“The 16th.”
“Really? November 16th?”
“Yeah, why?”
“That’s Jake’s birthday.”
“Seriously?” That was pretty random.
“I guess it’s a popular birthday.”
“I guess so.”
Molly started to say something but she was drowned out by cheering. “I take it we scored another touchdown.”
“Sounds like it. Jake’s going to be happy.”
“I bet. Are you guys doing anything after?”
“He said something about ice cream.” I stood up and dusted off some grass stuck to my jeans.
“This is his first time meeting Noah, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.” I sighed. I hoped it went well.
“Listen, Jake can sometimes say or do stupid things, but he is a good guy. He likes kids. Don’t let any of his antics fool you.”
“Thanks.”
Molly walked back up to the bleachers just as Mel came down. Mel helped me keep Noah entertained long enough to wait for Jake. I knew it was going to be awhile, and I was starting to debate just going home. It was getting late and Noah was going to start getting cranky. As soon as I suggested it to Mel she shot it down.
“Don’t start making excuses. You want this to work, so make it work.”
“It’s not just an excuse, it’s late—”
I stopped when I saw Jake heading our way. He looked nervous, and somehow that made me feel better. I wasn’t the only one.
“Hey.” He stopped right in front of us like he didn’t know what to do. He probably didn’t.
Noah tugged on my leg for me to pick him up. I complied. “Hey, Jake. This is Noah.”
“Hi, Noah.” Jake took a step closer and smiled at him. Noah picked his head up off my chest and smiled back tentatively.
“Congratulations on the win.” I belatedly remembered to say it.
He looked at me. “Thanks. I’m really glad you guys came. I thought you left before half-time, but then I realized Molly wasn’t sitting there either so you probably went somewhere with her.”
“Yeah. She helped me entertain Noah. He gets stir crazy.”
“I don’t blame him.”
We stood awkwardly for a minute until Mel intervened. “Emily mentioned ice cream, are we going to Sweet Leaf?”
“Of course. Where else would we go?” Jake looked at Noah. “What do you say, do you want ice cream?”
Noah grinned.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
Jake slipped his hand around mine as we headed toward the parking lot. It felt a lot more natural than I expected to be holding his hand with Noah in my arms.
***
“I didn’t think you were actually going to take us for ice cream.” I sat next to Noah in a booth, and Mel and Jake were across from us. Sweet Leaf was a really cute little shop that still served homemade ice cream. The boy serving us, who couldn’t have been more than sixteen, made sure to tell me that all the toppings were homemade too.
“I told you I would.”
I gave Noah another bite of the hot fudge sundae we were sharing. There had been at least ten flavors to choose from, but Noah pointed to vanilla. I didn’t mind. Sometimes the simplest flavors were the best.
“So what did you think of your first Clayton Falls Mustangs game?” Jake licked some chocolate ice cream that was about to drip off his cone. He noticed me watching him and smiled.
“It was fun. I think Noah enjoyed it too. Didn’t you?”
Noah was too busy with the ice cream to answer.
“Either way, he likes this.” Jake gestured to the dish Noah was about to pull onto his lap. I grabbed it just in time.
“No question about that.” I wiped Noah’s face with a napkin. There was a little bit left in the dish, but he’d definitely had enough.
“Hey Noah, do you want to go for a walk?” Mel asked.
Noah nodded.
“Okay, let’s go.” She started to get up.
“You don’t have to do that—”
Mel have me a ‘don’t bother arguing’ look. “I want to. We’ll be back in a bit.”
I kissed Noah on the forehead. “Be good for Aunt Mel.”
I watched them leave.
Jake waited until the bell jingled, signaling their departure, before talking. “He’s a really cute kid.”
“Thank you.” I glanced over Jake’s head at the picture of two little boys sharing a waffle cone. I wondered how old those boys were now.
“He seems really sweet.”
I laughed. “That’s because you haven’t seen him when he doesn’t nap. Wait another hour and you might get a preview.”
“From what my mom tells me, I was quite the handful when I was little. He’s probably like me.”
I could imagine Jake being like that. “This was fun. Thanks for inviting us.”
“Thanks for coming.” He reached across the table and took my hand.
I took a deep breath and made myself speak. “Listen. I don’t know if you were only doing this because you thought you had to, but I’m not expecting anything from you.”
He squeezed my hand. “I’ve never done this before. I have no clue how it’s going to work, but we’ll figure it out.”
“You mean you think dating a single mom might be complicated?”
He smiled. “Maybe a little when you combine it with the fact that I currently have no license.”
“That’s only for a year.”
“True. A year isn’t that long.”
I balled up my napkin. “Where do we go from here?”
Jake flipped over my hand. He ran a finger over my palm. “You agree to another date with me.”
“I will, but I have to make sure I can get a sitter.”
“We’ll figure it out, and a date can include Noah. I just want to know that I get to see you again.”
“You can if you want to.” I looked down at the table.
“Hey, look at me.”
I listened and met his gaze.
He took my hand in both of his. “I want to see you. I definitely want to.”
“All right.”
“What’s your schedule like? Are you off weekends now?”
“I’m starting on weekday day shifts. I’ll work seven to seven four days a week, but I might pick up extra shifts here and there.”
“How about next Saturday night?”
“As long as I find a sitter.”