Letting Go (8 page)

Quinn looped her arm through Luke’s as she leaned into him.

He was still frowning. “I hate that we have to wait.”

“Really, Luke. It’s okay,”
she assured him.

He frowned at her. “It’s not. I heard your stomach growl. You’re hungry. I should be able to feed you.”

“I think I’ll survive,” she teased. She didn’t tell him that she was so hungry because she’d been too nervous to eat earlier.

He got to his feet, despite her protest
, to get a progress report. Quinn watched him. She was smiling as she was shaking her head. Usually he was a lot easier going. She knew he was only being so finicky because he wanted this night to be perfect.

“Quinn?”

Quinn snapped her head around at the sound of her name.

“Lily!” she said as she leapt up from her seat. She covered the short distance to her friend who had just walked through the door with her husband, Nate.

After a quick greeting for Quinn, Nate excused himself to check in with the hostess.

“I almost didn’t recognize you!” Lily said.

“It’s the hair,” Quinn pointed out. “I almost never bother to straighten it anymore.”

“You look fabulous.
I can’t believe you came to town and didn’t call me!” she admonished as she released her friend from a hug. Lily had been one of Quinn’s best friends for years. She’d moved to Baxter the year prior with her husband.

“Well,” Quinn said, “I really didn’t know that I’d be here. It was a bit of a surprise.”

“What do you mean?” Lily asked.

“Look who I found,” Nate said to Lily as he came back.

“Oh, hi
, Luke,” Lily said, treating him to her typical sweet smile. “It’s good to see you.”

“
You, too,” Luke said.

“I think we might want to try somewhere else,” Nate said to Lily. “There’s about an hour wait.”

“Alright,” Lily agreed. “It was really nice to run into you. We really need to get together soon,” she said to Quinn. “It’s been way too long.”

Luke glanced at Quinn, his expression held a question. She gave him a small nod.

“You know, we have a booth,” Luke said. “You can join us. We should be seated any minute. They’re just getting it ready now.”

Nate glanced at his wife
. He looked relieved. Lily beamed at all of them. “We’d love to! I’d love to catch up with both of you! I want to hear what brought you to town. And why you didn’t let us know you were coming.” She gave them a stern look.

Then she faltered, as if
seeing them for the first time. Or perhaps for the first time noting how dressed up they were. As if this perhaps wasn’t
just
a casual night out between friends.

Her hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, my,” she said. “Are you two…
?” Her gaze swung back and forth between Quinn and Luke. She nodded, as if getting her answer without actually hearing it.

Quinn
shyly nodded anyway as Luke slid his arm around her waist.

“Oh, you guys!” She kept her voice low
, so as not to draw attention, but her tone was full of excitement. “I’m so happy for you! How long have you been together? And Quinn,” she said as she gave her a gentle nudge, “why didn’t you tell me?”

“Well,” Luke said as he shifted uncomfortably, “this is actually our first date.”

Lily began shaking her head. “Then we can’t intrude!” She looked at Nate. “We can go somewhere else. We knew we’d be taking a chance with seating here.”

Quinn glanced at Luke but he gave her a look that said it was clearly her call. “No, Lily, we’d love it if you joined us. I haven’t seen you in such a long time.”

“But…but…” Lily stammered. “It’s your first date! You don’t want us to crash your date. No one wants their first date to be a double date.”

“It’s fine,” Luke said. “Really. I’ll just have to take her out again tomorrow.” He looked at Quinn and winked. She felt
her heart sputtering even as she smiled at his suggestion. “And I plan on taking her out a whole lot of other nights too.”

“Well, if you’re really sure,” Lily said.
Her tone sounded undecided.

“Please,” Quinn said. “It would be so much fun to catch up with you.”

Nate and Lily both nodded and the hostess called Luke’s name. Luke went to speak with her, confirming that it was alright to add two more patrons. It was and she seated them all.

“See, this isn’t
bad at all,” Luke whispered in her ear. “Now you can sit next to me all night instead of across from me.” His hand found hers under the table. He twisted his fingers around hers and gave them a squeeze. The small gesture felt surprisingly intimate.

The couples made small talk
as they perused the menu. Lily asked for updates on Carter. Then she spent several minutes looking at the pictures Quinn carried in her wallet.

The
conversation turned to their careers. Lily loved her position as a third grade teacher. Nate had a good first year running his parents’ furniture store. They were ready to relinquish it to him soon. Luke’s family’s business was still doing well, too. The past summer had been exceptionally busy now that the economy had perked up a bit. He was just finishing their last big, out of town job. They were doing the wiring for a new hospital wing. After that, he would only be working locally through the winter.

Quinn smiled as she listened to them all. She didn’t regret taking the year off, being a stay at home mom. But she had an accounting degree an
d she wanted to use it. She didn’t realize until she listened to them talk about their jobs that maybe she was ready to do just that. She wasn’t in a rush, but the thought was suddenly there.

After the waitress returned with their drinks and took their orders, Quinn slid out of the booth.

“I should go wash my hands before our meals come,” she said.

“Good idea,” Lily agreed. She got out and followed Quinn.

As soon as the bathroom door swished shut behind them, Lily gave Quinn a cautious smile.

“I get that this is your first date,” Lily said. “But catch me up. What did I miss? How did this happen?”

Quinn told her everything, right up to the toe-curling kiss.

“Quinn, I am so happy for you,” Lily said.

Quinn hesitated and then asked, “You don’t think it’s strange? Me and Luke together?”

Lily made a genuinely surprised face. “Strange? No. I don’t think there’s anything more natural than you and Luke. I’m so excited that you’re finally ready to date again. You look happy. He looks happy.” She paused as she squirted some soap into her hand. “That makes
me
happy.”

Quinn washed her own hands and then smiled at her friend. “Thank you.”

Lily nodded as she finished up. She looked at Quinn with concern. “It doesn’t feel weird to
you
, does it?”

Quinn slowly shook her head. “Not when I’m with him. When we’re together, it feels really right. It’s when we’re apart. My mind starts to wander.”

“You let it go places it shouldn’t,” Lily correctly guessed.

Quinn nodded guiltily. “Sometimes.”

“You need to stop that,” Lily commanded. “When those thoughts kick in, kick them
out
.”

“I know,” Quinn agreed. “It’s just…the whole thing is kind of scary.
On so many different levels. I mean, this is only our first date. I feel like I shouldn’t feel so much for him already. But when he kissed me,” Lily smiled and Quinn blushed, “I wouldn’t have minded doing that all night. I mean honestly Lily,” Quinn glanced toward the door, her already pink cheeks reddened and she whispered, “I wanted to rip his clothes right off!”

They both burst into quiet giggles.

“I shouldn’t feel that way already!” Quinn said.

“
Already
? Quinn, apparently I need to remind you that you were ready to rip Luke’s clothes off all the way through high school. Part of college too. This isn’t exactly
new
,” Lily pointed out with a laugh. “The only thing new about it is that now you know he most likely wants to do the same to you. You didn’t know that before. You should just go with it.”

Quinn wrinkled her nose. “I suppose you’re right.”

“I’m definitely right,” Lily assured her. “These feelings aren’t new. They’re just old ones that maybe disappeared for awhile. But,” she said with an uncharacteristically devious grin, “sounds to me like they’ll be back full-force soon if they aren’t already.”

“I suppose we better get back out there,”
Quinn said.

Lily agreed and they slipped back out of the
restroom. As they were walking back to the table Lily asked, “What do you two have planned after this?”

She shrugged. “I’m not sure. He didn’t mention anything in particular.”

“Why don’t you two come over when we’re done here? The guys can have a beer, we can continue to catch up.” Lily leaned in conspiratorially, knowing Quinn hated beer as much as she did. “I have some white zinfandel. I mean, as long as you’re already in town, why not?”

“I’ll check with Luke, of course, but that does sound fun,” Quinn said.

7

“Thank you so much for letting Lily and Nate join us,” Quinn said to
Luke. “I know they don’t live that far away. But everyone seems so busy all the time. I feel like I never see her anymore.”

“I actually had a good time,” Luke said. “I really like her and Nate.
It was fun to catch up with them.”

He
was glad that if they had to run into anyone, that it was them.

“I was serious when I told Lily I’d like to take you out tomorrow,” Luke said. He held Quinn’s hand
s in his. They were standing in her entryway. It was late, nearly two in the morning and they’d just walked in. They’d stayed at Lily and Nate’s longer than they had planned. And then they’d had an hour long drive to contend with.

Quinn scrunched her face up apologetically. “I don’t know.”

His smile fell away and his heart lurched. He’d thought the night went well. Had Quinn felt differently? Was she turning him down for a second date already? Maybe she just thought they were moving too fast. Two nights in a row, was it too much? These thoughts were flying through his head as he quickly tried to think of a way to convince her that a second date was definitely in order.

“I mean,” she said quickly, “I’d
like
to. It’s just that…well, I won’t have anyone to watch Carter tomorrow night. The Maltreuds fortieth wedding anniversary is tomorrow.” The Maltreuds lived down the block from the Johnsons. The McGraths had gotten to know them well years ago when they lived in the same neighborhood. “My mom and dad are going to the anniversary party and so are yours. I’ve never had a stranger watch him before. I know I probably should but,” she gave him a guilty look, “I just can’t bring myself to do it. Usually it’s not an issue because a grandma is always willing. But tomorrow, they both happen to be busy.”

Luke
felt instantly relieved. Her hesitation had nothing to do with not wanting to see him again so soon.

“So really that’s not a problem at all. Can I just pick up a pizza and come over? It can be an informal date. There are a couple of hockey games on
TV tomorrow night. We can pick one and just hang out.”

“You don’t mind that Carter will be here?” Quinn asked.

He gave her an offended look that was only slightly exaggerated. He squeezed her hands in his. “Quinn, I love that little guy. You know that.”

“I know!” she was quick to say. “It’s not that. It’s just…”

Luke released one of her hands and placed a finger under her chin. He tilted her face up to look at him. He wanted what they had to be a forever kind of thing. He loved her. He’d told her as much at the most inopportune time; the night before she married his brother. He hadn’t meant to. No one needed that kind of heartbreak or humiliation. But the words had slipped out and there had been no taking them back.

Now, he loved her still
. Last weekend he had reminded her of that, though maybe he shouldn’t have. He wanted to let things happen slowly. Naturally. He didn’t want to push her or rush her. He also did not want to let her slip away. Not again.

Things had changed now. It was no longer just Quinn. She had Carter now.
He needed her to know that he knew that. He realized it and wholeheartedly accepted it. He was just going to be careful not to press the issue. Not yet.