I couldn’t think of any other options. I knew there wasn’t much else I could do. “Just please take care of yourself, Sam. I like having you around,” I said. “So, Mr. Stubborn. How about a sandwich or a bowl of soup?”
“Whatever you’ve got will be fine,” he said and smiled.
“Okay. I’ll see what I can scrounge up.”
I went back to the kitchen window and placed an order for him. When I came back out, I found Clutch sitting at the front counter. He was still wearing his work clothes and there was a smudge of grease on his chin, making him look even sexier. I couldn’t figure it out. How did dirt and grime make him look even better? I was losing it. He smiled when he saw me walking over to him and said, “Hey there, Sunshine.”
“Hey there, Shaggy,” I teased as I took a napkin and cleaned the grease from his jaw. “How was your day?”
“Long, but better now. What about you?”
“I had an interesting offer from Louise earlier today,” I started. “I’m not sure where it came from, but I was thinking the kids might enjoy it.”
“What kind of offer?” he asked, sounding intrigued.
“She’s having a get-together for her grandkids and some of their friends. They are going to do a bonfire and campout at her place. The kids all go to school together, so she thought Hadley and Charlie might like to tag along.”
With his eyebrow raised and a sexy smirk spreading quickly across his face, he said, “I’d say that sounds like a very interesting offer.”
“I have to talk to the kids first. It sounds like a lot of fun for them, but you never know … They may not want to go,” I told him.
“Won’t know until you ask.”
“I guess you’re right.” I placed my elbows on the counter and leaned into him. “But you know … if they do go, that means we have a night to ourselves.”
“Can’t think of a better way to spend a night. Talk to them. Let me know what they say.”
“Talk to who?” Charlie asked as he walked up beside Clutch.
“What are you doing down here?” I asked. “I thought you were watching TV with Hadley.”
“She was watching some kid’s show. There’s only so much I can take of that goofy crap, so I thought I’d come down here and see how things were going with you.” He sat down at the counter. He looked back over to me and asked, “So, who do you have to talk to?”
“You, actually. I was talking to Louise earlier. She’s having a get-together for Kyleigh and Logan this weekend. They are going to have some friends over for a bonfire and a campout. They’ll grill out, do some fishing, and play games. She wanted to know if you and Hadley would like to go.”
His eyes lit up with excitement as he said, “That sounds cool. I bet Devin and Jace will be there, too.”
“So you want to go?”
“Yeah, it’ll be awesome. Logan can be a pain in the ass, but his friends are cool. Can we go?” he asked, sounding hopeful.
I was tickled to see him excited about being with some new friends. “Sure. I think it will be fun.”
“Awesome. I’ll go tell Hadley about it. She’s going to be stoked,” he told us as he stood up to leave. Before he left, he leaned over to Clutch and grinned as he said, “Maybe while we’re gone, you can take Hazel out for a good time, too.”
“I’m sure I can come up with something,” Clutch declared.
Once he was gone, I said, “That went better than I thought.”
“It’ll be fun for them and Louise will make sure of it.”
“Order up,” Little Dan called from the kitchen.
“Duty calls,” I told him as I leaned over and planted a big kiss on his lips. “You want me to put in an order for you?”
“Nah. I’m good. I’m just gonna head upstairs for a shower.” He stood to leave. “I’ll grab something later.” He looked over to the back table and smiled as he said, “Tell Sam I said hello.”
“I will,” I answered as he started towards the back door. Once he was gone, I turned to get Sam’s order from the serving window. When I got over to Sam, I noticed that he had a big, contagious smile on his face. I placed his food on the table and asked, “What are you so happy about?”