Page 209 of The Single Dads Club
“Deal.” I nodded, then picked up a garlic knot and tossed it at him.
He snagged it out of thin air without even blinking and I gasped.
“I can read you like a book,” he said before taking a triumphant bite.
That may be true and I’m not sure how I feel about it.
“I guess I just have to use the element of surprise next time.” I shrugged and then took a bite of my own food.
When Mason finished chewing, he said, “So, you think about her a lot?”
“I do.” I nodded.
“What do you think about?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I guess I sort of think about what her nursery would look like and what kinds of things we could do together as she gets older. Teaching her to walk.”
“And fish,” Mason added, and my heart broke a little bit.
Ihadthought about that. Often. And I still hadn’t decided if it would break my heart to do it without my dad there or help me heal some.
“Yes, and fish,” I said quietly.
“Do you think you’re going to be an overly protective mom?”
“Why? You planning on taking her skydiving?”
“Not until she’s at least fifteen.”
“Eighteen,” I countered.
“Eighteen, then. No, I was thinking of teaching her to work on cars and how to ride horses.”
“You ride horses?” I asked.
He nodded. “I have cousins in Montana who own a ranch. I used to go there every summer to help out. My parents thought it was important that I get a full sense of the world.”
“Well, anything with animals is okay in my book,” I said. “Just don’t let her treat your patients or anything until after medical school.”
“We’ve decided on medical school for her already?” he asked with a laugh.
“It’s the family business,” I shrugged. “It seems likely, don’t you think? Plus, on her first Halloween we can get her tiny scrubs and a little stethoscope. How cute would that be?”
“You really have been thinking about this a lot, huh?” he asked softly.
I nodded. “A lot. And I want what’s best for us. Which is why…when we’re done here, I think we ought to go back to my place and find out what’s inside that envelope. I’m being a chickenshit and it’s time to rip this Band-Aid off once and for all.”
He nodded encouragingly. “I think that’s the right thing to do.”
I realized for the first time that he always wanted to open the envelope. He’d only been waiting for me. And the anticipation must have been killing him. I think in that moment I fell a little in love and instead of fighting it, I pulled the feeling closer and let it wrap around me like a warm blanket.
We waited for the check, which he paid like a gentleman, and then we walked back onto the street with our hands laced together.
“I like the idea of a tiny you,” he said.
“A tiny me?” I asked.
“Yeah.” He swung our hands back and forth between us. “Maybe she’ll be a veterinarian. A little bit of you and a little bit of me.”
