Dating for Two

Steve found himself mesmerized by her, as well. But what really caught his attention was when he glanced in Jason’s direction and saw that his ordinarily solemn son’s face was animated, that he was taking in everything she said.

And when Tex requested “just a teeny, tiny taste” of one of the children in the audience, he was stunned to see Jason laughing. Actually laughing.

Jason hadn’t laughed since Julia had died.

Steve could feel his heart constricting within his chest. When he’d lost his mother, the light had simply gone out of Jason’s eyes. Not only that, but his entire personality had undergone a drastic change. He had become introverted, retreating into the world of video games. He’d completely stopped playing with his friends, stopped everything that even vaguely reminded him of a time when his mother was still around.

While it worried him, Steve was afraid to push the subject, afraid he might make things worse. His friends advised him to give Jason time.

But how much was enough? No one had an answer, least of all him.

And meanwhile, here Jason was, responding to a make-believe dinosaur and the woman who had given that T. rex life. It left Steve in utter awe. So much so that it took him a minute before he realized that Jason’s teacher was saying something to all of them.

“—and I would like to thank both Ms. O’Brien and Mr. Kendall for coming in this morning and taking the time to talk to us about what they do for a living,” Mrs. Reyes concluded.

The next minute, Erin was leaning into him, keeping her voice low as she prompted, “I think she wants us to stand up now.”

Like a pop-up toy on a three-second delay, Steve quickly rose to his feet. He managed to effectively cover up his chagrin. He’d been so wrapped up in his discovery and his thoughts about Jason that he hadn’t been paying attention to what the teacher was saying.

He flashed a quick smile at the older woman, who looked pleased. “Class, how do we say thank you to these two nice people?”

In response to her question, the children began to clap.

“Thank you for your attention,” Steve said, acknowledging their applause.

“Maybe next time, you’ll have some tasty snacks for me,” Erin said in her best Tex the T. rex voice.

The class clapped harder as they laughed and cheered.

“You certainly know your audience,” Steve told her in an aside.

“I was a kid once,” she said by way of an explanation. “Weren’t you?”

“I can’t remember,” he answered, tongue in cheek.

He noticed that the valise she had brought with her seemed to be bulging excessively despite the fact that she had brought samples of the toys her company put out and those were now safely in the hands of her audience. The valise appeared almost too bulky for her to handle.

“Here, let me help you with that,” Steve offered as he pushed open the classroom door so that she could walk out first.

“That’s okay,” Erin demurred, crossing the threshold. She switched hands, taking the valise into her left one in order not to bang it into him. “I’ve been lugging around Tex and his friends since before they had a toy factory to call home.”

Steve wasn’t about to take no for an answer. He closed the classroom door behind him and caught up to her in less than two strides. “Still, it would make me feel like a Neanderthal if I watched you struggle to your car with that.”

“You could try closing your eyes,” she suggested.

“This works better,” he countered, slipping his fingers deftly into the small space on the handle that she wasn’t currently holding.

Erin was about to pull the valise a little closer to her, telling him that she was fine and it was no big deal, but then she shrugged, deciding to surrender the suitcase rather than play tug-of-war with it.

She had to stop constantly trying to prove to the world that she wasn’t the sickly little girl anymore, she silently lectured herself. The voice in her head sounded oddly like her mother.

“Wouldn’t want you to feel like a Neanderthal,” Erin said as she let him take the valise. “I’m parked right out front.”

And then she remembered. “No, you’re not.”

The voice actually did seem as if it came out of the valise. Steve paused, looking from it to her. “Your suitcase is arguing with you?”

“Sorry, I do that sometimes when I’m nervous. Tex puts me on a more even keel,” she explained.

“You’re nervous?” he asked, amazed, thinking she was referring to having to speak in front of Jason’s class. “You certainly didn’t act like it.”

“That’s why I have Tex.” Actually, she’d been fine talking to the class. She related to children. Her problem was talking to adults. That made her nervous. But he did seem like a nice man. At least he hadn’t said anything about her behaving strangely.

“I just remembered that I’m not parked right out front—I had to park by the curb. The school parking lot was full when I arrived. They really should have more parking spaces,” she said as they walked out of the building.

Steve looked around. She was right. All the parking spaces in front of the school were filled with vehicles.

“I guess when they built the parking lot, they didn’t count on so many of the sixth graders driving,” Steve quipped.

He had a sense of humor. She liked that. “They must not be automatically promoting them to the next grade unless they can pass their tests.”

He pretended they were having a serious conversation and deadpanned, “I guess not.”

“My car’s right over there,” Erin said, pointing to a small, economical-looking white Civic that had seen its share of miles. She unlocked the driver’s-side door, then flipped a lever to unlock the other three.

She noted that Steve was still holding her valise. “You can put the suitcase right there,” she prompted, and then smiled when she caught the surprised look on his face. She could almost see what he was thinking. “You think my car should be fancier, don’t you?”

By the looks of it, the car was about seven years old or so and while it wasn’t dented, it did appear weathered.

“I just thought you looked more like the sports-car type.”

“Nope, not me. Besides, Jeffy runs very well,” she said, patting the car’s hood. “He was there for me when I needed him and I tend to be very faithful if something comes through for me.”

Was she just talking about her car, or did she mean that in general? he wondered. The women he’d encountered lately all seemed to be interested in “newer, fancier, better.” Sticking with something reliable didn’t seem to be in their game plans. He was drawn to this woman with the funny voices.

“Do you name everything?” he asked.

“Mostly,” she answered seriously. “But only if their personality comes through—or the name fits.”

He had to admit he was intrigued. “And just how does Jeffy fit a Civic?”

“The letters in the license plate.” To prove her point, Erin rounded the car and pointed to the rear plate, a combination of numbers and letters. The letters read JFF. “JFF is very close to Jeff, which is close to—”

“Jeffy. I get it,” he concluded, then nodded, amused. “Interesting thought process.” Not to mention that she was a very interesting woman.

He realized that if they went their separate ways right now, chances were that he would never see her again. He didn’t find that acceptable.

Outside of his law practice, he was a fairly low-key, easygoing man who definitely wasn’t pushy, which was why he hesitated now.