Page 76 of My Heart Before You

“Oh no!” he answered quickly, stretching his fingers out in a handmade stop sign. “No Commons. We both know what happens to me there, and I don’t want anything to ruin this day.”

She laughed loudly and carelessly, and a bit of his resolve not to tell her slipped away. “A different park then. We can walk Esplanade.”

“Maybe. I run there a lot though so if you jinx it for me, I’m going to be pissed.”

“I can’t Eagle Scouts honor it, but I can promise that I won’t intentionally try to maim you.” Those lips pulled into that flirty twist he adored.

“I suppose that’s a start.” His cheeks were starting to hurt.

“I was thinking.” Her gaze fixed on her plate for a few beats, her long hair falling in front of her shoulder. “Maybe afterwards you can come over to my place, and I’ll make us dinner.”

“I’d like that.”

Her gorgeous brown eyes lifted with light behind them. “Okay, good. You sitting at home eating a TV dinner tonight would make a sad end to this day.”

“As long as I got to spend the day with you, it wouldn’t matter how it ended.” He swore the skin beneath her freckles flushed. When he reached across the slick formica table to hold her hand, Emilie gave it to him easily. “I’d love to come over.” Lifting her hand to his mouth, he kissed her knuckles.

Releasing her hand, he was picking up his burger again when Shannon appeared behind Emilie’s shoulder.

“Dr. Abernan, I wanted to thank you for seeing dad on such short notice this week.”

He watched Emilie glance over her shoulder to see who was speaking, as he answered, “Of course. Anytime you need me, I’ll be available.”

The two women registered each other’s presence and their different emotions displayed easily on their faces, concern on Emilie’s and surprise on Shannon’s.

“Is Bo okay?” she asked at the same time Shannon said, “Oh . . . Hi, Emilie.”

Emilie’s eyes swept over the restaurant observing for the first time that the ever-present patriarch was not here. He should have considered that she’d notice Bo’s absence when she suggested they’d eat here for lunch. The worry that scrunched her freckled brow sat like a large rock in his stomach.

Shannon fiddled with the lowest button on her cardigan. “Yes. He’s just home resting today.”

He could see Emilie resisting the urge to ask for more information before her eyes flitted to his, knowing he wouldn’t betray his patient’s confidentiality.

Shannon’s stress-ridden face broke into a slow smile. “Mom would have liked this.”

Even though they were not currently touching each other, it was apparently obvious that they were together. It dawned on him that everyone in the restaurant might be able to easily see the truth that he was carefully trying to hide from Emilie.

A young twenty-something man in a double-breasted white cook’s jacket rushed to Shannon’s elbow. “There’s a problem in the kitchen.”

“Excuse me.” She strode off as quickly as she had appeared.

Without speaking about it, they both fell into thoughtful silence. Colin wasn’t sure what was running through her mind, but his was momentarily thrown back into work.

After paying the bill, he helped Emilie into her duffle coat and stepped into the crisp but truly lovely spring day. She seemed recovered from the interaction with Shannon and began telling him another story about her spirited niece. When they reached the pathway on the Charles River, the high sun was sparkling off the water, ebbing and cresting as the river flowed. Many other people were taking advantage of the warmer weather—parents pushed children bundled up in strollers, runners were abundant, and several walked like them.

Emilie’s eyes watched the water, and they strolled in companionable silence for a while. A double scull being pulled through the water by two athletic women passed them. Colin liked their conversations, but also found that being next to each other like this, without words, was just as enjoyable. Reaching down, he laced his fingers in hers, and she smiled up at him as he did so.

“What do you want me to make for dinner when we get home?”

It felt as if his heart was trying to escape via his collarbones; it was so light and soaring in its ribcage. What a simple little question, but she asked it in a way that made it feel like they had been doing this for ages. That they were just out taking a walk on this beautiful afternoon, and soon they would head back totheirhome,together. He wondered if she noticed the ease of which the day, this first day of them being together, was going.

“Food.” Honestly, as long as she was with him, he’d eat bugs.

She huffed a bit. “What kind of food?”

“Good food,” he said, needling her.

She let out an aggravated growl that had him smiling so much, he pulled hard on the hand he was holding and spun her into him. A high surprised sound escaped before he covered her lips with his, and it melted into a quiet sigh. He moved his other hand to the side of her face, sliding his fingers into her hair at the nape of her neck.

---