Page 54 of Almost Home
“Safety is good sometimes,” he said, clearly not talking about Aaron. Maybe insinuating he wasn’t safe?
“I’ve been trying to move in a different direction with my decision-making in the last few years.”
“How so?”
“I’m trying this new thing where I do what I want? Where I attempt to consider that first and not what would keep me safest or make my parents happy. And I’m trying to allow for the fact that while I thought I was protecting myself bynotchoosing at times, that in itself was a decision, so I might as well be definitive and do what I think is best instead of trying to just… not.”
He nodded in approval. “Sounds like an interesting experiment. How’s it going so far?”
I huffed out a bemused breath. “Well, I’m in my mid-thirties living alone in a crap apartment in my hometown and working for a temp agency.”
“You work for a security company.”
I tilted my head to one side, then the other. “If we’re taking the Pollyanna spin, then I can say I have made some amazing friends, and I’ve realized I don’t want to teach, and…”
The incline of his head asked for what I very much wanted to give him.
“And I’m here with you.”
His eyes flicked back and forth between mine, the air taut around us in an instant.
“So you are.”
“So I am.”
After a beat, he said, “And is that what you want, Sarah? To be here with me?”
CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX
Wilder
She didn’t have a chance to respond to my question—one I wanted an answer to very much—mostly thanks to the waiter removing our plates and then Jane Saint, meddling mother, interrupting us.
“Well, if this isn’t an adorable and delightful coincidence!” Mom shuffled up to the table, smile blazing. She wore a nice dress and her hair and makeup were too perfect to be considered casual.
Sarah rose from her seat immediately, and I followed suit. They hugged, then Mom rounded on me and pulled me in, saying softly, “I always knew you were a smart boy.”
I shook my head as we separated from the hug but couldn’t deny the little jolt of pleasure her approval of me and Sarah being out together caused. No word about what had happened in our past or what might happen in our future, thankfully. Simply happiness at seeing us together.
The scent of her perfume rocketed me back to the past. She’d only worn perfume occasionally when we were growing up, and only when she left the house for church or an outing with friends.
“Are you out with friends, Jane?” Sarah asked.
“Oh, no. I’m on a date.”
I admit, I winced. Yes, she had every right to date. I was on a date right this minute. But seeing her out with someone right now seemed weird. I didn’t want to know what kind of man she was attracted to. My father had died over thirty years ago, so there was a decent chance whoever she found herself with would be nothing like him.
“Don’t be like that, Wilder Saint.”
I held up my hands. “We won’t keep you, then.”
I didn’t recall her dating when I was a kid, but realizing she was on a date now made me wonder if she’d ever dated when we were growing up. No doubt I’d been too self-absorbed to think much about anyone other than myself and Sarah.
She scowled but winked at Sarah. “Good luck with this one.”
Sarah chuckled and her cheeks pinked in that way that made me wish we were alone. Really alone.
“Sorry about that,” I mumbled as my mom twiddled her fingers in greeting to almost every other table she passed on the way back to her own. The man waiting by their table across the room looked decent enough—clothes were orderly and he still had hair. Handsome enough profile. I’d check him out this week just to make sure there weren’t any red flags.
