And Then One Day

by Samantha Chase

  And then cursed herself the whole way home because that was the total prompt that they needed to just deal with the situation–to poke the proverbial bear–and move on! It was like having a ticking timebomb in the room that was just waiting to go off.

  And I went and reset the damn timer.

  “What are we doing here, Dean?”

  With a slice of pizza halfway to his mouth, Dean froze. “Well, I was thinking we were going to start with the bathroom floor. The tile you picked out is great. I thought maybe…”

  But Courtney was shaking her head. “I don’t mean the work on the house, I mean…us. You. Me.” She paused and he watched her swallow hard. “So…yeah. Us.”

  Tossing the slice back into the box, he let out a long breath. This conversation was way overdue but he didn’t expect them to talk about it quite like this. He studied her face and as she watched him, he could see the unease there. Letting out a long breath, he leaned back against the wall. “I’d say that we’re…you know…dating.”

  She nodded. “Yeah, I get that, but…” She paused and began to pace. “It’s getting harder and harder to keep it a secret, and, honestly, I don’t know if we should anymore.”

  “Oh?”

  Another nod. “I don’t like lying. At all.”

  “Me either.”

  “Then why are we?” she cried, stopping in front of him.

  “Seriously? Court, we’ve talked about this. Repeatedly!”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah…Scarlett. I know, but…” She sighed. “She tried to set me up on a blind date today.”

  “What?” he demanded, pushing off of the wall. “With who? And are you going to go?”

  Her eyes went wide. “Is that what you think? That I’d go out with some random guy when we’re dating?” She went back to pacing. “Wow. Just…wow.”

  He knew that “wow” and knew he needed to calm her down. Fast.

  Stepping in front of her, he gently grasped her shoulders. “That’s not what I think, okay? I just wasn’t expecting you to tell me something like that. What was my sister thinking?”

  “She’s thinking she doesn’t want me to move!”

  And that’s when it hit him…

  “Wait, so…you’re still planning on moving?”

  Courtney went still, her green eyes going wide again. “Um…”

  “We keep putting off talking about these things, and that ends. Now,” he said firmly as he began to pace.

  “Dean…”

  “No, I’m serious! This isn’t who I am–I’m not a guy who lies or keeps things from people and I’ve never shied away from talking about things–no matter how uncomfortable it may make me! Hell, just today, I had to talk to Hunter about possibly suing Melissa for full custody! Do you think that was an easy conversation to have?”

  “You talked to Hunter today?”

  He nodded.

  “Okay, I know this is a really awkward time to interrupt your speech but…did he mention anything about a job with the public health department?”

  “Uh, yeah. Why? How do you know about it?”

  “Scarlett told me, but she didn’t have any details, just that I should talk to Hunter.”

  He groaned and wished there was someplace they could sit because it was really awkward to do this in the middle of piles of construction debris.

  “What? What’s the matter?”

  “Hunter saw you going into my house.”

  “When?”

  “Does it matter? He wanted to tell you about the job and saw you leaving Publix and figured he’d follow you back here and then…”

  “I went to your place,” she finished for him. “So…okay. Um…how did you explain it?”

  “I told him the truth,” he admitted. “There was no way I could lie to him.”

  She paled. “And…what did he say?”

  It was like they were focusing on all the wrong things. Reaching out, he took one of her hands in his. “It doesn’t matter what he said, Court. Hell, it doesn’t matter what anyone says. We are in a relationship, right?”

  She nodded.

  “Are you looking to date anyone else?”

  She shook her head.

  “Neither am I.” He took a steadying breath and said the thing they both had been avoiding. “And I’m done hiding. So I say we ditch this pizza, go home and get cleaned up and then go out someplace here in town. No more driving down to Wilmington or up to New Bern. Here. And it doesn’t matter who sees us.”

  Her smile was a little slow and a little shy. “Are you…are you sure about this? Because you know people are going to talk.”

  “People are always going to talk, and if anyone wants to say anything to our faces, then we’ll deal with it, right?”

  She nodded and then a nervous giggle escaped. “Oh, my goodness. We’re really doing this. We’re going to go out as a couple and…”

  “And have a great night,” he said with confidence before leaning in and kissing her. “Now I know we were having pizza, but how about Italian? Like a real dinner. We can go to Michael’s. I know how much you like the alfredo.”

  Blushing, she nodded. “I really do.”

  “So is that a yes?”

  “That’s a yes. Let’s do this!”

  Within minutes, Dean was in his truck and Courtney was in her car leading the way home. He took the pizza with them because they could heat it up for lunch tomorrow. There was no point in throwing it out when neither had even taken a bite.

  As they drove, he couldn’t help but smile. It felt so good to have finally talked to Courtney about them. And he meant what he said–he didn’t care what anyone had to say. It wasn’t anyone’s business. Was he expecting there to be a lot of pushback? Not really. Mostly it was going to be from his family, but all he had to do was remind all of them that he was the most responsible of the bunch and he wasn’t messing around with Courtney. He cared about her. In fact, he cared about her a lot.

  Now that he thought about it, he realized that forcing her not to tell anyone what was going on between them might have hurt her feelings. And that was the last thing he ever wanted to do. So he vowed to make it up to her. Dean knew he wasn’t an overly demonstrative man–he was always the levelheaded one–but for her, he’d be willing to go all out and make a fool out himself if necessary.

  But hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.

  When they got back to the house, Courtney took her shower first and he was a little disappointed she didn’t invite him to join her. Not that they only showered together, but…he really enjoyed it when they did.

  But tonight was going to be different.

  They had turned a page and he needed to remember how this was going to be a big step for both of them. He wanted to make it special–memorable–and that meant he could wait to make love to her until after they got home.

  Although…there wasn’t much he could do on such short notice to make this a really romantic date. It was too late to get reservations to a nicer restaurant and too late to get her flowers, so…where did that leave him?

  Raking a hand through his hair, he paced the length of the living room and racked his brain for ideas. They had already decided where they were going for dinner, but what about after that? He wasn’t really into hanging out at a bar or club.

  But maybe she did.

  Okay, if that was something she wanted to do, then Dean knew he’d do it.

  That meant he had a few hours to come up with a better and more appealing idea.

  A few minutes later he heard the shower turn off and figured he’d go take his. Walking into the bedroom, he pulled a clean pair of jeans out of the closet along with a shirt that actually buttoned. It wasn’t often that he had to dress up–not that jeans and a nice shirt would be considered dressing up, but for him it was. Still, he figured it was better than donning another t-shirt.

  Another few minutes went by and Courtney still hadn’t come out of the bathroom and that’s when it hit him.

  He’d neve
r had to share a bathroom with a woman before.

  Well, he had shared a bathroom with Scarlett when they were growing up but by the time she hit the teen years, he had already moved out.

  Was she going to stay in there until she was ready? And how long was that going to take? Ever since he brought her home with him, he hadn’t been around when she got ready to go out anywhere. Sure, he’d been here when she got ready to go work on Scarlett’s place, but that wasn’t something he’d really consider “going out.”

  Should he knock on the bathroom door and ask how long she’ll be? Go and make himself a sandwich and watch some TV? Why was this so complicated? Placing his clothes down on the bed, he was about to walk out of the room when the bathroom door opened. Courtney was wrapped in a towel and her hair was too. Even without an ounce of makeup on, she was beautiful. All he could do was stop and stare.

  She, of course, gave him a bright smile as she breezed around the room grabbing what she needed. “I’m glad we’re going someplace casual. I don’t have anything dressy in the suitcase. All my nice clothes are in boxes on the trailer or in storage back at my parents’ place.” She rummaged through her suitcase and pulled out a few things before she straightened and looked at him. “The bathroom’s all yours. I’ll finish getting ready in here while you do your thing.”

  “Really? Are you sure?” It almost seemed too easy.

  Nodding, she walked back into the bathroom and came out carrying her makeup bag, some brushes, hairspray, and her blow dryer. “I’m going to get dressed in here and then finish up in the other bathroom. No biggie.”

  He wanted to question it because so many of his friends who were married or living with their girlfriends complained about how they never got time in their own bathrooms. But…who was he to argue? He already knew Courtney was different and this little show of consideration just made him like her even more.

  “Great,” he replied, reaching for his pile of clothes. “Thanks. I should be done in fifteen minutes, but don’t feel like you have to rush on my account.”

  She simply smiled and went about doing her thing, and when he stepped out of the bathroom fifteen minutes later, she was waiting for him in the living room.

  Her hair and makeup were done and she was wearing a pair of black skinny jeans and an off-the-shoulder black and white polka dot top. All he could think of was how she looked amazing.

  At the stunned look on his face, she laughed. “Admit it, you thought I was going to take much longer to get ready.”

  “Well…” No way was he going to admit it and potentially ruin their night.

  “It’s okay,” she said, picking up her purse from the sofa. “There are times I take way longer, but I was motivated to get done quickly.”

  “Court, I told you you didn’t need to rush.”

  Walking over, she kissed him on the cheek. “Believe it or not, it wasn’t for your benefit. It was for mine.” And before he could comment, she added, “I’m starving!” Then she laughed. “C’mon! Let’s go!”

  Living in a small town meant it didn’t take long to get to the restaurant or to be seated. Their waitress was a woman named Lila who graduated with him way back when. She smiled at them both but didn’t seem the least bit interested in the fact that he and Courtney were out together. And over the course of the meal, they each saw several familiar faces who they either waved to or chatted with briefly and none of them seemed shocked or horrified that they were out together.

  Could it be we’re the only ones freaking out over this?

  Over dinner they talked about the work they wanted to get done on Scarlett’s house and then talked about the potential job opening at the public health department. It wasn’t exactly what she wanted to be doing, but she was keeping an open mind. He was proud of her for being smart about it. She had a fairly specialized job and it appeared to be one that there weren’t many openings in.

  Especially not anywhere close to Magnolia.

  Dean knew he took it for granted how much easier his trade was. Even if his father’s garage closed, he knew there was always a need for a good mechanic.

  He just hoped he never had to test that theory.

  Either way, as he listened to her talk about the different possibilities of positions she was trained for in the public health department, he realized just how intelligent she was too.

  Something he never noticed while she and Scarlett were growing up.

  There was a time when he even wondered if she’d graduate high school because she was forever skipping classes and going to the beach or getting her hair or nails done. He lost track of the times he had warned his sister that she better not be doing the same things her friend was.

  And then he realized just how much of a parental role he really had taken on and how it was a wonder all his siblings didn’t hate him.

  “Why would your siblings hate you?” Courtney asked, confusion written all over her face.

  He hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but now that he had…

  After briefly explaining his train of thought to her, he hoped he hadn’t insulted her.

  With a bright laugh, she smiled at him. “Oh my goodness! Yes! Scarlett used to complain about you all the time and how it was like having two dads!”

  “It wasn’t that bad…”

  But all she did was smile and nod.

  “Come on, I’m the oldest and I was the one who had to babysit and be responsible for all of them! So maybe from time to time I may have acted like one of the parents, but…”

  “Nuh-uh. You acted like that all the time. It’s like you couldn’t even help yourself. Always quick with advice on how to correct everything we were doing wrong,” she said, still chuckling. “Kyle used to imitate you and it was so spot on!”

  Okay, now this was getting a little out of control.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s great,” he murmured before smiling at Lila as she came to collect their dishes. “Can we skip all the ways that I’m a terrible person and go back to telling me about job possibilities?”

  Reaching across the table, Courtney rested her hand on top of his and gave him a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry. I really wasn’t making fun of you or even implying that you’re a terrible person.” She squeezed his hand. “You were our rock. You were the one who we all counted on to be there. And yeah, maybe sometimes you were a bit of a jerk and super bossy, but the rest of the time, you were just this great guy who was always looking out for us. So…I think that makes you a pretty awesome person.”

  Now he could practically feel himself blush. “You don’t have to…”

  “Hey,” she interrupted softly. “I know I don’t have to say it, but I am saying it because it’s true.”

  They stayed like that, Dean linking his fingers with hers, and just enjoyed the moment. It was nice how neither of them felt the need to make pointless conversation.

  “Would either of you like dessert?” Lila asked when she came back over. “We’ve got the best chocolate chess pie and cheesecake–but I’m sure you both know that already.”

  Dean smiled and caught Courtney doing the same. “I think I’ll go for the cheesecake.”

  “And I’ll take the chess pie, please.”

  “Y’all just balance each other out,” Lila said with a big smile. “I love when couples each order something different so they can share. You’re adorable.”

  It wasn’t such a bad thing to hear at all.

  Maybe everyone would feel that way.

  11

  On Monday morning, Dean found himself staring at Courtney’s car which was currently on the lift. Other cars needed to be worked on–ones that he knew he could work on quickly and get them back to their owners in less time–but he’d put this off long enough. It was time for him to ease his conscience and get the car fixed and then let her decide whether she was going to stay in Magnolia or go on with her move.

  “Dean, I just got off the phone with Mrs. Alden and…” His father stopped beside him and foll
owed his gaze up to Courtney’s car. “How come that’s on the lift? Mrs. Alden needs her car back by noon. I thought that was what you were starting with today.”

  Nodding, he took a slow sip of his coffee. “I just thought we should get this done. It’s not right that we’ve kept it here this long.” Over the weekend, they brought the trailer over to his place so Courtney could easily get to any of her things she needed and that’s when he realized that he couldn’t have this lie between them anymore.

  “Well, we talked about it and agreed it was an okay thing to do if it was helping Courtney. From what your sister’s been telling me, she lent Courtney her car and she’s possibly got a lead on a local job. We have other cars that have priority here today, Dean. If this is bothering you that much, you can work on it after hours, but for right now, I really need you to start on Mrs. Alden’s Hyundai.”

  “Dad…”

  “Nope. I’m serious,” Domenic said firmly. “I appreciate your conscience and all that, but we’re busy right now, and friends and family don’t get preferential treatment. At least not today, so…get this car down and get Mrs. Alden’s up there. You know how snippy she gets when she has to wait too long.”

  His father walked away but Dean didn’t exactly spring into action. He stood there and finished his coffee and tried to work out the rest of his day in his head. They had a full lot of cars waiting for work and that meant a full day. If he did want to work on Courtney’s car, he would have to work late. And working late meant…

  Not being with Courtney.

  Not that they were one of those couples who couldn’t bear to be apart, but he found he liked going home to her at the end of the day. He liked walking in the door and having her there to greet him and kiss him and–usually–shower with him.

  Yeah. Best part of his day.

  Working late meant missing out on that. Maybe if he just spent…

  “Why is Courtney’s car up on the lift?”

  Turning, he saw Scarlett standing behind him looking all kinds of annoyed. She glared at him, arms crossed and resting on her pregnant belly.