Page 25 of A Montana Secret Admirer
He bumped his shoulder to hers, and they continued on their walk.
“So how did your meeting in New York go?” she asked, desperate to get his serious gaze off her.
“Honestly? Not great.”
Her brows rose. “What happened? Do they still want you involved with the program?”
“Yeah. But the woman in charge of the company we met with? She and Leo did not get along. I swear, if we had to be in the same room with the two of them for another minute longer, it would have been the start of the next world war.”
She snorted a laugh. “That bad, huh? What do you think it was? Incompatibility?”
“You could say that,” he muttered. “I’m not sure how Jane’s going to survive it.”
“But everything went well when it came to you and the stuff they want you to do?”
He smiled, and that joy in his eyes was enough to send whisps of happiness throughout her own body. It was nice to see him smiling, and the more she did, the more she craved it. “Yeah, they’re wanting me to write up a proposal, though—like I’m going to be spearheading everything.”
“And you’re surprised by that?”
“Well… yeah,” he said. “I don’t have a background in any of this. I’m not a therapist. I don’t know what I’d be doing.”
“Well, you wouldn’t necessarily be treating the kids, right? You’d be doing what you’ve been doing with my boys. Teaching them the ropes and all that. I’m sure they’d be seeing a therapist as well. Seems to me there are a lot of different moving parts to this sort of thing.”
He stared at her for a moment. Longer even. Serenity fidgeted beneath his gaze, and then she looked away. “Yeah,” he whispered. “You’re probably right.”
“I’m sure there are programs that could help you figure out what you don’t know,” she insisted, forcing herself to peek at him again.
“Yeah. I’ll look into that.”
Serenity staredup at the ceiling the following morning, and a smile tugged at her lips. Their friend date had certainly felt like more after the fact.
No, Reese hadn’t kissed her or even attempted to hold her hand. He’d talked to her, taken her to places in town she’d had yet to explore. He’d made her laugh, and they’d shared their thoughts on their futures.
It had been one of the most fun outings she’d had since her husband had passed.
And she craved more.
Was that bad? Of course she knew that people wouldn’t fault her for putting herself out there again to find companionship. Her boys could use some male role models in their lives. Still, it just felt strange to think about letting another man hold her the way her husband had—to care for her the way he had.
Her face flushed, and she rolled over as if she could escape the emotions fighting just beneath the surface.
A soft knock at the door pulled her into the present, and she called out, “Yeah?”
Jane’s voice came through the closed door. “You got another one.”
Serenity flung the blankets from her body and pulled her legs to the edge of the bed before placing her feet on the plush carpeting and darting for the door. It wasn’t far, and yet, when she yanked the door open, she was breathing heavier—like she’d just gone for a run.
Jane hadn’t needed to say more than that. Serenity already knew what she was referring to.
A flower.
The only question was?—
“And there’s a note this time.”
Serenity blushed. She hadn’t told Jane about the last letter she’d gotten. Nor the simple note she’d received when Jane was out of town. It had been similar to the first—just a snippet of comforting words.
Jane lifted a brow, but there was no hiding the hint of a smile that graced her lips. Serenity let out a laugh and snatched the note and the flower. “Thank you.”
