CHAPTER 13
Darby
Colt opens the passenger door, and I step out of the silver sedan he had showed up in to pick me up for dinner. I hold together the skirt portion of the plum-colored wrap dress I had put on and paired with tan high-heeled boots. Colt told me sheepishly he had borrowed his mother’s car for tonight since we were dressing up. He didn’t think it would be seemly for me to have to jump out of the truck in high heels. I appreciate the sentiment. I easily alight from the car without showing a slip of leg as I hold my skirt together.
I’m not quite sure how I went from Sunday dinner with the Mancinkus family to a dinner date with Colt. I imagine the answer lies somewhere in the fact that when Colt brought Linnie back home after practically kidnapping her, she seemed like a new child.
No. That’s not quite right. Linnie seemed like herself again. I have no clue what happened when they went riding, but she came back different. I about had to pick my jaw up off the floor when she looked up at Colt, pushing her glasses up her nose, and asked, “Are we still invited for supper this afternoon?”
Colt had grinned down at her and tugged on one of her pigtails. “Of course you are, pipsqueak.”
He’d then turned those gorgeous hazel eyes on me. “See you at two o’clock.”
And Sunday dinner with the Mancinkus family was exactly what both Linnie and I needed together to help solidify our bond. Some would think hanging around with a bunch of strangers would not be conducive to that but on the contrary, there were so many foreign faces that Linnie naturally gravitated toward me. She looked up to me for security around this large, loud brood of people.
But my daughter learned soon enough these were good people.
Pap was constantly teasing her, and Mely did her hair into a fancy French braid Linnie couldn’t stop staring at in the mirror.
Through casual talk before dinner started, I learned Jake and Laken had apparently committed to each other to make a go of their relationship. Jake told me he would make Whynot his permanent residence, and he would be living with Laken for the time being. She would be traveling back and forth to Chicago as needed but for the most part, he was going to try to work as much as he could from here.
This apparently made Laken very happy. Linnie kept giving side-eyed looks at her uncle Jake and Laken as they kept kissing on each other through dinner. I thought it was adorable, but Linnie is just seven and not all that interested in romance. She wrinkled her nose a time or two as she watched them.
In addition to pulling my daughter out of her funk, the other reason I am on a date tonight with Colt is because of what happened after dinner at his house. We moved from the dining room out onto the porch where Colt brought out his guitar. Catherine and Jerry, the matriarch and patriarch, sat together on a porch swing. Pap was right beside them in a rocking chair. Colt plopped down on the first porch step, leaning his back up against the railing post. Everyone else spread out among the other rockers, and Linnie sat down on the porch step next to Colt. I leaned against the wall right beside the front door and stared in amazement as Colt began to play.
His skills were amazing. A true musician. I could tell he’s been playing for years.
And his voice?
Oh, wow.
Forget being a farmer. He could be a country music star with that deep rich voice as he played some Tim McGraw. He wasn’t playing just for me but for the family as a whole, and yet I felt his music in a very personal way. I looked around at the family, everyone watching Colt with pride. Larkin had a dreamy look on her face as she swayed to the music. Laken was leaning her head on Jake’s shoulder, and Lowe and Mely had their arms wrapped around each other. Everyone was watching Colt, and some were humming along.
Except for Pap. He was staring straight at me, and I think the old man was looking to see how I was reacting to his grandson. He had a sly smile and a twinkle in his eye, and there’s no doubt in my mind he was hoping I have some interest.
And I do.
I didn’t want to but as Colt walked Linnie and me down to my car once it had gotten dark, he waited until Linnie shut the passenger door, and put his hand out on the driver’s door, which prevented me from opening it up.
“Would you like to go out to dinner with me Friday night? I’d like to take you to Clementine’s on a date.”
His request was simple and direct, and it completely floored me. I was hesitant when I asked, “What does that mean?”
Colt leaned down, bringing his face closer to mine. “I’m asking to move out of the friend zone, Darby.”
“I’m not even divorced yet,” I pointed out.
His eyes focused in on me intently. “I don’t care. Do you?”
I thought about it a moment and realized I should care, but I really don’t. But I couldn’t give him the answer he wanted just then. “I have to worry about Linnie and what she thinks about this. Her father is still putting on a hard press with her to convince me to come home. I think she still has hopes it’s going to happen.”
Colt took a slight step back to put a little bit of distance between us. His voice was soft and unassuming. “I’m not moving in, and I’m not asking you to marry me. I’m just asking you out to dinner. But I get you should probably talk to Linnie about this first. You just let me know.”
I couldn’t have been more appreciative of his low-pressure pitch.
I’ve never known how to be anything other than truthful with my daughter. Sure, she’s only seven and some truths have to be carefully worded so she understands them, but I wasn’t about to change my philosophy on how to parent her at this time. I merely brought it up as we drove home that evening. “Linnie… Colt asked me out to dinner one night. And I want to know what you think about it?”
I didn’t realize how hard I was gripping the steering wheel until the ends of my fingertips started tingling. When I glanced over at Linnie, she gave me a short look. “I guess it’s okay.”
“I want to make sure, because I know you still want your daddy and me to get back together.”
Linnie almost caused me to run off the road with her next words. “I don’t want that anymore.”
I gave her a sharp look before focusing back on the road. I was very careful with my next words. “That’s kind of a big change of heart you’ve had.”
She didn’t say anything at first, but then her words were soft—almost a whisper—as if she was ashamed to admit. “Colt made me think. He asked me if I wanted you to be happy, and I do. I think you’ll never be happy with Dad.”
I reached my hand out and squeezed her leg. “No, honey. I would never be happy with Dad.”
“And it’s not so bad here,” Linnie added, pushing her glasses up her nose.” Because Colt is going to arrange for riding lessons.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, again realizing just another reason why I am immensely intrigued by and attracted to Colt. He went above and beyond to give my daughter something she loves.
So that’s how in a matter of five days—from Sunday supper to Friday night—I am on a date with Colt Mancinkus.
And let me just say I’ve seen Colt wearing everything from faded jeans to frayed shorts, but the man dressed up is absolutely lethal. His longish hair seems to be styled, but not. As if he had run his fingers through the waves and they settled in the perfect position. He has on a pair of charcoal-gray dress pants with black oxfords and a French blue button-down shirt. He didn’t wear a suit jacket, but I assume this is probably as dressy as Clementine’s gets.
I don’t mind Colt’s hand on my lower back as he guides me into the restaurant and tells the woman standing at the podium in the front that he has reservations. We’re led back to a small table set for two up against a wall that’s glowing with candlelight and crisp linens. Colt holds my chair out for me, which tells me he’s much more than just a farm boy.
After we get settled in, we give our drink orders to the waiter and peruse our menus. I order the scallops and Colt a thick ribeye. We both munch on an appetizer of fried calamari and chitchat about a variety of different things.
Colt tells me all about his buddy, Travis, who has opened his barn for Linnie to come riding anytime she wants. As it stands, we’re going to start her out three days a week after school, and the cost is well within my budget. If it looks like we’re going to stick around, I’ll either arrange to have her horse brought down from Illinois if I can talk Mitch into paying for it or perhaps we can buy her one down here.
Our meals come, and they look absolutely divine. My experience with Whynot food has been good, of course. Central Café is the perfect diner, and Larkin’s bakery is unparalleled. I’ve even enjoyed a frozen pizza at Pap’s for lunch one day when I came into town to do some grocery shopping.
But Clementine’s?
It could hold its own with some of the finest restaurants at which I’ve eaten in. My honey-broiled scallops are cooked to perfection, and Colt’s steak is mouthwatering in appearance. He offers me a bite, and my suspicions that it’s a perfect steak are confirmed.
We eat slowly, and the conversation turns a little more personal. I learn Colt is twenty-eight, which is three years younger than me. He’s never been in a serious relationship, and by serious, he defined that as wanting to settle down with one woman for the rest of his life. He gives me a charming smile and says, “It doesn’t mean I’m not looking, though.”
There are definite butterflies in my stomach, but I actually have to remind myself I need to move slowly no matter how perfect he seems to be.
“Can I ask you a personal question?” Colt asks as he sets his utensils down and wipes his mouth with his napkin.
“Sure.” I also dab my lips. After placing my napkin back on my lap, I take a sip of the wine he ordered.
“Why did your marriage end?” His question is blunt. Not in a judgmental way but in a way that tells me he’s having a tough time reconciling the Darby he’s come to know with the one stuck in a bad marriage.
I take another sip of my wine and set it down. I consider for a moment giving him a very glossed-over version, but I toss away that thought just as quickly. Even though the circumstances that led me into a bad marriage are embarrassing, I’m not ashamed to share that information with Colt.
“I imagine you must think I’m a strong and independent woman who is not afraid to take on the world,” I begin by saying.
He smirks. “You think pretty highly of yourself, don’t you?”
I laugh, but then he’s telling me, “Yeah. That’s exactly what I see so it’s hard for me to understand how you could have been kept under someone’s thumb.”
I nod in understanding. I am a different person today than I was yesterday. “When I met Mitch, I was fresh out of college and had just started working for the same company as him. He was eleven years older and an executive there. We sort of had this whirlwind romance and I’m not going to lie, he swept me off my feet. Flowers every day, fancy dinners, sparkling jewelry, and expensive trips.”
“Dang… I’d like to marry him,” Colt jokes as if he senses I need to keep this light.
I stifle a giggle. “It was overwhelming to me. And I fell for it. Fell in love with him. He was smart, charming, and attentive. When he asked me to marry him, I had absolutely no hesitation. He was everything I wanted.”
I try to disregard the uncomfortable look on Colt’s face and push forward with my story. “I don’t know if I had stars in my eyes or I was just so eager to give him what he wanted since he seemed to be giving me everything I wanted, that when he wanted to have a kid right away, I said yes. When Linnie was born, and he wanted me to be a stay-at-home mother, I said yes. And for a while, it was all good. I loved being a homemaker and a mother, and I loved devoting my attention to my family.”
Colt puts his forearms on the edge of the table and leans closer, his eyes rapt with attention. “But that changed.”
I nod. “Especially when Linnie started school. I figured it was a good time for me to get back into the workforce and finish my degree. But Mitch just always seemed to have a reason why I shouldn’t do that. He wanted me to be home when Linnie got home from school. He wanted me to be available to travel with him. He wanted me to throw fancy dinner parties in the middle of the week. All of that was to help further his career, or so he said.”
Colt’s expression is a mix of disgust and wonder. “He sounds kind of old-fashioned.”
“Exactly. Like really old-fashioned. Mitch wanted a wife who would greet him at the front door with his slippers, a pipe, and a highball glass filled with two fingers of scotch. He would then go rest in his recliner while I finished the perfect dinner and helped Linnie with her homework after I cleaned the kitchen. I felt like I was living in the fifties. And suddenly… I didn’t want that anymore.”
“Your dreams had gotten put aside and you were ready to pursue them again. I imagine that caused some tension.”
“It was horrible. We were fighting constantly. I was trying to push back at him, and he was pushing back ten times as hard at me. I had made up my mind I wanted out of the marriage, but I wasn’t quite sure how to go about doing it. I guess there’s always the fear I couldn’t make it on my own. Or perhaps I was fearful it would be too traumatizing to Linnie. I always seem to have one excuse or another and months and then years would just creep by. So much time wasted.”
“So what made you take the leap?” he asks me softly.
“I found out he had a mistress. He was paying for a fancy apartment and a brand-new BMW for her. And I wasn’t really pissed off he was sleeping with someone else, but it was insulting as hell that she had a newer car than I did.”
Colt throws back his head and laughs so loud several people turn to look at us. I can’t help but join him because I’ve always been a big believer in finding the humor in dark situations.
After my chuckling winds down, I take another sip of wine. “That really gave me the strength to make the break. I guess I always felt foolish leaving a marriage because I wanted to pursue my dreams. It didn’t seem so foolish when I found out my husband was cheating on me.”
Colt leans back in his seat and picks up his wineglass. He stares at it thoughtfully for a moment before holding it up in a toast. “I think things happened exactly the way they were supposed to happen for you, Darby. And I think you’ve done a fantastic job so far. Cheers.”
I hold my glass out and we lightly tap them, the soft clink making me smile.
I’m not going to lie; my heart feels very full right now by knowing Colt has validated me and my decisions.