JONATHAN WAS ALREADY at Paolo’s, sitting at a small table tucked away in a corner of the restaurant when Sarah arrived.
He stood and waited until she was seated before he sat back down again. He looked tense.
“Hi.”
“Hi,” he said. “I got your text message.”
“I didn’t send you a text message. I got yours, though, asking me to meet you here.”
“I didn’t send one, either.”
He leaned back in his chair and she could see the light come on for him at the same time it did for her.
“Kate,” he said.
“And Casey. Those two little monsters.”
“Casey came to see me in my office this afternoon,” he said.
“Kate came to see me at the store, too.”
Maria scurried over to take their order.
“Coffee, please,” Jonathan said.
“I’ll have the same, please.”
Maria nodded and headed back to the kitchen.
“The text message you didn’t send said she went to your store today, and then something about her being upset about the job.”
“She did come to see me. She said you had changed your mind about the job and weren’t going to let her take it after all.”
He gave his head an exasperated shake. “Let me guess. You received a message that said Casey came to see me about the soccer team.”
Sarah nodded.
“She said you were making her drop the team because she had too many commitments.”
She stared at him in stunned surprise, and then she started to laugh. He joined her.
“I would never pull her off the team.”
“And I’m as excited as Kate is to have her working for you. She’s applying herself at school, being more responsible...well, except for this.”
Sarah laughed again. “I wonder whose idea this was? Casey’s or Kate’s?”
“I suspect what one doesn’t think of, the other one does.”
That was true. The coffee arrived and Sarah busied herself with the cream and sugar, suddenly feeling self-conscious because she knew he was watching her.
“I like it sweet.”
“I can see that.”
She took a few sips, inhaled the rich scent of the dark Italian roast, then set her cup down. “So, how do we handle this?”
“I’m guessing we shouldn’t ground them.”
She was glad he could still make her laugh. “Oh, I think we can be more creative than that.”
He held up his cup and she tapped hers to it. “While we think about that, I want to say I’m really sorry about the other night. You’ve already been a big help with Kate and I had no business trying to pressure you into doing something that made you uncomfortable. I was way out of line.”
“I’m sorry, too. I’ll admit I was surprised, but I completely overreacted.” And she had been more surprised by his feelings for her than the proposition. “The thing is, I rushed into a marriage once before and it was a total disaster, almost from the beginning. I promised myself I would never do anything like that again.”
Jonathan appeared to be searching for words. “You thought I was asking you to—” He gulped some coffee, sputtering a little before he continued. “To marry me?”
“Well, no, not exactly. I thought...I don’t know what I thought. I didn’t know exactly what you wanted from me, and I panicked.”
He leaned on his forearms. “There’s no way you could have known what I wanted. I didn’t know myself. But I’ve had a couple of sleepless nights to mull it over.”
That made a couple of sleepless nights times two. “And did you figure it out?” She held her breath while she waited for his answer.
“I want you in my life. I want you and your daughter in mine and Kate’s.”
She started breathing again. “I’d like that, too. For me and Casey.”
She reached across the table and he took her hand. “If there’s even a remote possibility that you’d be with us in court that day...and I’m not saying I need you there, but I would like to have you there. If you’ll agree to come with us, it’ll be a privilege to introduce you as my friend and Kate’s mentor.”
She felt herself tearing up. “Of course I’ll go. I wouldn’t miss it. And if there’s anything else...”
He shook his head. “No, that’s it. The rest is up to me and Kate, and a whole lot of luck.”
For several minutes they drank their coffee in silence and she realized it was the most comfortable she’d been a long time. He knew how to let her be. No one else had ever done that for her.
“So what are we going to do about those girls?” she asked.