Lynn enjoyed the way humor caused the corners of Nathan’s eyes to crinkle. She smiled in return. “My lips are sealed.”
Nathan pointed to her bag. “You should join us.”
Lynn hadn’t expected the invitation. She’d come over because she didn’t want to seem rude just waving and leaving. Well, and talking to Nathan was certainly a bonus. But join them? As had become a habit, she glanced around the restaurant as though someone might recognize her.
Nathan chuckled. “You have to eat it, you may as well sit down here.”
The genuine look of welcome on his face combined with Mia’s happy mood made up Lynn’s mind. She finally nodded once and took the chair opposite Nathan. “Thank you.” She unpacked her food and set it out on the table. After taking a drink of her thick milkshake, she sighed approvingly. “Chocolate milkshake. People can say what they will about this place, but their milkshakes are awesome.”
“They are good. But you’ll have to go to Quintin and have one from J’s Parkview Diner. Joel’s strawberry milkshakes are made with fresh strawberries. Then he makes seasonal shakes as well, like peach or blackberry.” Nathan dipped a fry into ketchup and put it in his mouth.
“A fresh peach milkshake? I will have to give that a try.”
“Maybe Mia and I can take you one of these days.”
Lynn had been about to take a bite of her bacon cheeseburger but his words froze her motions. She glanced at him, and he seemed as surprised at his own words as she was. Was he asking her out on a date? Was it a casual get together? Or was he just being polite and now he was worried she’d take him up on the offer?
She took a bite to prolong her response time. Any hope that she might come up with the right thing to say disappeared by the time she’d finished it. Lynn was still mulling over her response when Nathan seemed to take pity on her.
“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” Nathan broke two French fries into bite-sized pieces for Mia. “If it helps, I made myself uncomfortable in the process.”
Lynn looked up to find him watching her, the truth of his statement in his eyes. He chuckled, and she joined him. “Sorry.” She shrugged. “I tend to second-guess myself and what other people mean. I’ve not had the best luck with guys in the past.” That was more than she should’ve said, but it was out there now.
“Trust me, I get that. My track record with women isn’t great, either.” He used a napkin to wipe some ketchup off Mia’s chin. “Mia’s mother and I broke up. At the time, I thought it was the worst thing that could happen to me. But then we found out about Mia. When Gwen told me she didn’t want a baby, I realized what the worst thing really would be.”
Lynn had wondered often what happened to Mia’s mother. Now that Nathan was telling her, she didn’t know what to say. “I’m sorry. I can only imagine how difficult that was.”
Nathan nodded. “I convinced her to carry the baby to term for monetary support and then she signed away all parental rights to Mia.” He placed a hand on his daughter’s head lovingly. “It’s just been the two of us. Or it was, until I found Chess. Now we have a family.”
“A true answer to prayer.” The wistful tone of her own voice surprised even her. She felt Nathan’s eyes on her.
He cleared his throat. “Look, I know what it’s like to do things on your own. And what it’s like to have family walk away.” He paused. “I also know what a difference good friends can make. I think there’s always room for another friend in our lives, don’t you?”
Lynn’s chest expanded as his words settled over her heart. “Yes, there’s always room for another friend.”
“Good.” Nathan smiled. “So maybe taking you to Quintin is a too big of first step in our new friendship. What about breakfast on Saturday before I go to work?”
That was the second time Nathan had mentioned working on the weekend. “What kind of work do you do?”
“I’m an instructor at a Brazilian jiu-jitsu academy here in town.”
Well, Lynn wouldn’t have guessed that one. Her face must have said the same because Nathan laughed.
“I get that response a lot.”
“Do you teach kids? Or adults?”
Nathan took a drink of his soda. “All of the above.”
“What got you into that line of work?” Lynn set her burger down and gave Nathan her full attention. She tried to picture him doing fancy moves like she’d seen on The Karate Kid and failed.
~*~
Nathan helped Mia take a drink of apple juice as he mulled his response to Lynn’s question. His daughter wasn’t quite able to hold the juice box without wearing half of the contents.
“Honestly? I was an angry kid. My adoptive parents got a divorce when I was ten and lived separate lives. I bounced back and forth all the time. They told each other lies as naturally as breathing. I shouldn’t have been surprised to find out they’d lied to me, too. They probably thought they were protecting me, but they originally told me that my big brother didn’t want to be adopted and that’s why they only adopted me. I later found out that they just didn’t want to adopt two kids and left Chess behind.”
“Wow, that’s horrible. I’m sorry, Nathan.” Lynn frowned.
