Page 109 of Lost Hours
“Okay, fine. I’m a girly girl in law enforcement. Maybe not law enforcement anymore, but you get the point.”
They laughed together for a while, and then satisfied with their work, Reece and Abby departed. Mina wasn’t so confident and kept studying herself in the mirror. She glanced at the clock on her bedside table. Five minutes until six. Nolan would be arriving anytime. She couldn’t dress like this. She just couldn’t. It wasn’t her. She had to change.
She went to her closet. The doorbell rang, and she stopped in place as if her parents caught her doing something wrong. She didn’t have time to change, and she would have to open the door dressed this way. Whether she remained in this silly dress depended upon his response.
Thankful her mother at least made sure she knew how to walk in high heels, she started down the hall, each step raising her level of panic. She hadn’t felt this nervous since high school prom, when she dated the boy her parents wanted her to go with but she didn’t have a relationship with. The night was disastrous, and she sure didn’t want tonight to be that way.
At the door she wiped her hands on her frilly skirt and pulled the door open.
Nolan stood there, dressed in black slacks and a white long sleeve shirt with the collar open. He looked devastatingly handsome, and her heart fluttered, but gone were her nerves. She didn’t care what she was wearing, she was going on a proper date with the man she loved.
“You look fabulous.” He took her hands and twirled her around. “I don’t remember ever seeing you in a dress.”
“Reece’s idea.”
“Reece, huh? Did she have to talk you into it?”
“Yeah. I don’t mind wearing it, but I feel uncomfortable and very self-conscious.” She freed her hands and smoothed the skirt again.
“Do you want to change?”
How did she answer that? “Do you want me to change?”
“I want you to be as comfortable as you can be tonight so we have a great first date,” he said with certainty. “Not the kind of date that Reece would like us to have, but what we’d like.”
“Then come in and have a seat while I put something else on.” She laughed as she headed to her bedroom, and called over her shoulder, “But promise me when Reece is disappointed, you’ll help me talk her down.”
She discarded the dress and took the time to hang it up so Reece could have it back as neat as when she brought it. She put on a pair of khaki slacks that were her idea of dressing up and paired it with a frilly blouse her mom had gotten her. Satisfied this was a good compromise, she left the room.
Nolan came to his feet and ran an appreciative look over her from head to toe. “Now that’s the Mina I know. Not that I didn’t love the dress, because I did. You looked beautiful. But you’re more beautiful when you’re you than when you’re what someone else wants you to be.”
Oh, man. Could he have said anything better? “I’m really glad to hear you say that. After Reece left, I was going to change but ran out of time.”
“Then let’s go and have fun.” He held out his arm.
She snuggled hers into the crook, and they started off for the night she’d only ever imagined in her dreams.
Her home was within walking distance of closed-off Main Street. The loud sounds and garish lights of carnival rides and concession games greeted them. A food stand run by her church’s youth group filled the air with the savory scent of frying onions and hamburgers and the sweet scent of cotton candy and funnel cakes at nearby food carts fought for dominance.
Her stomach growled.
“I guess that’s my cue to say let’s eat.” Nolan laughed. “Where do you want to get dinner?”
“I know this is kind of lame for a first date, but the church’s youth group makes the best burgers and onion rings ever. The business association at the end of the midway does seafood, but we eat that all year long, and I don’t have burgers often.”
“You never have to twist my arm to have a burger.” He grinned, a boyish smile that was lopsided and adorable.
She scooted closer to him, and he wrapped his arm around her waist. She liked that. Liked that they were announcing to everyone they were a couple. After their breakup had gone around town many years ago, people would be speculating. So what? She and Nolan would show them it had just been a misunderstanding, and they were back together for good. She was probably jumping ahead, but at least she hoped it was for good.
They perched on stools at the burger stand, and as much as it was great to be together, the burgers and onion rings were so good they inhaled them. The rest of the night was a dream as they got on rides, and he won her a pink teddy bear at the ball pitch. But all too soon it was time for the fireworks, and they climbed through the cool night to the inn.
“The team reserved a blanket for us,” he said, “But we don’t have to sit with them.”
She looked up at him. “I mean, I like them, but five extra people on our first date isn’t what I had in mind.”
“Me neither.” He took her hand and led her toward the lookout.
The sky over the ocean sparkled with more stars than she could count, and the moon glistened off rolling waves. A magical night.
