreciated and needed. “Space camp would have been nice,” was all the answer he could think to give.

“That’s too bad,” she said, and by the expression on her face, he could tell she was completely sincere. “Every kid should have a chance to test drive their dreams, you know? That’s what I think anyway.”

“But I wouldn’t change how things turned out,” Cole added. “I love my job. If I’d told my kid-self I was going to grow up to be a stunt double, I think kid-me would probably be pretty impressed.” He wanted to add,And I got to meet you, to that, but he figured it would probably be too much too soon. “So what about you? Why’d you give up your dream of becoming a professional gymnast?”

That was a bad question to ask, apparently. He could tell by the way her expression fell. He regretted asking when she stared down at her napkin and answered, “That’s a story for another time, I think.”

“No problem,” he said, trying to make it clear he did not intend to push her boundaries tonight. He wanted this date to be as fun for her as possible. As much as he liked her, the one aspect of her personality that he hadn’t clocked wrong, in his opinion, was that she had a hard time letting go and just enjoying herself. So Cole made that his challenge.

They ordered a sampler platter and Heather had a second drink. “This is on you, right?” she said with a wink.

“Of course it is,” Cole answered. That was never even in question. “I’m an old-fashioned kind of guy.”

She appeared to consider his announcement. “I guess I can get behind that.” She gave him a scrutinizing look as he scooted around the table to sit beside her.

“The best view is from this side,” he explained.

“Mm-hmm.” She didn’t believe him for one second, and he was perfectly fine with that.

They shared the sampler platter, and Heather let Cole have a taste of her drink. “That’s good,” he said, surprised. “I’ve never ordered sangria before. Maybe I should next time.”

The sunset was perfect. It sank slowly into the horizon and turned the sky and clouds all different shades of red and orange and pink. Cole couldn’t have asked for a more perfect date night. When Heather leaned her head on his shoulder, he had to suppress a grin. “I don’t know how easy it’s going to be to punch you after this,” he admitted.

She laughed. “You know I’ll mock you mercilessly if you go too easy on me.”

“You already know how to motivate me,” he said, nudging her in the upper arm. “If I didn’t know any better, I might think we were made for each other.”

“Not a chance.”

Oh, this was going exceptionally well. She was happy, joking with him, and sharing her drink. Every once in a while, hecaught her glancing up at him when she thought he wasn’t looking. Once, he took a chance, while she was busy staring at the sunset, and held her hand for a moment. She looked up into his eyes, and he leaned down closer to her. And he was sure, one hundred percent certain even, that he was about to have his first kiss with her.

And then her phone rang.

She pulled it out to see who was calling and gave him an apologetic look. “It’s my mom. Sorry. I have to take it. If I don’t answer when she calls, she assumes I’m dead in a ditch somewhere.”

---