Page 50 of Small Town CEO Grump

I settled back in my chair, kicked my feet up, knowing that my entire life had most likely completely changed again.

I couldn’t wait to see what would happen.

Chapter 19

Ryan

“When can I take the blindfold off?” Jenna asked.

“In just a minute,” I said. “Okay, I’m gonna help you out of the car, and then once we get to where we’re going, you can take your blindfold off. You trust me, right?”

“Obviously,” Jenna said.

I laughed.

“Good. In that case, let’s go.”

I got out of the car, and went around to open Jenna’s door. I helped her out of the car, took her by the hand, and led her to the table that I had set up.

“Where are we?” she asked.

“You will know in just about a minute,” I answered, helping her settle down to the chair.

I lit the candles on the table, and then told her she could take off her blindfold.

She pulled the blindfold off of her face and looked around, a shocked and confused expression on her face.

“We are in the parking lot of your office?” she asked, clearly amused.

“Yes,” I said. “We are in the parking lot of my office. Because six months ago today, in this very spot, right where we are seated right now actually, I asked you out on our first official date.”

“Oh, wow,” Jenna said, softly. She looked at the table in front of her and realized that I had picked up food from Antonio’s.

“You got the food that we had on our first date,” she whispered.

“Yes, I did,” I said. “I figured that this is a very important milestone, and we need to celebrate.”

“You are wonderful,” she said. “This is one of the many reasons I love you.”

“I love you, too,” I said. “But you know that.”

Jenna nodded, smiling. “I do know that.”

“Good,” I said, settling in my chair across from her.

The last six months had gone by so quickly, and had been more wonderful than I had ever dreamed of. Jenna and I spent as much time together as possible, and we often included Tyler in our dinners and different activities. She and I had weekly date nights, and I had dinner at their house a few evenings a week. They also came to my house, and we had developed a fun and reliable routine.

I was still going back-and-forth between Ocean View and New York City. Jenna was thriving at the newspaper, and she had submitted the first draft of her book.

Tyler had gone to a baseball camp during the summer, and I had gone up one day to speak and teach a special clinic. He was getting ready to play soccer in the fall, but we still went out and played catch and had pitching lessons every week.

The fall baseball season was starting at the high school, and I was looking forward to coaching again. The school had also reached out to Jenna and asked if she would be willing to help with the softball team. She agreed and she agreed to be a volunteer coach in the fall, and then to go out to help whenever she could in the spring, as long as it didn’t conflict with Tyler‘s schedule.

I was so thrilled with how everything was going, and I knew that Jenna and Tyler were as well.

“The food tastes just as delicious as it does in the restaurant,” Jenna said, reaching for another piece of garlic bread. It’s just like our first date.”

“I know,” I said. “Except I don’t have a room full of people giving me dirty looks.”

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