The Way To A Soldier's Heart

“Who doesn’t like fair food? Okay with you, Elle?”

He turned to face her, and she noted that his hair showed even more tendency to curl now that he was wind-blown and slightly disheveled. Feeling her fingers twitch in response, she pushed her hands into her pockets and spoke cheerily. “Of course it’s okay.”

A few minutes later they settled at a picnic table with their guilty-pleasure Southern dinners. Charlotte and her grandmother were sharing fried chicken and waffles. Elle and Shane indulged in bowls of buttery, cheesy shrimp, and grits with andouille sausage and a dash of cayenne pepper. Elle was fully aware their group was getting some curious glances from people who knew her. Being so busy with work and family, she hadn’t dated much—at all, really—since her divorce, so speculation was sure to be aroused by seeing her sharing a meal with a good-looking man.

Between the food, the cacophony of sounds surrounding them, frequent greetings from passing acquaintances and Charlotte’s excitement-fueled chattering, there was little chance for real conversation among the adults at the table. Which didn’t stop Elle’s mom from trying to find out all she could about Shane. Elle winced a couple of times, hoping she’d been a little subtler than her mom at interrogating the interesting visitor. As he had with her, Shane answered the questions with patient tolerance, though Elle learned little about him that she hadn’t already known.

Charlotte held up a gnawed chicken drumstick. “Bite, Shane?”

Such a flirt, Elle thought with an amused shake of her head even as Shane answered, “No, thank you, Charlotte. I still have some of my own dinner left.”

While Elle tried to wipe her squirming child’s food-smeared face with a paper napkin, her mom spoke to Shane. “You’re very good with children.”

“I like kids,” he replied lightly.

“None of your own, though?”

Elle cleared her throat pointedly as a warning to her mother not to get too nosy, but Shane answered with a smile. “No, none of my own. I’ve never been married.”

“Elle told me you’re from Fayetteville. Do your parents still live there?”

Remembering that he’d recently lost his father, Elle winced and started to intervene, but again Shane responded evenly. “My mother died when I was only three. My dad died last year. But my grandmother, my uncle and my cousin and her family all still live in Fayetteville, so there’s no shortage of family there.”

Even Elle’s sometimes-oblivious mother could see it was time to back away. She focused on wiping Charlotte’s mouth while Elle changed the subject to something less precarious. She knew she would reflect later about this other great loss in Shane’s life.

“Have your business meetings gone well, Shane? Wasn’t I right about Trevor Farrell being a nice guy?”

“He is.”

“And his resort is beautiful.”

“Very.”

“Do you think you got the account?” her mother asked, unable to resist chiming in again.

It was obvious that Shane didn’t want to speculate about his ongoing discussions, but he said guardedly, “Our talks have been going well.”

“I’ll put in a good word for you, if you like. I can tell Trevor that I predict a very successful collaboration if he signs with you.”

Shane shot a slightly alarmed look at Elle. Sighing at her mother’s propensity for overstepping boundaries—even with the best of intentions—Elle interceded smoothly. “I’m sure Shane prefers to conduct his own business negotiations, Mom. You shouldn’t interfere.”

“Not that I don’t appreciate the offer, Mrs. O’Meara,” Shane said.

“Janet,” she reminded him. “And I won’t say anything, if you prefer. But the offer stands.”

“Candy, Mommy?” Charlotte asked, pointing hopefully toward her pumpkin bucket.

Judging that her daughter had eaten enough chicken, Elle handed her a piece of candy from the bucket. “Just one for now.”

A rumble of activity from behind them drew Elle’s attention to the amphitheater that anchored the south end of the park. “Oh, they’re setting up for the concert. It’s supposed to start at eight.”

She checked her watch, surprised to note that it was already almost seven. “We’ll have to leave before the concert begins. Charlotte’s already drooping and she still needs her bath before bedtime.”

Her mom clapped her hands together, causing her bracelets to jingle. “I have an idea, Elle. Why don’t I take Charlotte home? You and Shane can stay and enjoy the concert. I’m sure you’d like it, Shane. One of the local singers performing tonight was on a national TV talent show last year! He made it all the way to the top five before he was eliminated. I just know you and Elle will have a fun evening.”

Elle wondered if her “psychic” mother was aware that her daughter would like very much to pinch her. Could she be any more obvious in her matchmaking?

“It does sound like fun,” Shane said before Elle could speak. He looked at her in question. His expression let her know he understood the position her mom had just placed her in, and he generously provided her with a plausible excuse. “But I’d understand if you have other things you need to do tonight.”

“No,” she said on an impulse. “I mean, yes. I’d love to stay for the music.”

She still doubted this would lead anywhere, but why not enjoy a rare evening with an attractive man? It was nice to get away from chores and worries for a few hours, and a public concert was a safe, pressure-free place to spend time with him, even if gossip was sure to ensue.

“Great.” His dimples flashed briefly, and she couldn’t resist smiling back.

He seemed genuinely nice. Maybe he was. She needed to learn to trust again.

Tonight could be just what she needed to get back out again as a single woman who could appreciate the company of a charming, handsome man, if only for a few pleasant hours. Shane Scanlon fit that description very nicely.

CHAPTER THREE (#u7b95896e-438e-52d0-b22b-6aa8c1c30c27)

ELLE SENT HER costume home with her mom and daughter, which left her dressed in the fall tunic, slim jeans and leather boots she’d worn beneath the robe. This was an outfit more suited to a date night. Not that this was a date, exactly, she cautioned herself. Just an evening with a new friend.

She and Shane wandered through the park while waiting for the concert to start, browsing the crafts booths and watching costumed kids playing the games and collecting enough candy to support all the town’s dentists for the next twelve months. With all the bustle around them, they had to keep their heads close together to talk, but Elle didn’t exactly find that a hardship.

Elle’s phone chimed with a text and she drew it from her pocket. “I always check my phone when I’m out,” she explained, not wanting to appear rude. “I have to make sure everything’s okay at home.”

“Of course.”

Glancing at the screen, she said, “Mom’s just letting me know that Charlotte is all tucked in and sound asleep.”

She didn’t add that her mom had urged her to stay out as long as she wanted. And had ended the text with a “wink” emoji.

“Does your mother live with you?” Shane asked as Elle texted a quick reply.

She slipped the phone back into her pocket. “Yes. Mom was so lonely after my dad died and I needed help with Charlotte, so she moved in. It’s worked out very well for both of us.”

After Elle’s divorce two years after her father’s death, her mother sold her own home and had been sharing mortgage and household expenses with Elle since. The house had a finished basement that they’d transformed into a cozy efficiency-style apartment into which Janet had happily settled, though she spent most of her waking hours with Elle and Charlotte.

“Your mom hardly looks old enough to be a grandmother.”

Elle smiled. “If you’d said that in front of her, she’d probably have tackle-hugged you.”

“She was widowed young.”

“Yes.” Elle sighed regretfully. “She was. Certainly young enough to remarry, even now. She’s only fifty-eight, but she hasn’t been interested in dating. She was totally devoted to my father. They started going out in junior high and she never had another boyfriend.”

“Yet she seems happy. I don’t think I’ve seen her once without a smile.”