Page 50 of Love Me Fearless

I rest the back of my head on the seat and groan at the ceiling.

My phone chirps from inside my purse. Could it be Hutch, demanding details regarding my coffee date? But it’s from The Three Musketeers.

KIRILEE:

How’d your date go?

I have a few errands to run, so I press the call button, then start my engine and pull out.

“Hey!” Kirilee answers. Her little boy Elliot’s sweet giggling fills the background.

Sofie joins the call. From her soft breathing and the rush of thecreek, I’m betting she’s on one of her morning walks. “Hey gang! Are we getting live updates from the dating world?”

I smile, even though they can’t see me. “The date went pretty well.” I turn left, towards my office.

“That’s great!” Sofie says. “Are you going to see him again?”

“We’re going to go to one of those summer symphony concerts. He has season tickets.”

“Fun,” Sofie says.

“I love that,” Kirilee adds. “More, Mama,” Elliot says in the background, making her laugh, followed by a flutteryhuff, like she’s blowing bubbles.

“But?” Sofie asks.

“But nothing,” I insist. “He’s nice. I liked getting to know him.”

“Fair enough,” Sofie says. “But did you feel anything?”

I pull up to a red light, thinking this over. Did I? “I don’t know.” Because I was too busy thinking about the way Hutch knew exactly how to work me into a lather.

“It’s worth a second date,” I add as the light turns green.

“Well, that’s something,” Kirilee says.

“As I was leaving, I saw Hutch across the street.”

“Oh. How’d that go?” She blows more bubbles, making me picture little Elliot running around their backyard chasing them.

“It was over before anything really happened.”

My office is located in a small business park with an optometrist, a pet store, and a physical therapist. On Sundays, the parking lot is normally deserted, but when I pull in, there’s a silver compact SUV near the entrance to my office I don’t recognize.

“Did you two talk?” Sofie asks.

“Last night he tried to convince me to…” What exactly was Hutch getting at? Joining him in Florida or wherever he gets posted can only happen one way.

As his wife.

I park next to the silver SUV as my thoughts swirl.

“Convince you to what?” Kirilee prompts.

“I don’t even know,” I say with a heavy sigh, and mentally shake off the image of Hutch on one knee sliding a ring onto my trembling finger.

Girl, don’t even.

And even if I did, how exactly is a ring the answer? It’s not.

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