Page 26 of A Miracle for the Reserved Flyboy

“What is going on?”

“We’ll be just a few minutes if you want to go ahead and make your plates,” Gary began, walking over to Krista and taking her hand in his, pulling her back toward the front door silently.

“What are you doing here?”

“We need to talk,” he replied again, opening the front door and pulling her outside with him. She followed easily, not fighting at all but a little dismayed because she wasn’t going to get the chance to put her thoughts together after all.

“I agree,” she blurted out. “I’m so sorry that I forced this whole dating thing on you and…”

“Krista, we need to talk about more than just those… things.”

Hesitating, she waited as they stood there in the warm glow that flickered with the chasing lights and glinting light strands that her parents used. They loved Christmas almost as much as she did, so when they decorated – they used anything and everything. The front porch had four strands of lights on it, and none of them matched. It was like their thought was, ‘put all thelights up, and it will work out somehow’ which was practically her motto in life so far – until now.

Now she wanted details, a plan, a methodical process to move forward – with him.

Gary.

They stood there in the glow, looking at each other, with him holding her hands, yet neither said a word. They were there for at least four or five awkward moments before she finally spoke.

“What do you want to talk about?”

“Oh,” he started nervously, blushing and smiling, before he chuckled… and it was endearing at just how shy he really could be sometimes. How had he made it through those two blind dates without running? She mused as she smiled at his sweet expression. “Um, well, the first date was truly awful, and I didn’t want to tell you.”

“You should have,” she pressed softly. “How am I supposed to make you happy if you don’t tell me…”

“That woman is a predator,” he hissed under his breath, his expression growing alarmed. “She’s… really touchy-feely.”

“She touched you?” Krista gaped, horrified, as she stood there looking at his mortified face. “Like touched you?”

“She kept putting her foot in my lap suggestively, and when she tried to kiss me…”

“I’ll kill her,” she hissed angrily, seeing red for the first time in her life… only to hear Gary’s chuckle as he unexpectedly pulled her close, hugging her.

The man was hugging her!

His warm arms felt like home and turned that raging tiger into a small kitten, letting out a little mewl as he whispered against her hair.

“I handled it, and she won’t bother either of us again,” he assured her, his breath warm and welcoming in the chilly air – yet he didn’t let her go. “The second date…”

“I’m sorry,” she interrupted.

“Was more of what I needed,” he continued, and she froze, withdrawing immediately from him only slightly as he hung on tight. She met his eyes, and something made her hesitate. “We talked about you.”

“What?”

“Margie was trying to make her ex-boyfriend jealous and wasn’t interested in me at all – which worked out perfectly because I wasn’t interested in her. We talked about you, my job, the play, your family…”

“Ohhh,” she interrupted as it clicked in her mind. “That’s how you knew where to find my parents’ house.”

“Margie.”

“I see.”

“I wanted to meet them, talk to them, and…”

“Talk to them? Why?”

“Because I want to date their daughter,” he whispered softly, holding her eyes, and it took her a second to grasp what he was saying. Mutely, she raised a hand, pointing a finger at herself, as he smiled. Silently, he pointed at himself and then pointed at her before whispering again. “A couple.”

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