“I wanted to surprise Vince.” I stopped by the register and turned to look down into her eyes. God, how could she be this beautiful? “And you too.”
She looked away, but the smile on her face meant she was flattered by my words. That was true.
“Come on, you two love birds.” Kylie’s mom picked up Vince, and we walked to the back of the store.
“What’s a love bird, Nana?” Vince asked, and we laughed.
We sat down and sat quickly, everyone quiet as they inhaled their meal. It seemed that lunch was a great idea. Everyone had to have been starving.
As we finished the meal, Kylie stood up to clean our table and prepare for her shift. I followed her as she went out of the convenience store, throwing the garbage into the huge dumpster outside.
“Kylie.”
“Yeah?” She faced me after throwing the bags of garbage in the dumpster. I was distracted by her again, her beauty blowing me away. The words I wanted to say suddenly vanished from my head.
“I was just wondering if you have anything planned for tomorrow night.” I raised the question, hoping like hell that she didn’t. I had something planned for her, a surprise of sorts for her helping me so much lately.
“Nothing, as of now. Why? Do you have some things to do? Need me to watch Vince?” she asked, knowing all too well that I would ask for help once again.
“No. I thought you could come over to the house and let me cook dinner for you. You deserve to be taken out to dinner, and it might be cocky of me, but a five-star restaurant chef is no match for my skills.”
“I thought you couldn’t cook that well.” She smiled and brightened my whole damn day with the simple action.
“I can cook certain things really well. We’ll just stick to those. You can be the judge?” We returned inside, smiling at each other like two school kids in love.
I spent the afternoon helping around the store after making sure Garren was good with it. It felt nice to give back a little, and getting the chance to watch Kylie in her tight jeans and button down shirt had me thinking that dinner wasn’t the only thing we’d be sharing the next night.
As the evening drew near, I said my goodbyes and offered a hand to Vince. He grabbed it and walked with me to the car, beaming from his fun day with everyone he ‘loved.’
“So, a good day then, right, buddy?” I asked as Vince hummed happily to the tune of his favorite song playing on the stereo.
He smiled at me, his innocent eyes full of joy. “I had so much fun, Daddy! Kylie taught me how to draw a nice, big house. Nana even told me some of the great childhood stories she used to tell Kylie when she was a kid. It was fun arranging the shelves; items are displayed based on color. I loved it when we were putting up the green ones! It’s my favorite color!” He looked like he had a lot of stories to tell. Vince was still talking about how his day was as I drove into our neighborhood, approaching our house as he narrated the rest of his fun memories of today.
“I really love them, Dad. Kylie’s so kind to me. She always gives me water and checks on me to see if I am sweaty and tired. She even allows me to watch her whenever she does her chores. I love helping her; she thinks I’m a great boy who gets her work done fast and easily! And her mom is like a grandmother to me. Is that okay that I call her Nana? I love her a lot, Dad.” He kept his eyes on me, persuading me by the words he spoke.
“Absolutely, buddy. I think she likes that a lot too.” I ruffled his hair as my heart filled up with warmth. We got out and walked to the house, Vince grabbing my shirt and pulling me to a stop just before we reached the door.
“Dad, thanks for coming to eat lunch with us. I am happy to spend the day with you.” He hugged my arm, leaning his head on my body as I felt my heart melt.
I patted his head lightly, thankful for my son’s quick recovery. He lifted his head, staring at me as he continued to speak.
“Dad, I want to cook that kind of steak again we ate during lunch. Can we do it tomorrow?” he asked.
I nodded, laughing over my son’s appetite for expensive food. His college years were going to be mighty rough on him. No steak there…
“You’re what we call a foodie, boy.” I gave him a funny look, which earned me a sweet giggle from him.
“Hey, buddy. How about you help me out by cooking a lot of delicious food tomorrow night? Kylie’s coming over to join us for dinner. We need to impress her a lot.” I knew he would be excited to see her again. Hell, I was too.
He hugged me tighter, his eyes on mine. He was excited as he nodded in fast motion, loving the idea of Kylie visiting tomorrow night. “Of course, Dad! I can also thank her tomorrow for teaching me how to draw houses.”
I opened the door and moved back as he bounced into the house. He was growing up so fast, getting so big and smart. I couldn’t have been more proud of him and felt like if I’d done one thing right in my life, it was having him.
We’d make dinner for my girl tomorrow night, and then I’d tuck him in bed and remind her just how much she meant to me.
Chapter Sixteen
Kylie