“From what I’ve seen and heard, you hardly date.” Marissa gave her another bold smile. “I’m glad you changed that. He deserves someone who knows what a great guy he is.”
“I’ve known that for a long time.” She’d nearly canceled her engagement because she thought Mason was a better choice for her than David.
Mason didn’t know that though.
He’d asked for a second chance of sorts because he’d let her go. She didn’t know that at the time, either, but he’d said as much to her since she’d moved back.
Maybe this was a chance for both of them to get it right.
“See you tomorrow, Marissa.” She took Mason’s hand. “Let’s go.”
Mason gave Marissa a good-bye smile and walked with Sierra out of the office and onto the sidewalk. “The restaurant is up two blocks. Mind walking?”
“Not at all.”
They started down the street and she couldn’t help but smile up at him.
He caught her staring. “What?”
“This is nice. It’s been a long time since I felt this light.”
He squeezed her hand. “I’m glad. Something feels different about you tonight.”
“I guess I want to set aside all the worries and just enjoy being with you.”
“You’ve had a lot on your mind and to deal with since coming home.”
She didn’t want to ruin the night with talk of David, but had to ask, “Has your investigator found anything out yet?”
Mason frowned and kept walking without looking at her. “No. Not yet. Something came up on a divorce case and he needed to work on that for me first.”
“Of course.”
Mason held the restaurant door open for her. “If there’s something to find, he’ll find it.” She walked in and settled into his side when he stood beside her with his arm around her waist in front of the reservation desk. “I just hope whatever we discover doesn’t upset you.”
“I can’t be more upset than finding out he took out a loan and messed with my credit, made it difficult to support the kids, and never said a word about it to me.”
“I know the why is important, but sometimes it’s worse than the deed itself.”
“I’m already expecting the worst.”
“Mr. Moore,” the hostess greeted them. “We’re so happy to have you back. The table you requested is ready. This way.” The hostess led them into the dining room and to the right where a private booth was set up with half a dozen tiny candles, a pretty pink-and-white floral centerpiece, a bottle of white wine in an ice bucket, and a dozen red roses bundled with greenery on the table.
Mason picked them up and handed them to her. “For you.”
She leaned in and inhaled their heady scent. “Thank you. They’re beautiful.”
“Like you.”
The hostess smiled. “I hope everything is to your liking, Mr. Moore.”
“With her here, it’s perfect.”
Sierra’s heart fluttered and melted all at the same time. “Mason, this is . . . wonderful.”
“I want you to remember our first date.”
The hostess left them alone.
Sierra slid into the booth, followed by Mason.
She set the flowers on the table, brushing her fingers over the delicate petals, and turned to Mason. “My favorite memory of you is when we rode out to that pretty spot along the creek, tied up the horses, and swam in that little pool of water, then laid out in the sun, just talking and being quiet.”
“That was a good day. I wanted to kiss you so bad.”
“I wanted you to kiss me, but you didn’t.”
“I was older than you. I didn’t want to take advantage.”
“You’re still older than me,” she pointed out, teasing.
“Yeah, but I grew out of stupid and I know what I want now. Back then, I didn’t want to mess up our friendship.”
“And now?”
“Now I want to grow our friendship, strengthen it, make it better.”
Good answer. She wanted the same thing. “I guess when you’re young you think it’s one or the other. Friends or lovers. But a real relationship is built on that friendship. Everything you add to it only makes it better. Without the friendship, how can you have real trust and intimacy?”
Mason pulled the wine from the bucket and poured two glasses. She took hers and clinked it to the one he held up. “To building on our friendship.”
Feeling nostalgic, she reminisced about the past. “I don’t know how we got from the cute guy next door who let me come over whenever I wanted to ride horses and just hang out to you being