Page 28 of Loving Kai

“If you’d rather not stay with me tonight, I’m sure you could stay in Justin’s old house.”

“I’m fine staying with you unless you want to be alone.”

“I don’t. Sorry, I’m not trying to make this awkward.”

“Too late.” Maggie slid out of the booth. “I think I’ll take a cookie with me.”

“Grab me one, too. Oatmeal raisin. I can pretend it’s healthy for me.”

After finishing their beers and making sure the oven fire was out, Abe and Maggie left the restaurant. The rain was still falling hard, with no letup in sight. They ran to the truck under an umbrella, then drove back to Abe’s house.

Donovan greeted them at the door with a whine. Maggie picked him up. “My poor baby.” She nuzzled him, then looked at Abe. “I need to take him out to potty.”

“Do you want me to take him?”

“No. He probably won’t be too happy about going out and getting wet again.”

She went back outside with the dog, and Abe took off his coat and removed his boots. He went to the kitchen to check whether the food in his freezer was still frozen. There wasn’t much in there, but what was there was starting to thaw. He picked up a package of all-natural fruit Popsicles and set it on the counter.

“What do you have there?”

Abe was startled as his heart rate jumped at the sound of her voice. “Shit. You scared me.”

“Sorry.” She took his arm. “Are those Popsicles?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s so cute.”

He stepped away from her. “They’re basically frozen fruit. So not really Popsicles, per se.”

She picked up the box, which had the word Popsicle in big letters. “Hmm. They seem to have mislabeled this box.”

He took the box from her. “They’re beginning to thaw.”

“It’d be a shame to waste the delicious frozen fruit bars.”

“Shut up or I won’t share them with you.” She moved up next to him again, and he stepped back, then opened the cupboard and took out two mugs. “We should put them in these.” He opened the box. “Strawberry or pineapple?”

“Strawberry.”

Abe opened a strawberry one and dropped it into a mug. Then he did the same with the pineapple one. There was another strawberry bar left.

“Do you want a second one?”

“No, one will be enough.”

Abe added the Popsicle to his mug, then handed Maggie a spoon. “All set.” He pulled the spoon back before she could take it. “Unless you have any more comments about Popsicles.”

“It’s frozen fruit. Anyone can see that.”

He handed her the spoon, then they went to the living room, and Abe lit the lantern. He set his mug next to it and went to the woodstove to start a fire. When he returned to the couch, he sat down, leaving a whole cushion between himself and Maggie. She glanced at him, but didn’t say anything.

She ate a bite of her frozen dessert. “Do you have any cards?”

“Yeah.”

“We should play a card game.”