Page 75 of Keep My Heart
‘I’m sure he’s fine. Getting that party ready probably just wore him out.’
I hope that’s it and not anything more serious than that.
Chapter 17
Nick
‘So what’s the latest on you and Lyndsay?’ Matt asks as he sets the ladder up by one of the damaged trees.
‘Nothing. We’re just friends.’
‘You wouldn’t leave your mom’s party to go see a friend.’
‘The party was almost over. I didn’t want to sit there for another hour watching couples make out on the dance floor.’
Matt smiles. ‘What can I say? I got a beautiful wife. I can’t help myself. And it was romantic with all those little white lights and the lanterns. Add in a few glasses of wine and Tessa couldn’t wait to get me home. We might’ve made another kid last night.’
‘Are you serious?’
‘No.’ He laughs as he climbs up the ladder. ‘I’m just saying, it was a good night. Great party. So what’d you end up doing after you left?’
‘I took Lyndsay to play mini golf.’
He was cutting a branch, but stops and looks down at me. ‘You took her to dowhat?’
‘Play mini golf.’
‘Aren’t you a little old for that? And where the hell is a mini golf course around here?’
‘It’s that one behind the coffee shop. Behind the parking lot.’
‘That thing hasn’t been open for like two years.’
‘Yeah, well, they left the equipment out for anyone who wants to play.’
‘That was your romantic date?’ he asks, going back to cutting branches. ‘Taking her to a mini golf course that looks like shit and isn’t even open?’
‘It wasn’t a date,’ I say, raking up the leaves and branches that collected in the grass. The grass needs to be mowed. That’s Brody’s job, but Dad probably told him to hold off mowing until he cleaned up the mess from the storm.
‘Then what was it?’
‘Just two friends going out.’
‘Let me get this straight. You left your mom’s party to go out with Lyndsay, on a Saturday night, but it wasn’t a date.’
‘Okay, for the last time, the party was almost over, and no, it wasn’t a date. I went to see her because when I dropped her off yesterday she seemed .?.?. I don’t know .?.?. upset.’
‘About what?’
‘The fake dating thing. I told you this yesterday.’
‘Actually, you didn’t. You said you didn’t want to talk about it.’
‘And I still don’t.’
‘Just tell me what she said. Does she want to date you for real?’
‘No. She knows it wouldn’t work. We both do. That’s what we talked about last night. I went to see her to make sure there wasn’t any confusion about what this is between us. And we agreed we should just be friends and forget the fake dating thing.’
