Which might have been a good excuse if Dave hadn’t returned in record time. “I’m back.”
Robin’s grin was wide and her eyes twinkled. “Yes, you are. Well, Charlie, you have fun shopping.” To make matters worse, she winked at them. “I’ll see you Monday morning.”
“I hate small towns,” Charlie muttered, and Dave chuckled behind her.
“Oh, come on. They have a certain charm.”
Charlie pulled on her gloves as they made their way to the door. She wasn’t quite prepared for the blast of cold air that smacked her in the face as they stepped outside, though, and she adjusted the blanket tucked around the baby. “It’s funny,” she said, huddling into her coat. “This is considered a mild day. And it really is so much better than earlier in the week. But you know what? It’s still damned cold.”
Dave laughed beside her. “There’s a lot of winter left. You should get used to it. Personally, I can handle the cold if we still get sun, you know?”
She did know. There was something about dull, gray, dreary days that made her want to sleep and eat carbs all day long. She was always glad when the time changed in spring.
“So, was that a late lunch or early dinner?” she asked, as they started to stroll along the boardwalk.
“We decided to knock off early today,” Dave said in reply. “Friday afternoon, and we had a good week. We brought Jim Williams’s boat into dock this afternoon, but there wasn’t much sense in starting anything until Monday morning.” His big body sheltered her from a bit of the wind. “Know what always amazes me? Lobstermen this time of year. What a thankless, cold job. You think it’s cold here, imagine being out on the water, checking traps. Brrr.”
They wandered along the boardwalk for a minute. Finally Dave spoke again, his voice deeper than it had been only moments before. More private, intimate.
“You’ve been avoiding me, haven’t you?”
“No!” The answer came out before she could consider what best to say. “I mean … damn. I just did some thinking after our lunch the other day.”
“Did you sit down and make a checklist?”
Her cheeks flamed, despite the cold. “Look, Dave, I’ve had relationships before. And they were…”
She broke off the sentence and considered. What made this different? “They were people I already knew. That I had something in common with.”
“Doctors and med students, then.”
She nodded. “Well, yes.” She looked over at him and tried being as transparent as she could. “We already had something in common, so no shortage of things to talk about. We ran in the same circles, knew the same people.”
“Wow, Charlie,” he said, shaking his head a little. “I totally didn’t have you pegged as a snob. I’m just a guy who works on the docks, right?”
She stopped walking, shocked by his assumption, belatedly realizing how it sounded. “God no! That’s not it. It’s more…” She struggled to explain. “I guess it was more that we all had similar lives. Crazy schedules, goals, expectations for the future.”
“Safe,” he supplied.
“I suppose so,” she agreed, though she’d never considered that before. It made complete sense now that he’d said it, though. She’d dated within that sphere because it was comfortable. Expectations were managed. There was little ambiguity.
“The thing you have to understand about me is that I don’t really know how to be … I don’t know, spontaneous. I’ve always based decisions on logic, common sense. There’s always a plan and a goal.”
“Good God, that sounds terrible.”
She couldn’t help it, she laughed, and he chuckled too. Their boots made scuffing noises on the boardwalk and gulls wheeled and cried above the harbor. The tension between her shoulders began to let go. Maybe this was what she’d needed too. Some fresh air and relaxation.
“It isn’t as terrible as it sounds.” Not always, anyway. “It probably comes from having two very driven parents. We didn’t do anything on a whim or for sheer pleasure. It had to have a purpose. I don’t even remember them going out just for fun. Dinner dates and social events were for networking. Course selection was based on advancement. Medical school provided me with security…”
“I’m getting the picture. Sounds like you had a very … productive upbringing.”
That was it exactly.
“I don’t really know how to do anything else. And I don’t mean to scare you, but I’ve never looked at relationships as simply a way to pass the time. I know I said we should enjoy the now but honestly I don’t know how to do that. Everything fits into a bigger plan, you see.”
He stopped walking and faced her. “Like a house with a white picket fence and a husband and dog and two-point-five kids?”
Nailed it. She was afraid to admit it but she nodded anyway. “Yeah. Like that.”
“And I’m not keeper material.”