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“I haven’t been skating in a long time,” Lynne said. “But I’m sure you girls had fun.”
When someone at a nearby table drew Lynne’s attention, they said a prayer for their food and began to eat. Charli and Blake didn’t talk much as the girls chatted up a storm about everything from their skating and ballet lessons to what they wanted for Christmas.
Charli found that she was really looking forward to the holiday season. She always did, but this year had the potential to be something even more special.
Since it was a school and work night, they didn’t linger long over their meal. Blake insisted on paying, which made Lynne’s eyes light up with interest, and then they left the diner.
The girls said goodbye to each other before climbing into the vehicles, out of reach of the cold air.
“Is it okay if I still call you later?” Blake asked, keeping his voice low.
“Yes.”
He smiled. “Great. I’ll talk to you in a bit.”
Charli returned his smile, then got into her car and turned it on. She wasn’t able to dwell much on what had transpired earlier between the two of them because Layla had plenty she wanted to talk about.
Charli waited for her to ask about her and Blake, figuring she’d observed their close interactions. But apparently, she’d been too focused on Amelia and their skating to notice anything to question.
By the time Blake called shortly after nine, Charli was feeling restless with anticipation. She wanted to talk about things, but as soon as she heard his voice, her nerves had her letting him take the lead in their conversation.
“Thank you again for agreeing to my idea to take the girls skating,” Blake said after she answered. “Amelia wouldn’t stop talking about it.”
“Layla had fun too,” Charli said as she slipped an earbud in so she didn’t have to hold the phone.
“I enjoyed spending time with you, too.”
Smiling, Charli went into the bathroom and put the phone on the counter. “It was a lovely time.”
There were a couple beats of silence, then Blake cleared his throat. “We didn’t really have a chance to finish our discussion earlier.”
Charli dumped some cleanser on the cotton pad she held. “No. We didn’t.”
“Can we talk about it now?” he asked. “I’d really like to.”
Though nerves fluttered in her stomach, Charli said, “I’d like to as well.”
“So… do you think you want to give us a real shot?”
He was getting straight to the point.
Yes or no.
Yes or no.
It felt like a point of no return.
And maybe it was.
But if this relationship was going to work, she had to also look at it as the first step to forever.
Yes or no.
“Yes.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“Are you okay, darling?” There was concern in his aunt’s voice, which wasn’t surprising, given what she’d just told him.
