I made reservations at a place in the next town over. I'm wearing dress pants and a dress shirt, which is fancy for me. I didn't bring any nice clothes when I moved here so I had to go to the mall earlier to get some. While I was out, I stopped at the pet store and got a little something for Cat. He's going to help me out tonight, if he cooperates. I think he will. We've gone over the plan several times.
We head over there at seven, which is when I told Callie I'd be over. But instead of seeing me at the door, she'll see Cat, wearing a red bow tie and sitting behind an envelope that contains the invite for dinner.
I ring the doorbell, then back up against the side of the house so she can't see me.
"Nash?" She pokes her head out the door. "Nash, are you out there?"
"Cat," I whisper.
He glances at me, then back at Callie. Finally, he meows, which is what I told him to do but his timing is way off. Oh, well, at least she noticed him.
She laughs and picks him up. "What are you doing here and why are you wearing a bow tie?"
He's not thrilled about the bow tie, but I told him I'd take it off after he completed his mission.
He meows again, and bends down over her arm. Good boy, I think to myself. His actions directed her eyes to the ground and she notices the envelope and picks it up. "What's this?"
I hear her open it, and give her a moment to read it. Then I step out of the darkness and stand in front of the door.
She smiles, a big wide smile that warms my chest.
"You're asking me out?" She holds up the invitation.
"I realized that we've never actually gone on a date. So what do you say?"
"Yes. I'll go out with you." She hugs me, still holding Cat. "Were you thinking I'd say no? Is that why you enlisted Cat's help?"
"I figured it couldn't hurt. Besides, he needs practice asking girls out."
She holds him up. "I like the bow tie. You could get a lot of ladies with that."
"He doesn't like it." I unhook it from his neck. "I promised him it'd come off as soon as you agreed to the date."
She sets him down and he runs inside the house. "Did you see that? He actually wants to go in the house. Maybe he'll want to stay."
"You know, that's another reason why we should live together. Cat needs a stable home. Shuffling him between my place and yours would be too stressful on him."
"You're saying you want joint custody of my cat?"
I step up to her, my arms circling her waist. "I'm saying we should get a place together." I kiss her. "I'll cook you dinner. Give you foot rubs." I kiss her again.
"I miss cooking so maybe we'll take turns on the cooking."
"Whatever you want. So are you saying we're going to do this?"
She nods. "Yeah. We're going to do this."
"So let me get this straight. We've fallen in love, had sex, and decided to live together all before our first official date."
She laughs. "God, that sounds really bad when you put it that way. We better go on this date." She takes my hand and pulls me inside. "Wait here. I've gotta change."
Twenty minutes later, she comes out wearing a red dress and black heels, with makeup on and her hair down.
I stand back and look at her. "Callie, you look beautiful. That dress looks great on you. Is it new?"
"No. It's just been hanging in my closet. My mom got it right before..." She looks down and takes a breath.
I go up to her and hold her hands. "You sure you're okay wearing it?"
She nods. "I am if I'm with you. I'd only wear it with you, because I know you understand."
"You know what?"
"What?" she says quietly.
I bring my hands up to the sides of her face and look her in the eye. "I bet she's here right now, here in this room, looking at her beautiful daughter in the dress she bought her and smiling, because you're going out tonight and living your life the way she would've wanted you to."
Callie nods, squeezing her eyes shut as a tear slips down her cheek.
I pull her into my arms. "They'll always be with you, Callie. Don't ever forget that. They love you and they'll always be with you."
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Labor Day
Callie
The summer is over and Nash and I are moving to Chicago next week. But before we go, we're having a party to celebrate the completion of Nash's house. He finished the renovations a week ago and it looks like a completely new house. Even the outside looks new. Nash didn't have time to do all the exterior work himself, so hired some guys to put on a new roof and new siding and add a front porch.
Next summer, we're going to live in his house while we fix up my house. It's not in bad shape, but I want to do some renovations, and Nash, of course, offered to do them for me. I do have to pay him, though, in chocolate chip cookies and my homemade spaghetti sauce. So technically, I'll be his boss, which should be fun. I already told him I'll be breaking all kinds of HR rules.