She shook her head and smiled. “Let’s get some sleep now, okay? We need to be on the road by eight thirty tomorrow.”
“But—”
“Shh,” she said, kissing him again.
He looked like he wanted to argue with her. Then he sighed and pulled her against him.
Kate, I love you.
For an instant after he’d said those words, her heart had soared—until she’d ruthlessly sent it back to her chest, where it belonged.
Ian was not a long-haul guy and probably never would be.
But even though nothing would come of it, she would treasure that moment forever.
He hadn’t said “I love you” to a woman since Paula, but it hadn’t been hard, or terrifying, or any of the things he’d always thought it would be. Saying those words to Kate had been the easiest thing he’d ever done.
Now all he had to do was convince her he actually meant them.
Later that evening, after he and Jacob had settled Remeow at Kate’s and gone back to their apartment, it occurred to Ian that he had access to someone who might be able to help him with his problem.
“Jacob, I need your advice.”
“My advice? Sure.”
They’d had Chinese for dinner and were eating brownies for dessert. Ian led the way into the living room and sat down across from his nephew.
“Okay, so . . . here’s the thing.” He took a deep breath. “I’m in love with Kate, and I want her to go out with me.”
Jacob’s eyebrows rose to his hairline. “You’re in love with Kate?”
He sounded so surprised that Ian wondered if he disapproved. Maybe he even had a crush on her, or something like that.
“Um, yeah. Are you okay with that?”
“Okay with it? Of course I am! It just seems like, you know . . . you guys fight a lot. And I know you apologized, but you were really mean to her about that whole—”
“I know.”
“I just don’t want you to get your hopes up,” Jacob went on, sounding like a concerned older brother instead of his eleven-year-old nephew. “I mean, Kate might not feel that way about you.”
No kidding.
“I know that,” he said. “But I have to give it my best shot, you know?”
Jacob nodded solemnly.
“So that’s why I need your advice. I need a romantic way to tell her. You’ve gotten to know Kate pretty well in the last month, and you’re creative like she is. I thought you might have some ideas.”
“Hmm,” Jacob said thoughtfully. “Well . . . I think the best thing you could do is make it into a story for her.”
“A story?”
“Sure. Kate loves stories. And she thinks they’re important.”
“Important? What do you mean?”
“Kate says that without stories, reality would destroy us. She says stories and myths and heroes challenge us to be worthy of a larger reality. To listen to the better angels of our nature. To be more than what we are.”
A sudden rush of goose bumps swept over his skin.
“Kate says that, huh?”
Jacob nodded.
Ian sat back in his chair. “Well, kid, I think you’ve got something there.”
“I just thought of something else.”
“Yeah?”
“Next weekend is her friend’s wedding.”
He was right—Saturday was the twelfth. “I’d forgotten all about it.”
“Weddings are really romantic, right? You should tell her then. At the wedding. If you’re going with her.”
Was he going with her? He supposed the first thing to do was find out the answer to that question.
“Thanks, Jacob. You’ve been a big help.”
He gave her a call that night. “Kate?”
“Hey, Ian. How’s Jacob?”
“Doing well, I think. He’s looking forward to seeing you on Tuesday.” He paused. “He also reminded me that next weekend is Jessica’s wedding.”
He heard her gusty sigh over the phone. “Yes, it is. God help me.”
“I was just wondering . . . do you still need a date?”
A short silence. “Well . . . I guess I do. Sure. That would be nice.”
“You also mentioned something about the rehearsal dinner.”
“That’s on Friday night.”
“I’d like to escort you to that, too.”
Another pause. “Jessica did ask us to confirm by tomorrow if we’re bringing dates, so she can give the restaurant the final head count.”
“So how about it?”
“You really want to put yourself through this? There’ll be toasts and speeches and a lot of obnoxious people.”
“Which restaurant is it at?”
“Ludano’s, on the Upper East Side.”