Samuel left Danielle at her office with a promise to go to her apartment after work. It would be the first time he’d been inside, and in the evening too. Progress.

It turned out Danielle’s mother wasn’t the only person coming into town that week.

After he dropped Danielle off at her office, he was headed out to do some errands when he got a text from his boss.

Do you have time to meet in about an hour?

Samuel laughed. When Noah put someone on the payroll, he really expected them to be available.

He sent back a quick answer in the affirmative. A couple of quick texts, and they agreed on a place to meet not far from where Samuel was now.

He ordered a coffee and took a seat in the back of the Starbucks to wait for Noah. Noah was no doubt here to see his daughter and would see her later. A man like Noah would certainly not fly from Dallas to Houston, then drive an hour to meet with an employee who was on the payroll but not yet doing much other than check in on his daughter “now and then.” Unless Danielle had told him, he wouldn’t know that “now and then” was much more.

And if Samuel had his way, that much more would continue to grow. The problem was going to be all about location. Samuel was falling hard and fast for Danielle, and he wasn’t about to let logistics get in his way.

Samuel recognized Noah the minute he walked into the door. Noah Worthington wore success like others wore an old t-shirt. He wore it confidently and barely seemed to notice it was there. Samuel stood up. Noah waved, ordered a coffee, then sat across from Samuel.

Noah was a busy man and didn’t mince words. Apparently there were two things he was interested in. “Will you be moved and ready to go to work next Monday?”

Samuel nodded. “I plan to drive up Saturday.” He was really thinking Sunday, but he didn’t want to sound like he was breezing into town at the last minute for his new job.

Noah waved him off. “I’ll send someone down to fly you up.”

“My truck…”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“Alright,” Samuel said. So much for his plan to slide into Dallas Sunday. One less day to spend with Danielle.

As though he read his mind, Noah asked his next question. “How’s my daughter?”

She’s going to have a baby. I think I love her. “She’s good.”

“You said you were driving her to an appointment last week.”

“And I did.”

Noah sat back and seemed to relax. “She needs to move New York where driving isn’t required.”

“Why won’t she drive?”

“I don’t even know if she knows. She just never had any interest in it. It’s almost un-American.”

“It’s very unusual.” Samuel agreed.

“You’ve been driving her around a lot?”

Samuel nodded.

“And after this week, you won’t be here.”

Samuel wasn’t sure how to respond. Noah stated exactly what Samuel had been wondering. Also, Noah had no idea how much more she was going to need him as her pregnancy progressed. Surely, Danielle would tell him soon. It was a difficult secret to keep, especially with Noah’s pointed questions.

“I’ll have to think about that,” Noah sipped his coffee and after his phone chimed, sent a quick text. “My wife, Savannah.”

Samuel smiled. Danielle had spoken fondly of Savannah. Apparently, Savannah was the one person, other than Danielle, that Noah would walk on water for.

“Are you seeing Danielle today?” This conversation would be so much easier if Noah already knew Danielle’s circumstance. “I saw her at lunch, and she didn’t mention it.”

Noah smiled sheepishly. “I had some time, so I thought I’d pop in and surprise her.”

“Ah.” Noah couldn’t have picked a worse day to pop in unannounced. Unless… it was possible that they were close, and she could use the support. Maybe it would be good for her to go ahead and tell Noah.

Not my business.

“I’m gonna go ahead and line you up with some flights for next week.”

“Sounds good.”

“See you Monday morning. I’ll email your itinerary for the week.” Noah stood up. Held out his hand.

The two men shook hands, and Noah looked him in the eye. “Don’t let me down.”