Cara settled into the passenger seat. “I know you expected to escape, but you know what? I had fun regardless.”
Kieran gripped the door in one hand and the frame in the other as he looked at her. They were parked under a streetlamp, so she was able to see the skepticism on his face.
“I guess that’s what counts,” he finally said. “But I really hope dinner turns out better.”
Cara reached out and touched his arm. “It will be fine.”
“I had an idea of how I wanted the evening to unfold, and so far, it’s not really working out like I’d hoped.”
“Really, it’s fine. I’m having fun.”
He stared at her for a moment before nodding. “Okay. Let’s go have some dinner.”
“Let’s,” Cara agreed.
Kieran shut her door then rounded the vehicle to slide behind the wheel. They ended up at a small out-of-the-way pub-style restaurant that wasn’t too busy. The hostess quickly seated them in a booth against the wall. The sides of the booth were high, so they had a bit of privacy for their meal, which was lovely.
The restaurant specialized in home-style comfort food, which seemed to be something Kieran favored, if his appreciation of Norma’s was anything to judge by. It was clear Kieran had been at the restaurant before because he had no trouble deciding what he wanted. The mac and cheese he’d ordered with his meatloaf sounded good, but she was more in the mood for chicken, so she ended up ordering fried chicken with mac and cheese.
Once the waitress had taken their orders, Kieran began to talk about the escape room again, detailing what he would have done differently if he’d had a team who was actually focused on escaping. Cara found it interesting listening to him. He was a very methodical thinker, and he remembered parts of the puzzle better than she did. She had no doubt that if they did come again with a better group, they would escape.
“Would you be interested in trying again if I could get a group together?” Kieran asked.
Cara found that she would have agreed to go with him once a week if that was what he wanted. “I think that would be fun.”
Kieran nodded as if he’d made up his mind. “I think one or two guys from work might be interested.”
When the waitress returned with their food a short time later, Kieran said grace, then they began to eat. Their conversation flowed more smoothly than Cara would have anticipated. Though their conversation was more personal, it circled around things they enjoyed doing and what they did in their spare time and thankfully steered clear of discussions about their families.
“So you used to run, but you don’t anymore?” Kieran asked when they got onto the subject of exercise.
“It’s not that I don’t run, I just choose to do it indoors on my treadmill now.”
“I understand that. I usually run early in the morning, though sometimes I need to decompress at the end of a bad day, and running is how I do that.” He sat back as the waitress returned to refill their water glasses. When she left them alone again, he said, “Would you like to run together sometime?”
It wasn’t something she’d ever done with someone before, but that had more to do with lack of opportunity rather than lack of desire. “Sure. That might be more fun than running on my own.”
“Have you done any hiking on the trails around here?”
“No. I’ve been a bit reluctant to do that kind of exploring by myself.” She gave him a rueful smile. “As I’m sure you’re finding out, I don’t tend to venture out too much on my own.”
“That’s not a bad thing. I mean, my mom is kind of like that, but if there is something you’d like to do but don’t want to do it on your own, just let me know. Maybe we can work it out to do together.”
His words sent warmth spiraling through Cara. After losing her mother and then giving up her identity, she hadn’t spent time cultivating relationships that would give her friends she could do things with. Even as one chapter was coming to an end with her father’s terminal illness, another was starting, and she knew that how it unfolded was up to her in a lot of ways. Whether she chose to remain distant from the town and its residents being one of them.
Once they’d finished their meal, the waitress cleared away their dishes then offered them dessert. Normally after such a filling meal, Cara would turn down dessert, but when it seemed like Kieran was interested in something, she couldn’t resist. In the end, they decided to have coffee and share a piece of peanut butter chocolate cheesecake.
It was the best evening Cara had experienced in years, and she was glad she’d decided to take the risk of agreeing to a date with Kieran. It was probably too soon to admit to any sort of romantic feelings, but for the first time in a long time, she was willing to at least consider opening her heart to someone.
After they’d finished at the restaurant, Kieran took his time driving back to New Hope. Cara was glad that he wasn’t in a rush as she found herself reluctant to have the evening end, leaving her to face the quiet of her apartment.
When he pulled up to the back of the building, Cara had to fight the urge to check her phone to make sure everything was okay in her apartment. However, she didn’t want to have to explain her obsession to Kieran, so instead, she climbed out of the Jeep without digging her phone out of her purse.
Kieran came to stand next to her, the lights she’d mounted above her garage illuminating him. “I had a really good time—even though we didn’t escape like I would have liked.”
“It was wonderful. Thank you for planning it for us.”
“It was absolutely my pleasure,” Kieran assured her.
They stood close, and for a moment, Cara thought he might kiss her. But instead of pressing his lips to hers, he just brushed a kiss against her cheek. With him so close, she wished he’d wrap his arms around her and hold her tight. It felt like it had been forever since someone had last fully hugged her.
“Will I see you at church again this Sunday?” Kieran asked as he stepped back.
She was grateful that he hadn’t brought up the previous Sunday. Part of her wanted to be embarrassed that he’d seen her in such a vulnerable state, but she decided she wasn’t going to be. If they were going to have any sort of relationship—whether it be a romantic one or just a friendship—she had to allow herself to become more open with people.
“Yes. I plan to go.”
A smile transformed Kieran’s face. “Wonderful. I’ll see you there.”
She returned his smile, then reached into her purse for the device that would disarm the garage alarm and open the door. After she stepped inside, she gave Kieran a final look before she pressed it again to lower the door. It wasn’t until the door was fully down that she heard the Jeep’s engine roar then fade a minute later.
Before moving further into the building, she pulled her phone out to do her normal checks. After verifying that all looked good, she reset the garage door alarm, then disarmed everything else and climbed the stairs to her apartment. She had lights programmed to come on at certain times, so the apartment wasn’t dark when she let herself in.
Still feeling the lightness of having had such a wonderful evening, she headed into her bedroom to change into her pajamas. And even though she knew that her father would likely never read any more of what she shared about her life, Cara found she couldn’t go to bed without recording her thoughts and feelings about her time with Kieran. She wanted to have it written down in case she got the opportunity to share one more visit with him. But more than that, she wanted to be able to look back on this evening and remember it clearly.
~*~
Kieran parked his vehicle then let himself into the house, whistling as he walked. He hadn’t allowed himself to have very high expectations for the evening, not knowing how comfortable Cara would be as they went on their first date. While he hadn’t been thrilled with how things had unfolded at the escape room, Cara’s obvious pleasure in the evening made him feel good.
He’d wanted her to be able to relax and enjoy hers
elf, and if she was being honest, it seemed that she had. Out of the times they’d spent together so far, she had been the most at ease during their date. That was encouraging for him, and it made him hope that maybe…just maybe…there might be the possibility of a more serious relationship with her.
The only thing he didn’t know was when he should mention his date with Cara to his mom. He hadn’t told her about their plans, just in case things hadn’t gone well. But since they hadn’t just gone well, but had gone terrifically well, he found himself wanting to share about it with her. However, it was bad enough that his own hopes were being raised, he just didn’t want the same thing for his mom until they had a couple dates under their belts.
Kieran didn’t think that the evening had been a fluke, but he’d feel more confident sharing things with his mom if they’d had at least two or three dates that had turned out as well as the first one. Of course, now he had to come up with more ideas. Creative dates had never been his strong suit, so it would take some effort, but he was fine with working on that.
When Kieran walked into church on Sunday morning, he glanced around, hoping to see Cara. Unfortunately, she didn’t appear to have arrived yet. He hung around at the back for a few minutes, talking with people as they approached him, all the while keeping an eye on the door.
Just a few minutes before the service was to start, the worship team made their way onto the stage. Kieran contemplated sitting at the back, but in the end, he made his way to the row where his mom was sitting with Mary. He leaned down to give her a kiss on the cheek, then took a seat beside her.
He had to remind himself that first and foremost, he was at the service to worship. It would be nice to do that while sitting next to Cara, but her presence—or lack of it—shouldn’t influence his ability to focus. Sadly, however, because he was human, he did find himself wondering why she hadn’t shown up.
When they stood up to sing after the welcome, he glanced back over his shoulder but still didn’t see her there. Disappointment swirled through him as he tried to prepare his heart and his mind for worship. It wasn’t the end of the world that she hadn’t made it. They’d still see each other another time.
After the sermon was over, the worship team led them in another song as the pastor walked to the back of the sanctuary to stand by the door. At the close of the service, Kieran stood to talk with a couple in the row in front of him.
When their conversation drew to a close, his mom said, “I ended up putting on a roast. Did you want to come over for lunch? Mary said she’d come.”
Kieran glanced to the back of the church, his gaze landing on Cara where she stood talking with Pastor Evans. “I’m going to have to take a rain check on that, Mom.”
“Okay, sweetie.” She gave him a quick hug. “See you sometime this week.”
Kieran walked to the outside of the row, then made his way back to where the pastor stood chatting with Cara. They looked like they were having an actual conversation as opposed to the normal shaking of hands and quick greeting most people engaged in as they left the sanctuary, eager to get home or wherever they were going for lunch.
He stopped a few feet away to give them privacy, smiling at Eli and Anna as they walked past. Leah was with them and gave him a quick nod but no smile. He knew what had happened with her dad, even though that had occurred while he was still in New York. He wasn’t sure how much that played a role in her demeanor or if she really was just the total opposite of her twin sister even though they were identical in appearance. The only reason he was able to tell them apart was that Sarah always had a smile for him while Leah never did.
“Hi.”
Kieran looked over to see Cara standing next to him. “Hey.”
“Sorry I was late getting here,” she said with a grimace, but she didn’t offer any explanation.
“No problem. Just figured you weren’t able to make it.”
“I debated not coming, but I had told you I would.”
And now what were they supposed to do? Kieran realized he hadn’t really thought through what they’d do after church. Provided she wanted to do something.
“It’s a nice day out,” he said. “Would you like to go for a little drive? Maybe grab some lunch?”
“Sure, I’d like that.” She gestured to her clothes. “Should I change?”
“We’ll be outside if you’re up for it, so it just depends how comfortable you are.”
“Maybe I’ll change.”
“Sounds good. I’ll swing by Norma’s and grab us some lunch. Sandwiches okay?”
She nodded. “And some cookies?”
“Of course,” he said with a grin. “Always cookies. Do you want a milkshake as well?”
“If you’re going to get one, sure.”
As they left the church, Kieran didn’t look around to see who might be noticing them together. For all he knew, his mom was watching them. No doubt he’d hear from her sooner rather than later if she was.
They went their separate ways outside the church with a plan for Kieran to come by to pick her up after he’d gotten their lunch from the restaurant. He had a destination in mind. He just hoped it wasn’t too busy since it was such a nice day.
It was about half an hour before he finally pulled up behind her building. When he texted he was there, the garage door opened, and Cara stepped out. As he hopped out to open the Jeep door for her, Kieran wondered why she didn’t have a back door. Granted, if she was worried about security, a single-entry point was easier to secure than two.
“Oh, the food smells great. Did you get more than just sandwiches?”
“I might have picked up a couple of orders of fries.”
“That’s definitely what I’m smelling.”
“I couldn’t resist.”
The drive to the park where he wanted to go didn’t take too long as it wasn’t far from the town. It didn’t have any spots for camping or a nice beach area, but it had plenty of picnic tables that overlooked the nearby river. It wasn’t a big river, and people often swam at other spots along it.
There were only a handful of cars in the small parking lot when he pulled in, so it didn’t look like it would be too busy. He climbed out and retrieved their food from the floor behind his seat. Cara came around and took the drink tray from him.
“I’ve never been here before,” Cara said. “I didn’t even know this place existed.”
“It’s a nice spot that isn’t too busy most of the time.” Kieran didn’t share that he’d found it on one of his long runs as he’d tried to deal with his grief and the disintegration of his relationship with Toni when he’d first come back to New Hope after his father’s death. There had been plenty of times he’d sat at one of the tables in the dark, trying to figure out how to move forward with his life.
They walked through the grass to an empty table close to the water. The water made a soothing sound as it flowed by, tumbling over and around the rocks.
“This is so beautiful.” Cara set the drink tray down and turned to look at the river and the thick forest on the other side.
Kieran had seen the view many times, so he kept his gaze on Cara. She’d changed into a pair of skinny jeans and a large sweatshirt along with a pair of flat ankle boots. Her hair was loose, and it ruffled in the light breeze that picked up for a moment. Kieran fought the urge to tuck the errant strands behind her ear.
She turned away from the river and settled down on the bench of the picnic table. “I really don’t know much about the area around here. I’ve been so busy trying to get my studio up and running and dealing with some personal stuff that I haven’t taken the time to explore.”
Kieran sat down across from her. “Well, I will happily play tour guide for you and show you the sites.”
She smiled and said, “I look forward to that.”
He did too, Kieran thought as he opened the bag and began to pull out the food. He set a container of fries in front of Cara while she worked the milkshakes free from the tray. Once
they had their food, Kieran said a prayer of thanks.
“Ketchup?” he asked as he fished several packets out of the bag.
“Nope. Norma’s fries are the perfect amount of salty, so I rarely eat them with ketchup.”
“Perfect. All the more for me.”
“Ketchup fan?”
“To hear my mother tell it, ketchup was the only condiment I was interested in for the first five years of my life, and I ate it on everything. I even ate cheese and ketchup sandwiches.”
Cara made a gagging sound. “Seriously?”
“Yep. Can’t say I’m a fan of them now. I usually confine my ketchup use to fries, meatloaf, and scrambled eggs. Oh, and hash browns.”
“Well, it’s a relief to learn that your tastes refined with age.”
Kieran laughed. “Do you never eat ketchup? It sounds a bit like you have a dislike for it.”
“About the only thing I eat ketchup on is bad fries.”
“Is there such a thing?” Kieran asked with an arched brow.
“I take back what I said about your tastes refining. There is definitely such a thing as bad fries.”
“What is your definition of bad fries?”
“Some of the fast-food ones are definitely bad, and good fries can become bad if they get cold and soggy.”
“That’s what the microwave is for.”
Cara wrinkled her nose. “Microwave can’t fix soggy.”
“Have you always been a connoisseur of French fries?”
“I kind of became one.” Cara ate a fry before continuing. “I had to watch what I ate when I was dancing, so that meant that if I was going to indulge in something like fries, I wanted to make sure I got the very best ones. I hated wasting a cheat meal on bad food, so if I found something I liked, I stuck with it.”
“Are you as careful about what you eat now?”
Cara gave him a look. “Is that a serious question?”
Kieran shrugged. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Because you’ve eaten with me several times, and I’d have thought you’d know the answer to that question.”
Because of Him: A Christian Romance (New Hope Falls Book 2) Page 13