Page 46 of The Lake House

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“Where did Dave and Josie run off to? Or did you scare them away?” I ask Liv after taking a sip from my cup of iced tea.

We’re dining at her house and decided on some Chinese food for the evening.

Liv gasps and sits back in her seat. “I did not scare them away. They’re having a father-daughter date.”

I smile. “A father-daughter date?”

She nods. “Yeah. Every so often, Dave takes her out, and they do a bunch of stuff together. Tonight they were going to dinner and a movie… like a couple.” She shakes her head, giggling.

“That’s so cute,” I answer and then wipe the corner of my lips with a napkin. “So what movie did they go to see?”

She shrugs. “I’m not even sure of the name. I think it’s the latest princess fairytale adventure. Princess Penelope’s Pineapple Pie or some bullshit like that.”

I laugh. “That’s classic, but I haven’t heard of that one.”

She puts her hand up and swings it in the air. “Yeah, that’s definitely not the correct name for it, but whatever.” Liv gets up from her seat in the dining room and walks into the connecting living room. She heads over to the rack of DVDs against the wall. “Anyway, what do you think we should watch tonight? There’s a bunch of classics here that we can pop into the DVD player and go down memory lane from when we were sixteen.” She spins around and looks at me and then says, “Or we could just put something on Netflix… your choice.”

I think for a second and then respond. “You know what I really want to see?”

She flips around again to skim her DVD collection and then answers. “What’s that?”

“Your face when you hear that Declan and I are going out this Friday night.”

“Oh, that’s gr—” she immediately turns around on her heels and stares right at me. “What?!”

I nod, smiling. “This Friday.”

Her eyes light up and she dashes toward me. “Are you kidding me?! Woman, why didn’t you tell me about it sooner? Oh, my God!”

I chuckle. “I was looking for the perfect way to tell you… I think I found it.”

She laughs and then pulls me in for a hug. “Oh, Giules! I am so happy for you.” She pulls me up and then drags me over to the couch. We take a seat and then she turns her body to face me completely. “Okay, spill. Tell me everything. How it happened, when it happened, what you were wearing, what he was wearing, how he smelled… I want all the details!”

I laugh. “You are too much…”

“Come on, spill!”

I laugh again. “Okay, okay. It just happened this afternoon… I saw him outside Abner’s and we started talking, and he asked me, and I said yes. I actually didn’t even give him a chance to completely ask. I just jumped on the opportunity as soon as I realized he was asking me out again before I messed things up… again.”

Liv shakes her head, smiling from ear-to-ear. “You won’t.” She gently nudges my arm.

“What do you mean?”

She shrugs. “Girl, if you can’t see how badly he wants you, then you’re fucking blind. This man likes you… a lot.”

I bite the inside of my lip. “How can you be so sure? How can you tell?”

She shakes her head. “What man would ask a woman out again after she had already told him no? Guys typically have huge egos, and once you hurt their pride, they’re not so quick to show mercy, or for the sake of this argument, try to ask you out again.”

I think over her words and I know she’s right. He must really like me if he’s being so persistent. “I guess so.”

“I know so,” she intervenes. “So, where are you guys going on your first date? Damn, it’s about fucking time.”

I giggle. “I don’t know. We set nothing up. He just said he’s picking me up at eight on Friday.”

She nods, smiling. “Uh huh, and what are you going to wear?”

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