Page 65 of Almost True
A little tray sat on the bar of our kitchen, stacked with misshapen squares. “These look… good.”
Luca and Maddie eyed each other, then cracked up. Luca hadn’t laughed that hard in I don’t know how long, and I wasn’t sure I’d seen Maddie laugh like that either.
She recovered first, though, and wiped an invisible tear of hilarity from her eye. “Um, yeah. We had some challenges with cutting them.”
Luca cracked up again as I eyed their busted treats. They were misshapen and messy, but I lifted the plastic wrap and snatched one off the plate. I took a bite, dramatically flaring my eyes before swallowing. “Well, they look terrible, but they taste delicious. Good job, you two.”
I wasn’t prepared for their high five or for the warmth that spread through me like ink in water. It saturated every bit of me, making my heart feel like it might start glowing. They were getting along so well. I had to work not to choke up.
I wouldn’t do that. Butthiswas what I wanted. This was why I’d gone on date after crappy blind date. To find someone else to be on Luca’s team.
And here was Maddie, on his teamandon mine. If I could keep her, it—
But no. I couldn’t think like that. All this did was confirm that I was glad we were doing this—dating, and soaking up the time we had. And it would spur me on later. Once I’d recovered from her leaving. I’d be able to remember these moments and how valuable they were to me, and more importantly, to my son.
I could find someone for him. Even if everyone paled in comparison to her, I could do that for him. It’d always been something I’d wanted and felt a kind of fatherly obligation for, but it hadn’t worked. After meeting Maddie, my standard changed, and I knew with the clarity I’d never felt before that my standards would have to change yet again if I planned to go back to blind dates and the RuralMatch app to help me.
But for now? I’d enjoy these ridiculous two and savor their silliness and the fact that Luca was laughing and high-fiving instead of withdrawn into a book.
“All right, crazies. Should we have pizza or did you fill up on dessert first?”
They both grinned but promised they wanted pizza. I asked them to get the oven going and the ingredients out while I hopped into the shower. I hadn’t gotten too filthy at work—not like some days‚ but I’d jumped in to help guide some larger trees in place, and I didn’t feel like getting close to Maddie and having her horrified by the layer of dirt that coated my forearms.
I blew through the shower quickly, anticipation for a night spent with two of my favorite people driving me to wrap it up despite the sore muscles in my back and neck. I pulled on jeans and was running a towel through my hair when someone knocked lightly.
Probably Luca wondering about which pan to use since I’d cracked our pizza stone in half the last time we’d done homemade pizza—not my best move. I grabbed the door and pulled it open. “Hey, bud, just use—”
My words dropped off at the sight of Maddie, who was smiling until her eyes tracked down my body. She shifted and opened her mouth, then snapped it shut as her gaze jumped back to mine.
The moment hung between us. I felt frozen in place, one hand stilled atop my head with the towel, the other on the door. She blinked rapidly, turning to the side.
“Uh, sorry—”
“Sorry. I’ll grab a shirt. I thought you were Luca,” I said, leaving the door open but retreating to my dresser to grab something and work to ignore the rather blatant appreciation I’d just seen on her face.
Did I like it? Absolutely, yes. Could I do anything about that just now while my son waited for us in the kitchen? Sadly, no.
“It’s fine. I apologize for, uh, for—”
Call me a jerk, but I couldn’t help the grin that pulled at my lips. Hearing Maddie a little tongue-tied overme?I wished I could’ve savored the moment.
Alas, Luca hollered from the kitchen, “Oven’s ready!”
I tossed the towel on the nearby bed and pulled the T-shirt over my head. It was thin and a little ratty—probably not what I would’ve chosen if I’d been alone to make the choice and hadn’t rushed it.
“Ready?”
She huffed a small laugh. “You mean have I recovered from seeing…” She waved her hand like the sight of my chest had disturbed her.
“Yes.”
She cracked half a smile. “I’m not sure I’ll ever recover from that.”
I chuckled at her ridiculousness. Yes, I was in shape. I had a frequently physically demanding job—whether we were talking about the tree farm or my own business—and I used exercise to help me decompress and cope with the realities of single-dad life more often than not. I wasn’t sporting the usual dad-bod look, though no shade for anyone who did.
I wouldn’t pretend I didn’t enjoy her reaction to me. I so often felt out of my league with her, no matter how I tried to tamp that down.
“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” I said, daring to sling an arm around her shoulder.
