Page 66 of The Art Of Starting Over

His phone rang, pulling him from his thoughts. He fished it out of his pocket and looked at the screen. The text was from an unknownnumber, but the message was clear:Be at Crow’s for dinner, 6 p.m. Bring Conor.

A nap or early bedtime could wait. He assumed the number belonged to Crow, and with that, if the sheriff wanted you at his house for dinner, you went.

Hayden spent a few more minutes on his bed, gathering his thoughts. As much as he liked Devorah, he had to respect that she was in a much different place than he was. He could easily jump in with both feet, but there was no way she was ready to even dip a toe into the dating game. The kiss they shared, while one of the best moments of his recent life, had probably scared the shit out of her. Never mind the way he was when she’d brought lunch to him earlier.

Well, lunch to the crew. She didn’t know he was there. Her presence had still sent his heart into a tailspin. He wanted to be around her, more and more each day.

He sent a text to his mom, giving her an update on his and Conor’s dinner plans, and then cleaned up after himself. After shutting down the generator, he left a couple of windows open to let the air circulate, hoping the fresh air would make the place smell a bit better.

On his way to pick up Conor, he detoured to the next town over and stopped at the grocery store for a bouquet and a six-pack of Crow’s favorite beer. He also picked up a chocolate cake for dessert. It wasn’t homemade, but he didn’t want to show up empty handed.

Hayden honked when he got to his parents’ place, and Conor came running out with his own bouquet in his hand. Hayden laughed and reached across the console, pulled the handle for the door, and nudged it so Conor could open it easier.

“Nice flowers, bud.”

“Thanks. Grandpa took me to the store when he found out about dinner. Said the McKenna men don’t show up ...” Conor trailed off when he followed his father’s gaze to the backseat. “Empty handed,” he mumbled.

“Grandpa is right. I didn’t think to check with you beforehand. You can give those to Devy.”

Conor beamed. “I really like her,” he said. “She includes me in stuff.”

Hayden didn’t have the heart to tell him the text was probably from the sheriff. “I like her too, bud.”

“More than Mom?” Conor looked at his dad.

Hayden’s heart lurched, and he shook his head. “Never. I love your mom, even though she isn’t here with us. She will always be here.” Hayden pressed his fist over his heart. “I can’t look at you and not see her or remember her. Your mom will always be with me. With us. No one can ever take the memories we have of her away from us.”

Conor’s eyes welled up with tears. Hayden pulled over, released Conor’s seat belt, and lugged his son into his arms. Conor cried into his father’s shoulder. “I miss her lots.”

“I know, bud. I wish I could take away your pain. The only thing I can do is be here for you and talk about your mom whenever you want. I don’t know how you feel, because I still have my mom and dad, so you have to tell me when the pain is too much so I can try to help you cope.”

“Okay,” he cried.

They sat there on the side of the road, holding each other, until Conor sat up. “I’m better.”

“Yeah?”

Conor nodded.

“Do you still want to go to Maren’s?”

He nodded again. “She’s my friend. I don’t want her to think I don’t like her.”

“Sometimes, we can say no to things, especially if we’re not feeling that great. You are more important than dinner at the Crowleys’. Just say the word, and we’ll go home, or we can go to the camper and just chill for the night. The two of us.”

Conor shook his head and wiped at his almost-dry cheeks. “I’m okay now.”

“If you change your mind, just ask me if my headache is back, and we’ll leave.” Hayden signaled and then pulled onto the road. Within minutes, they were parked in front of Crow’s house.

“You know he’s the whole boss of Oyster Bay?” Conor said as they walked toward the wide-planked stairs leading to the porch.

“People definitely think that about Crow,” Hayden told him, not bothering to explain that a mayor in town made all the decisions. Mostly because Hayden had no idea who it was or who sat on the city council these days. At one point while growing up, Lee had been on the council and laughed when he’d have to vote on whether an oyster farmer could expand his enterprise.

Conor beat Hayden up the stairs and knocked. Hayden could hear the Crowleys in the kitchen but couldn’t see anyone down the hall. He was about to knock again when he saw Devy coming down the stairs in a short sundress and cowboy boots. Boots he was willing to bet she hadn’t brought with her from Chicago.

“Hey,” she said as she pushed the screen door open. Hayden caught the door and never took his eyes off Devy.

Conor handed her the flowers. She smiled and brought them to her nose. “These are beautiful, Conor. Thank you.”

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