A Wifey for the Bad Boy(91)

“I’m so sorry…I shouldn’t have…” she started before he shook his head.

“No, don’t be. I am the one supposed to keep her memory alive,” he said. “Don’t be sorry.”

“So, in a desperate attempt to change the subject, how come your dad retired? I always thought he was in great shape,” she said and he shrugged.

“He just wanted to chill out and relax and it was about time anyway,” he said.

“And you were there to see it through,” she said and he nodded.

“I was.”

“So, I have to ask,” she started as she looked at him. “Why is a tall glass of perfection doing with me?”

He shook his head.

“I don’t understand,” he said.

“Well, how come you are not here with your girlfriend or fiancé or something like that?” she asked and he shook his head.

“Tried going down that road but it didn’t work out too well for me,” he said. “It’s a long story really. A long unpleasant one.”

She nodded.

“We’ve all been there,” she said.

“What about you? Family and everything?” he asked.

“Well, you know about my sisters, so there’s that. My parents live in Seattle and we are kind of weird,” she said.

“Wait, what?” he asked. “You just called your own family weird.”

“Well, yeah. We have family dinners every week,” she said.

“You do a four hour round trip to have dinner every week?” he asked and she laughed as she shook her head.

“Actually, we get together at one of our houses – Kristie, Kenzie and I – and we make dinner then we video call my parents.” She took a sip of her coffee. “Dinner usually takes longer than usual but it’s worth it.”

Sean smiled at her.

“Wow, you guys sound like some mob family or something. They are usually the ones who have weekly family dinners,” he said and she frowned at him jokingly.

“Should I be offended because I’m part Italian?” she asked and he shrugged.

“Think about it, all the people who have weekly family dinners even on TV….either Irish, Italian or…mostly mafia but I’m just saying,” he said and she laughed. She circled her finger around the rim of her cup.

“Yeah I guess,” she said. “What about you? Your family ever does anything like that?”

He nodded.

“Not weekly though,” he said in a soft voice. “We try to make it as frequent as possible but with the retirement touring around the world thing, we have the whole thing reduced to three or four times a year.”

“Whoa,” she said and he nodded.

“I know but my aunts, uncles and cousins make sure that when it happens it is usually a week long affair,” he added laughing and she smiled.

“See, everyone has their own definition of weird,” she said and he nodded again.

“Yeah, I guess.”

As she sat there, talking to Sean about his life, his family and career, she could not help but give herself a pat on the back. She was actually happy that she had come out. It was perfect.

They had been at the café for almost two hours before they finally decided to leave. When they walked out into the parking lot, Sean looked at her for a long time and sighed.

“I feel like I should ask you out again but I don’t want to jinx anything just yet,” he said as he walked her to her Prius.

“Yeah, maybe I should give you some time to miss you,” she said, smiling.

“Honestly, I already do,” he said.

She smiled and shrugged.

“Well, this is me,” she said when they got to her car.

Sean opened his mouth to answer but before he could, a dark haired girl walked over to where they were.

“Oh my word, Sean Simms, as I live and breathe,” she said making him turn around to look at her.

“Danielle?” he said and she nodded.

“You’re here!” she said as she threw herself into his arms.

Kylie could not help but feel a little jealous as she looked at her legs that seemed to go on forever; the short sun dress she had on was not really helping.

“Why are you here? I mean what are you doing in California?” she asked and he shrugged.

“I moved out here…I took over my dad’s practice,” he said.

“Wow, what a coincidence. I moved out here a few months ago.” She punched his arm a little playfully but in Kylie’s eyes it was a little more seductive than playful. “We should hook up one of these days. See if we can still relive our…”

“Danielle, this is my friend Kylie. We were actually having breakfast here,” he said before she could finish whatever she wanted to say.