If We Never Met (Whisper Lake #5) - Barbara Freethy Page 0,2
is she doing now?"
"She's much better. She had a head injury, and it was a long road back, but she's been improving every year. I'm starting to feel like she's going to be okay."
"I'm glad to hear that."
"Me, too. The days after her accident were the scariest days of my life, and that is an understatement."
He was surprised at how easily they'd fallen into a personal conversation with so much depth. It certainly wasn't his usual first-date conversation, but he was enjoying it. "Was your father able to help?"
"No. My dad died before I was a year old. I don't even remember him. We lived with my grandmother during most of my childhood. Unfortunately, she passed away when I was fourteen, and then it was just my mother and me." She sipped her wine. "I'm talking too much. What about you? Are you an only child or do you have siblings?"
"I have three brothers."
She arched a brow in surprise. "That's a lot of testosterone in one family."
"You could say that."
"Where are you in the line-up?"
"I'm the second oldest."
"So, a middle child."
"Yes."
"Did your parents keep trying for a girl?"
"My mom always wanted a daughter, but she never got one."
"Are your parents alive and well?"
"No. Like you, I grew up with mostly one parent and some grandparents. My mom died when I was twelve."
"I'm sorry. How did she die?"
He was actually surprised by the question. Most people stopped talking when he brought up an uncomfortable subject like his mother's death. But Keira was gazing at him with genuine, compassionate interest.
"She had cancer. It was aggressive and fast. One minute she was baking cookies and volunteering at school, the next minute she was in a hospital bed in our living room. I hated coming home and seeing her there. It felt so wrong. Even after she passed away, I went into the house through the back door for at least another year, so I wouldn't have to remember?? He shook his head and cleared his throat. "That was too much information." He couldn't believe he'd shared such a personal story with her.
"We're getting to know each other. There's never too much information. I didn't realize we'd both lost parents. Although, your situation is much different. I never knew my father, so while I felt the loss of not having two parents, I didn't know my dad. I didn't have good or bad memories of him."
"It sounds like you have a good relationship with your mother."
"We've always been tight."
"It says a lot about you that you gave up your career to come home and take care of her."
"I never had a second thought about it. She would have done it for me." Keira took a breath. "I don't talk this much normally. I guess I'm a little out of practice when it comes to dating. What about you? Do you do this a lot?"
"This? I almost never do this," he said with a dry smile. "Online dating has always felt awkward to me."
"Me, too, but it's one way to meet someone."
"It is one way," he agreed.
She sipped her wine, then set her glass down. "Tell me about your novel. You said it's going to be a thriller. How far along are you?"
He took a long sip of beer, knowing he had to tell her the truth. But as soon as he did, she'd probably be embarrassed. Or she might be angry that he'd been stringing her along when her real date was probably waiting for her somewhere in the bar. In fact, he was starting to feel like an ass for not having told her before now.
As he opened his mouth to say something, the waitress interrupted them once more. She gave them an odd look. "Uh, Keira, there's a guy who says he's waiting for you, that he's your date. He asked me if I'd seen you."
"What are you talking about? This is my date," Keira said, tipping her head in his direction.
"Well, he's over there." The waitress pointed toward a brown-haired guy sitting alone at a table for two near the front door. "He said his name is Danny."
As the waitress moved away, Keira gave him a wary look. "Your name is Danny, too?"
"Actually, it's Dante. I thought you got it wrong when you first sat down, but I wasn't sure."
"Wait. So, you're not my date?"
"No, I'm not."
"Why didn't you say something?"
"I don't know. You started talking, and you're really pretty, and uh, yeah, I don't have a good excuse."