Marriage On The Cards. Susan Carlisle

and she couldn’t just stop worrying about calories because he had encouraged her to do it. Calorie watching was her normal. Dylan, on the other hand, had been happy to tell her during the car ride that making love to her had left him famished.

      “Pretty good?” Dylan acted as if she had just stabbed him in the heart. “You’re killing me! These are legendary. Try another bite...”

      “No!” She pressed her lips together and shook her head. “I wouldn’t dream of taking even one more bite away from you...”

      “Okay...” He was perfectly happy to polish off the rest by himself. “Are you sure?”

      The taco had left a bad taste in her mouth that couldn’t be washed away with water alone. She nodded yes while she dug through her tote to find her mints.

      They finished their lunch, cleared their table and stepped out onto the pier. Dylan looked around. “Are you up for a walk?”

      “Sure,” she agreed. They had walked a little ways, when he gave her a curious look. “I thought you liked me.”

      “I do...”

      “Then how come you’re so far away?” He offered her his arm.

      She took his arm and they strolled together along the pier. When the sun felt a little too strong on her face, the salty mist from the water crashing against the pier seemed to come just at the right time when her skin felt too hot. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been to the pier. She had certainly never been here on a date. In this moment, she was content; happy to be walking beside Dylan.

      At the end of the pier, Dylan asked, “Do you want to head back or sit down on one of these benches and people watch?”

      “People watch, of course.”

      Like an old comfortable couple, they sat together on the bench. Dylan put his arm behind her shoulder; she leaned in just a little bit closer.

      “Do you have the photo album with you? The one from last night?”

      Mackenzie put her hand on her tote. “Right here.”

      “I’d like to finish looking at it.”

      “Are you sure?”

      “I want to know more about our daughter.”

       Our daughter.

      Dylan had never used that term before.

      Dylan started at the beginning while Mackenzie told him the story behind each picture. Halfway through the album, they came to the pictures that chronicled Hope’s cancer journey.

      “Her face is so swollen in this picture. She doesn’t even look like the same kid,” Dylan said. Hope’s face was puffy and round, her head completely bald, her eyebrows gone.

      “Steroids,” Mackenzie explained. “She could never seem to get enough food.” Mackenzie pointed to the next picture. “This is when she first got her port put in for chemo. That was a...really bad day.”

      Dylan flipped through the rest of the photographs and then went back to the first picture—the one taken the day Hope was born.

      “You know that I love her now, Mackenzie.”

      Mackenzie nodded. She did know.

      “And, I’m...really worried about her. What if she relapses?”

      Mackenzie didn’t like to think about that. She put the album in the tote. “Then we fight it. That’s all we can do.”

      They stayed at the pier for another hour; before they headed back to the car, Dylan insisted that he take her to his favorite ice-cream shop, which was famous for its waffle ice-cream sandwich. After the ice cream, Dylan drove them back to his place. Climbing out of the low-slung Corvette, Mackenzie couldn’t remember having a better time with a man.

      “Do you want to come in for a while? Or do you have to go?”

      “I have to go. I pick Hope up at four. School tomorrow.”

      On the way back to the car, Dylan made her promise to return the favor and let him drive her vintage Chevy the next time they saw each other.

      “I had a really good time with you, Mackenzie. And I know this is going to sound kind of strange, because we have Hope, so I will be seeing you again...but I want to see you again.”

      Dylan was leaning against her driver’s door. For the whole entire day, right up until this moment, Mackenzie had felt really good about her decision to deepen the connection with Dylan. But now that she was getting ready to return to reality, her life...doubt was starting to creep in fast and loud.

      “Why do I get the feeling something just went wrong here?” Dylan asked suspiciously. Mackenzie’s body language, the expression on her face, had changed. Her eyes, which had been open and willing, were guarded.

      “There’s nothing wrong, Dylan,” she lied. “It’s just time for me to get back to real life.”

      He hadn’t believed the lie. “I think we should make a date right now. How about if the three of us drive out to Aunt Gerri’s house next Sunday? She’s been asking for both of you.”

      “Um...let me check my calendar, okay? And I’ll get back to you.”

      “Now, see...I feel like I need to get a commitment out of you...pin you down.” Dylan frowned. “It seems like you’re already having second thoughts about this weekend. I can feel you backing away from me...”

      Mackenzie took a small step back. “I don’t think I’m backing away from you...”

      “Actually, you just literally did back away from me.”

      Dylan reached out, slipped his fingers through her hair to the nape of her neck and brought her lips to his. He kissed her until he felt her take a step back toward him. And he didn’t stop kissing her, until she melted into his arms.

      “So...” His lips were still so very close to hers. “Do we have a date?”

      “You don’t play fair, do you?”

      “Not when it comes to you.” Dylan kissed her again. “Do we have a date?”

      “Yes, Dylan.” He was a very persuasive kisser. “We have a date.”