Page 66 of A Lesson for Laurel

Her father was right. Whoever she was with in her life had to accept them for who they were.

“I’ll let you know if he’s coming or not. I’ll talk to him tonight or tomorrow. He could be sleeping at the dinner table right now.”

“It’s not even six,” her father said. “How much older is he than you? You’re not lying to me about that, are you?”

She burst out laughing. “You’ll see I’m not when you meet him. He starts work early. He’s got a few projects overseas so the time change is catching up with him doing multiple things at once. He said by next week all the early morning calls andcorrespondences will stop or be few enough that he can reply the next day.”

“That’s between you two to figure out. You said he won’t be there much longer, so you’ll have to decide if long distance is the way to go.”

“It’s not that far away,” she said. “We don’t see each other much during the week. It will work the way it should.”

“Glad to know you feel that way. I’ll see you on Sunday.”

“I’ll be there.”

“With Easton,” her father said.

“We’ll see,” she said. But she was hoping she wasn’t going alone.

She hung up with her father and went out the backdoor, dashed between the two driveways and up the back porch, and knocked on the door.

She saw him moving into the kitchen and coming to open it. “Hey,” he said. “I’m just grabbing a sandwich. Want one?”

“No,” she said. “I’ve got food next door I’m going to heat up. I wanted to ask you something and felt it was better in person and not over text.”

He closed one eye at her. She found it adorable when he did that. “What’s that?”

“Sunday is Easter,” she said. “I’m going home and I’d like you to go with me. Maybe it’s too early for you to meet my father. I’m asking you more because I don’t want you to be alone, rather than meeting the family, if that makes sense.”

“Sure,” he said. “I’ll go. I have no plans.”

“Really?” she asked.

“Did you think I’d say no?”

“I wasn’t sure. I didn’t want you to think I was rushing.”

“It’s dinner,” he said.

She was reading more into it. “Well, it’s my father too. And since you know how my last relationship ended…”

“He’s going to be a hard ass,” he said. “Got it. I’m a big boy. I’m not going to wet myself over it.”

She started to laugh and threw herself into his arms. “Perfect response. Now you can eat your sandwich before you fall asleep in the chair.”

“Nope,” he said, picking her up. “I’m hungry for something else right now. This is what you get for coming over unannounced.”

23

NOISY CREATURE

“What do you normally do for the holidays?” Laurel asked him as they drove to her father’s on Sunday.

“Not much,” he said.

“You spent them alone?” she asked. “That’s sad. I know your aunt is in Florida now and has been for a few years. Was Abe alone too?”

“If we could, we’d fly there to be with her, but it doesn’t always work out. Sometimes Abe goes alone, but he’s slower in the winter months and can. I spent holidays with Liam and Nicole if they were around when I was alone. Before that, it was with Rachelle and her family.”

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