He reached for his own napkin to hide the tremor in his hand. “If you don’t want to continue with therapy, we can find another way to work on our issues.”
Lucy stopped with the spoon halfway to her mouth. “I thought you were invested?”
“I am, but it’s couple’s therapy, so we both have to be, and I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do.”
Lucy gave him a small smile. “Thanks, but I think it’s better if we continue. In the meantime, the assignments are actually interesting, especially the latest one.”
“The five questions boundaries exercise? Yeah, I think it’s interesting too.”
Lucy leaned forward, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. “What did you write down?”
Ian reached for his glass of water and took a long sip. “I think that’s considered to be cheating.”
“It’s not cheating. I’m not going to copy your answers. I just want to know what you wrote down.”
“That’s what therapy is for.”
“You never were easy to break.”
“You never back down from a challenge.” Ian kept his eyes on her face as he downed his water and paused to pour himself some more. “We’ve got our next session in a few days, so you’ll find out then.”
“I bet I can get you to tell me before then.”
Ian set down his glass and sat up straighter against his chair. “Okay, what are the terms of the bet?”
“Dishes and laundry for one week.”
Ian chuckled. “You didn’t even hesitate. Had that one ready, did you?”
“Dishes and laundry are never-ending,” Lily told him matter-of-factly. “Trimming the hedges once or twice a week is nothing compared to it.”
Ian smiled. “Deal, but ifIwin, we have to go to dinner with Marissa and Kyle. She’s been nagging me for a week. I know it makes you uncomfortable to see how touchy-feely they are, but they’re nice people.”
“Fine, but I’m not going to lose.”
Ian took her hand in his and lifted it to his lips for a kiss. “We’ll see about that.”
Lucy was blushing when he set her hand down and looked over her shoulder. He spotted Kelli first, in a knee-length black dress, followed by Dana, who wore the same dress but in blue. Dean stumbled in behind them in a wrinkled, button-down shirt tucked into a pair of dark jeans. The three of them smiled when they spotted Ian and hurried over.
“What are our kids doing here?”
Lucy twisted in her seat, confusion flickering across her face. “I told them we were going out to dinner here in case they needed us for something.”
“Why are you guys having date night without us?” Dana gave them both a quick hug and gestured to the waiter. “I’m actually offended.”
“For the record, I came here to try and stop these two,” Kelli announced, giving them both an apologetic smile. “But they wouldn’t listen to me.”
“Stop trying to cover your tracks. You’re here, so you’re guilty too.” Dean pulled up a chair and sat at the head of the table. Kelli said opposite him, and Dana set her chair down by her mother, the two of them exchanging a quick smile.
Ian glanced around at the table, and the swell of emotion in his chest grew. “I hope you all came prepared to do the dishes because this place is expensive.”
Dean puffed his chest out and snorted. “He’s bluffing. He’s just trying to scare us away so he can have Mom all to himself.”
“It won’t work.” Dana picked up the basket of bread and selected a piece before passing it over to Kelli. “We’re here to stay.”
Kelli took a piece and handed the basket over to Dean. “So, how is date night going anyway?”
“We love that you guys are crashing our date night,” Lucy told them all with a smile. “And don’t worry about dinner; it’s my treat.”
