her daughter, but she quickly dashed the sadness away. Tonight she wasn’t going to think about the choices she’d made that had led to her being estranged from Ellery. She was going to focus on dinner with a handsome, successful businessman she hadn’t had to swipe right for.
The doorbell rang, and Jonas did his insane-barking thing.
Daphne sucked in a breath and left her bedroom, shooing Jonas away from the door. “Get back, Jonas. Back.”
Then she opened the door to Evan McCallum, who stood looking gorgeous and clutching a bouquet of wildflowers.
“Darn it, sorry about the dog. He’s a bit protective until he knows you,” Daphne said, frowning as Jonas sniffed Evan’s pants and made little growling noises. “Jonas, here.”
Her hound slunk to her side.
Evan smiled. “It’s good he’s protective. I don’t mind the man of the house giving me the business. The dog is a guy, right?” He held out his hand to Jonas and let the dog smell him. One second later, Jonas’s tail wagged, and a second after that he was wriggling against Evan’s legs.
“He approves, and you now have a friend for life,” Daphne said with a chuckle.
Evan straightened from petting Jonas and extended the flowers. “I tried to think of something less traditional, but I know my wife always liked getting flowers.”
He stopped after saying my wife, and his cheeks reddened.
Daphne took the flowers. “Evan, it’s okay. We both have a past, and you didn’t mess up by mentioning your wife. Come on in. I’ll put these in water and grab my jacket.”
Evan exhaled. “Whew, I almost blew it. This is the first date I’ve gone on in a while.”
“You did not blow it, and the nervousness is mutual,” Daphne said, walking toward the kitchen, which was almost finished. Evan’s faux pas had actually helped the butterflies in her stomach to subside. They were both anxious and in uncharted waters. There was comfort in that.
He followed her to the kitchen, which still had a few unfinished cabinets and a half-completed floor. “Wow, I saw the sign advertising your house for sale. This looks terrific.”
Daphne went to the storage area off the laundry room and found a crystal vase that had belonged to her mother. “Thank you. Since it’s just Jonas and me, I am moving in town to a smaller house in a gated neighborhood. Time for another family to enjoy this place.”
“Well, it’s a terrific house.”
“Thank you,” Daphne said, filling the vase and glancing around the space that looked far too trendy. She preferred the simple kitchen she’d started her married life in, but she would never tell her Realtor that. “It belonged to my grandparents once upon a time. I’ve lived here a long time, and it’s hard to say goodbye, but it doesn’t make sense to stay here by myself.”
She placed the bouquet in the vase and pulled the flowers apart to form an artful arrangement. Setting them in the middle of the island, she turned to Evan. “Ready?”
“I’ve been waiting to take you to dinner for a long time,” he said.
Again, his words were odd. She’d known him for all of a week, but he acted as if they were old friends. Perhaps she could broach it at dinner and find out if they’d met somewhere that she’d forgotten. Daphne fetched the gray cashmere jacket her friend Karyn had sent her for her birthday last year and the small Tory Burch clutch that Ellery had no longer wanted because everyone else had one.
Fifteen minutes and lots of small talk later, they arrived at Sutton’s Steakhouse. Daphne had eaten there several times and loved the old-school ambience with the honeycomb floors of black and white and the gleaming, dark hardwood and brass. The restaurant had an elegance that wasn’t fussy, and the food matched the vibe by being elegant, substantial, and well portioned. The maître d’ showed them to a cozy leather half-circle booth and delivered the wine list with a flourish.
Daphne immediately handed the list to Evan. “You’re the expert. Feel free to show off.”
He flashed her a smile and shook his napkin onto his lap. Cracking his knuckles in exaggerated fashion, he perused the extensive list. “Let’s see what we have here.”
While Evan debated between a 2015 red blend and a 2016 cabernet, she scanned the room. Full house tonight, but she didn’t see anyone she knew. Which was a relief. Oddly enough, she didn’t feel ready to chat with an acquaintance and have to introduce Evan. It all felt too