“I may be old, but I’m no fool.”
“We weren’t trying to get anything past you—”
“I know you’re trying to protect Gina. I understand that. But if you two wanted to go out tonight, I can watch Gina. You can go on a proper date since you only have one more day here.”
“That’s very kind of you,” I said. “I would like to do that, only if Gina isn’t a burden.”
“A burden?” she said then cackled. “Not at all. I’m going to miss her more than the two of you.”
I matched her smile. “Is there any place you recommend for dinner?”
Chloe sat back in her chair, thinking about my question. “There’s a nice place down by the beach with amazing views.”
“Has Jess been there before?”
Chloe avoided my eyes. “She hasn’t. It’s a little on the pricey side.”
“That’s okay,” I said. “I want Jess to have a night to remember before we leave.”
“Speaking of leaving,” she said. “I know you are her boss and all that, but this week has been special for me. Maybe you can give her some time off in the future to come down again?”
I reached across the table and touched her hand. “I will do that for the both of you.”
“Thank you, love,” she said.
We shared a silent moment together, filled with unspoken words before I let go of her hand and we finished our lunch.
I spent the remainder our time without Gina and Jess making arrangements for our date. Little did Chloe know that this was to be our first date and I wanted it to be perfect.
When Jess and Gina returned from the beach later that afternoon, they looked exhausted but were grinning from ear to ear.
They both sat down at the table and regaled us with their boogie board adventures.
“On our seconds run, the board broke,” Jess said laughing.
“And I rolled into the water!” Gina said.
“I picked up another board from the surf shop down the road,” Jess said. “Sorry, Mom.”
Chloe waved a hand at her daughter. “It was decrepit. I’m surprised it didn’t disintegrate when you got into the water.”
Jess laughed.
“I’ll pay you for the boogie board,” I said, reaching for my wallet.
“Don’t worry about it,” Jess said. “It’s just a boogie board.”
There was an awkward silence in the room before Chloe’s chair scraped across the floor. “Let’s get some water in the both of you before you shrivel up like raisins.”
Gina hopped off her chair to help Chloe. I turned to Jess. “So, tonight your mom is going to watch Gina while we go out to dinner.”
“Really?” Jess asked.
“Yes, and I have the whole night planned out for us.”
Jess smiled. “I can’t wait.”
I glanced at the clock. “How about you go take a shower and get ready? I want to leave around six.”