Lib Novel Page 67
“Great,” Sylvester said, smiling. “We have a special tonight for first dates. It’s an appetizer course of toast with jam and butter, a dinner of macaroni and peas, and Christmas cookies for dessert.”
Sylvester had just listed out all the things he knew more or less how to make on his own. Cora hoped Jared hadn’t been expecting anything fancy.
“Well, I don’t think I even need to see a menu,” Jared said. “The special sounds great to me. What about you, Cora?”
“I think it sounds amazing,” she agreed.
“Two specials, please,” Jared told him.
Sylvester darted into the kitchen, and they heard every word as he told his grandmother their order.
“This restaurant has the nicest Christmas decorations I’ve ever seen,” Cora told Jared in her loud, clear schoolteacher voice, so that Sylvester was sure to hear it.
“I agree,” Jared said. “The paper chain technique on that tree is top notch.”
More celebratory noises came from the kitchen, and Jared winked at Cora, sending a little tingle of happiness down her spine.
A few minutes later, Sylvester appeared with a towel over his arm and two plates of buttered toast.
“I’ll be right back with the jam,” he said.
Sure enough, he sprinted away as soon as the toast was on the table and came back a moment later, walking slowly again with the sticky, half-empty jar of strawberry jam from the fridge.
“Our finest jam,” he said, placing it at the center of the table and glancing at Ginny, who was watching from the kitchen doorway.
She gave him a big smile and a thumbs-up.
Cora and Jared dug into the toast course, trying not to laugh at Sylvester’s excited shout in the kitchen when the water was finally boiling and the macaroni and frozen peas could be added.
“That’s a clever way to get a kid to eat vegetables,” Jared said quietly. “Everyone loves mac and cheese.”
Cora smiled, feeling happy that he wasn’t disgusted at eating kid food tonight when he had probably been planning on a steak dinner.
They enjoyed the rest of their meal in pleasant conversation and even convinced their cook and waiter to enjoy dessert with them. There was so much happy talk about the next day’s plans, and so many funny stories of Christmas past that before they knew, it half the cookies were gone and everyone was smiling and laughing.
By the time Jared suggested that it was time to start the movie, Sylvester was already yawning. But the three of them piled onto the sofa anyway, and Ginny took the big rocker beside it.
Sylvester was nodding off on Cora’s shoulder by the end of the opening credits. But as he promised, Jared forwarded through the inappropriate parts and muted the bad words throughout the movie.
“Sorry,” he whispered to her at one point. “You just never know when he might wake up.”
“You really know this movie,” Cora said, impressed.
“I like his persistence,” Jared said, eyes on the screen.
She got a shiver down her spine for the second time in an evening. Jared himself was nothing if not persistent. She still couldn’t believe he’d gone back into that creek last night. Even coming back up to the house afterward, knowing how furious she was had required a lot of courage.
“I think it’s time for me to head up to bed,” Ginny said at one point, stifling a yawn.
“Thank you so much for tonight,” Cora told her. “I put a nightgown on your bed, but if you don’t like it, help yourself to some of my pajamas.”
“Thank you, dear,” Ginny said warmly, heading up.
By the end of the movie, Cora was feeling good and sleepy herself. Sylvester was half in her lap, his warm little body so cozy against hers. And with Jared there, even the wind moaning outside didn’t make her nervous like it often did.
The credits rolled at last, and Jared lifted Sylvester up in his arms to take him up to bed. Something about that sweet picture tugged at Cora’s heart. She followed them over to the window.
“Oh, wow,” Jared said.