“It really did.”
“Good.” He kissed the top of her head. “It’s good to hear that I can help you even when I’m not there.”
“I’m grateful.” Misty looked around. “Now, are we washing some windows or what?”
The morning passed with a pleasant sense of hard work and camaraderie. Misty enjoyed working alongside people she didn’t see very often. It made her think about how much of her perspective on her own community was colored by mostly interacting with people when there was a problem of some kind. It was nice to get out and be involved in a project that was all positive, no danger or lawbreaking involved at all.
Everyone broke for pizza at lunch. Misty suspected that some of the volunteers had come because they couldn’t afford to turn down free food, so she made sure to take only a single slice, leaving as much as possible for other people. Ty, she noticed, did the same.
“This is a good precedent,” Ty murmured to her, when she shared the observation. “If people start to think about this place as somewhere where they can get food if they need it, but also where they can feel useful, that’ll be a huge benefit. There’s lots of people who hate the idea of accepting charity, but will be happy to take food if it’s in exchange for their own labor.”
Misty nodded. “There are a lot people up here who are poor but proud. I know Pauline struggled with getting Drew’s mom to accept her help, and she was even family. No one wants to admit that they can’t take care of themselves and their families.”
“No,” Ty sighed. “But we can make a difference.”
Misty smiled, thinking about the future.
Then she had to wonder when the last time was that she’d felt so optimistic. Usually, it seemed like she was just treading water, getting ahead of the inevitable tide of criminal behavior. Her father had always insisted things were getting worse, that there wasn’t enough funding or police personnel to take care of it all, keep everyone in line.
Maybe he’d been focusing his efforts on the wrong side of the equation. Stopping criminals after they broke the law, rather than before.
“Hey,” Ty said in her ear. “After we’re done here, do you want to go to dinner with me?”
She pulled back and smiled up at him. “Are you asking me out on a date?”
“Want to be sure about it this time?” he asked, eyes sparkling.
“It pays to confirm these things,” she said seriously.
“Well, let me confirm: yes, I’m asking you out on a date. Are you interested?”
Misty pretended to think. Ty pretended to look offended. She started to laugh.
“I never joked around like this before I met you,” she said, wondering.
“I love hearing you laugh,” he said. “You should have laughter in your life every single day.”
That was something Misty never would’ve said she wanted. But hearing it from Ty, with his bright eyes and his big smile, she couldn’t think of anything she wanted more than for him to keep making her laugh.
***
Ty
After a day spent in honest labor—probably not what Sam had meant by vacation, but Ty found it refreshing as all get-out, much more than lying around all day—they went back to Oliver’s.
Carlos had recommended some fancy tourist place over nearer the Park, but Ty was pretty sure Misty wasn’t a fancy-restaurant kind of a woman. Plus, he wasn’t a fancy-restaurant kind of guy. Most of the restaurants he’d patronized over the last fifteen years or so had been drive-thrus on his way from one appointment to another, or kid-friendly places with plastic booths and crayon placemats.
Besides, he’d found that he liked Oliver’s. With its dark wood, comfortable booths, and local crowd, it had a homey feel to it that he appreciated. And he certainly wasn’t complaining about the food.
Or the company. Misty was gorgeous in his shirt, with wisps of hair escaping her bun and framing her beautiful face. He couldn’t believe he got to look at that face every day for the rest of his life.
“Let’s split some appetizers,” Misty suggested, perusing the menu, not noticing his heartfelt appreciation of her stunning beauty. “My treat tonight, by the way.”
It took a second for him to hear what she’d said. “Wait a second, I never agreed to that,” Ty objected. “Remember what I told you about my mom.”
“I’m an independent, modern woman,” Misty said dryly. “I can treat if I want to.”
Hard to argue with that logic. Still. “It feels wrong.”