teaching gives me a good excuse to wear dresses with dinosaurs on them.”
“Do you need an excuse?” he asked. She laughed. “Well, you’re still colorful. Look at those shoes.” She wore bright yellow canvas sneakers. “It’s like you’re walking on sunshine.”
“I am,” she said, and then looked away.
They decided their next stop would be the Golden Delicious grove—Paige’s favorite, she said—and they headed down the dirt road past families with small children. To anyone else, they probably looked like a married couple with kids. It probably should’ve disturbed him more than it did. Paige was easy to talk to, and the morning felt magical, a temporary escape into another world where he didn’t have to work so hard or worry so much.
“You like being a teacher?” he asked.
“I do. Although the first couple of years were rough.”
He hadn’t expected that. “How come?”
“Oh, I had a lot to learn. About how to set up the classroom and plan the lessons. And I wasn’t good at dealing with kids who misbehaved. I hadn’t learned my no-nonsense voice yet.”
That didn’t surprise him at all. She seemed naturally sweet. “Do it,” he said.
“What?”
“Let me hear your no-nonsense voice.”
“Nooo.” She waved him off.
“Oh, come on.”
“Dylan, I told you no.”
He stopped short. He’d been joking around, but somehow, he’d offended her.
“That was my no-nonsense voice,” she said quickly.
He laughed. “That was pretty good.”
Her smile faded. “So what about you?”
“I definitely have a no-nonsense voice.”
“No, I meant do you like being a…was it an investment banker?” While he considered how to answer this, she said, “You know, I’m sorry about what I said before.”
“What do you mean?”
She winced. “About your job sounding awful.”
“I wasn’t offended.”
“Hey, stop!” Connor said. “We’re passing the Golden Delicious.” He walked from one tree to another. “The only ones left are way up there.” He scrambled up into the branches.
“These really are my favorites,” Paige said. “I’m going to climb. Are you?”
“Uh. No.” She was serious about this?
“Why not?”
Because I’d look ridiculous. “I’ve never climbed a tree in my life.” She was clearly unsure whether to believe him, and the way she scrunched up her face was adorable. “Besides, those branches aren’t that thick. I’d probably break one.”
“No, you wouldn’t,” she said, but he caught her giving him a quick look up and down. Then she said, “Watch my purse,” and dropped it at his feet. She sauntered over to the next tree and swung herself up to the lowest branch. When she climbed to the next one, her foot slipped on a branch, and she squeaked. Dylan rushed closer. She regained her footing and laughed, looking down at him.
“You’re making me nervous up there,” he said lightly.
“You’re making me nervous.”
What did she mean by that? She tossed one apple to him, and then another.
When everyone’s baskets were full, they headed toward the pumpkin patch, but then took a detour to explore the corn maze. The boys trotted ahead of them. “Connor, don’t get too far away,” Dylan called after him. “And don’t lose your brother!”
“I won’t!”
Paige said, “It’s nice of you to take them places.”
“I should do it more often.” The last thing he’d expected that day was to be walking with Paige among cornstalks that towered over his head. He smiled. “I’m glad I did today.”
“Me too,” she said.
If he was going to ask, now was the time. “So, you want to go out with me?”
Her eyes sparkled. That was a good sign. He liked his chances, or he wouldn’t have asked, but one never knew.
“Go out with you where? And when?”
“Uh, I hadn’t gotten that far yet.” They both laughed. “Dinner, next Saturday night? I’ll pick you up.”
She bit her lip. “You know…” Was she backing out of it, after all? “I don’t really know you. I don’t even know your last name.”
“Oh. Cain. It’s Dylan Cain.” He didn’t blame her for being hesitant. There were a lot of creeps out there, and while he hoped he didn’t seem like one, there was no way for her to know for sure. Maybe his suggesting to pick her up had set off an alarm in her head. “We could meet for lunch.” If she drove herself, in broad daylight, she might feel better about it.
Her shoulders relaxed. “I’d like that. Sorry to be weird.”
“You weren’t. It’s fine.”
“Well, here,” she said, holding out her hand. “I’ll put my number in your phone.”
Yes. She trusted him that much, at least. He pulled up his contact list and then handed the phone to her. As she typed in her name, he asked, “Is next Saturday good?”
She smiled. “It’s perfect. I don’t have much of a lunch break during the week.”
“What do you like for lunch?”
“Um, places with breakfast food? But I mean, anything’s fine.”
“Breakfast for lunch is great. I think some people call that brunch.” She rewarded him with a laugh.
“Uncle Dylan!” Connor peeked around the corner. “We went that way, but it was a dead end. Are you coming?”
“Where’s your brother?” Dylan asked. He hadn’t been paying attention to them at all, and the last thing he needed was to lose him in a maze.
“He’s right here.” Connor gestured as Noah came into view.
“Just a minute, you guys,” Dylan told them.
Paige gave the phone back to him along with her own. “Give me yours, too.”
With a great sense of satisfaction, he complied. After he handed it back to her, she fiddled with the phone for
