Page 40 of A New Chapter in Rosewood Beach

Terrence stood up and shook Dean’s hand. “Thank you for the advice, son. I appreciate you taking the time to talk with me.”

“Of course.” Dean grinned. “I hope everything works out great. I really do.”

The two men shared a smile, and then Terrence thanked Dean again and made his way out. Dean watched him go, wondering what Terrence would do to romance his mother.

It’s a weird feeling,he thought, watching another man try to date my mom.Giving him romantic advice is even weirder. But I love the idea of him and my mom dating. He’s a good guy, who will really treat her right.

Dean stared into space for a while, smiling to himself. He was looking forward to seeing a romance blossom between Terrence and his mother.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Faith pushed open the front door of her home and froze. She had expected to come home to a dark, quiet living room before heading into her kitchen to begin preparing dinner. Instead, however, her home was aglow with flickering candles.

“What on earth?” she murmured, noticing the pink rose petals that were spread across the floor.

The air smelled heavenly, as the aroma of flowers blended with the scents of the candles. Her home had been transformed into a place of captivating beauty and tranquility. She gazed in awe at the flickering gold of the candles for a few moments, and then she turned toward the dining room.

Ryan was standing there smiling at her. On the table were more candles, set in silver candlesticks, and there were two plates of pasta set on either side of the table. Wine glasses in front of the plates were filled with white wine, and there was a basket of garlic bread resting in the center of the table.

“What on earth?” Faith breathed, walking toward him. “What is this all about?”

Ryan handed her a bouquet of roses, a gorgeous mixture of both pink and red. “These are for you,” he told her, and kissed her.

“Thank you,” she said, her voice soft. She didn’t know what he was up to, but she knew that she absolutely loved it.

He pulled out her chair for her. “Sit down, please,” he said. “I don’t want your pasta to get cold.”

She sat down, looking up at him in confusion. “You still haven’t answered my question,” she told him.

“Shh,” he told her. “Pasta.”

She laughed and watched as he took his seat across from her at the table. She noticed that he was wearing a becoming dark green dress shirt for the occasion, and she was glad that she’d happened to choose a purple floral dress for her outfit that day.

They began to eat the meal together, and he asked her how her day had gone.

“Um, fine.” She laughed. “Now it’s going really, really well. But I’m still confused about why all of this is happening.”

He smiled at her, and the look in his eyes made her stomach do a somersault. She could see how much he loved her, and she thought to herself that she was going to treasure that moment forever.

“I just wanted to show you,” he said slowly, his eyes on her face, “that I don’t want you to doubt for a minute that I see a future with you.”

Her heart stopped for a moment, and then she felt an ache of happiness fill her chest. She could hardly believe that not that long ago, she had been beside herself with worry that the two of them were going to have to break up.

“I don’t want to move overly quickly,” Ryan continued, “since I know we haven’t been dating for all that long, but I want you to understand just how deeply I care for you, and how you have changed my life.”

Tears filled Faith’s eyes. “That’s all I needed to hear.” She smiled at him, feeling her love for him like a glow that filled herwhole body. “I’ll be patient while we navigate what we want our future to look like.”

He stood up and walked around the table toward her. She stood up to meet him, and they wrapped their arms around each other for a tender kiss.

“This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me,” she told him, nuzzling his nose.

“Wow, that makes me feel pretty special.”

“Um, it makes me feel pretty special.”

He rocked her back and forth a little bit, and then they kissed again.

“Pasta,” she told him. “We don’t want it to get cold.”

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