Chapter Fifteen

“UNCLE Thane!”

Thane looked up from where he was helping Zach go over the plans for the platforms for the sewer set. Unlike most of the platforms that were either very close to the ground or only used in one position, these would have to be carried on and off the stage and be sturdy enough for dancers to jump on and off over the course of the scene. The usual legs they added to raise platforms off the ground wouldn’t be enough.

“Look!” Kit said, running onto the stage waving a paper behind him. “Another A on my science test.”

“Great job, Kit,” Blake said before Thane could speak. He hadn’t seen Blake approaching, but he gave Blake his best smile even as he reached for the paper.

“Not just an A,” he said when he looked at it. “A ninety-eight. That’s even higher than the last time. You know what that means.”

“Pizza!”

“Yes, but not until after stage crew. Better get your ass in gear, or Mr. B. will fire us both.”

Kit blanched and rushed to put his paper in his bag and get started even as Blake chuckled. “I wouldn’t really fire you, you know.”

Thane grinned at him. “Not even for my bad language?”

“I hear far worse than that on a daily basis,” Blake said primly.

Thane fought down the urge to poke him in the ribs, just to get that look off his face. “I should thank you for taking Kit and Phillip under your wing. I’m doing the best I can with them, but I hadn’t exactly planned on being a father.”

“Life has a way of throwing a wrench in our plans,” Blake replied. “There’s a reason people quote Burns’s line, ‘The best-laid plans of mice and men.’ For what it’s worth, I think you did an incredibly admirable thing, taking them in the way you have. Not everyone would have.”

Thane shook his head in automatic denial. “I couldn’t have done anything else. Even if it had been a freak accident rather than something my sister and I talked about when she got sick, I couldn’t have let them go.”

“If anything, that makes it more admirable, not less,” Blake said. “Come on. We should set a good example for all the kids and get to work too.”

“Zach was showing me the platforms and asking for ways to make them more stable for the dancers,” Thane said, determined to work beside Blake as much of the day as possible. He would do whatever needed to be done, but he needed Blake nearby if he intended to wage his campaign to change his mind about a date. “I had a thought about what might work, without adding too much weight to them.”

“What’s that?” Blake walked toward the area where they stored the platforms set aside for the sewer scene.

“You need to stabilize the legs so they can handle the dancers pushing off them, right?” Thane said.

“Yes, that’s right. Normally when we have musicals with big dance numbers, they’re dancing on the stage floor, and when we have raised platforms, they’re either attached to something, usually other platforms, or they’re for show, not for walking on. This one is an exception,” Blake said.

“The thing is, the braces don’t need to do anything except keep the legs from moving, if I understand correctly,” Thane said. “A one-by-two along each side at floor level will brace the legs without adding a whole lot of weight. It’s a temporary solution, but I think it will work.”

“Everything in theater is temporary,” Blake reminded him. “I’m not sure we have anything that small, though. We use one-by-fours on the flats and two-by-fours on the platforms. And we’ve already stretched our budget on this one because of the number of sets we have.”

“Got a tape measure? Let’s figure out how much we’ll need. I can make a run to Congleton Lumber tomorrow before I come here.”

“I can’t ask you to do that, Thane,” Blake protested.

Thane smiled. “Get your tape measure. You didn’t ask. I offered.”

TWO hours later, Thane looked around for Blake as he waited for Kit and Phillip to gather their backpacks. He found the other man in the light box, turning off the stage lights. “Where do you want to go for pizza, Kit?” he asked when the boys joined him outside the light box door.

“Can we go to Mellow Mushroom?” Kit asked.

“Sure,” Thane replied. “It’s your science test.”

Blake came out of the light box and locked the door behind him. “Oh, I thought everyone had left already. I didn’t mean to turn the lights out on you.”

“It’s fine,” Thane said. “We were waiting for you.”

“Did you need something?”

“Not as such. We’re going to Mellow Mushroom to get pizza for dinner. You should join us since you’re the one who motivated Kit to study so hard for his science test,” Thane said.

He could practically see Blake trying to find a way to refuse, but Kit and Phillip chimed in immediately. “Yeah, please come, Mr. B.,” Kit said.

“It’ll be fun,” Phillip added.

“All right, if you’re sure you want me to come along, I will,” Blake said. “I’m parked in the staff lot. I have to go by my office and pick up my coat, but I’ll meet you at the restaurant in about twenty minutes.”

“That works,” Thane said. “We’ll get a table if we get there before you.”

Blake nodded and gestured for them to precede him out of the theater. Thane was tempted to linger while he locked up, maybe even to walk with him to his office, but Kit and Phillip were right there waiting too, and Thane wasn’t quite ready to share his interest in Blake with them. They’d figure it out quickly enough, and if Blake agreed to a date, he’d have to discuss it with them, but they weren’t quite there yet. At least they already liked “Mr. B.” That would make things easier.

They piled into Thane’s truck and headed into town toward the restaurant.

“Can I borrow the truck Saturday, Uncle Thane?” Phillip asked once they were on the road.

“What for?” Thane asked.

“I, um, I took your advice,” Phillip said. “I asked Darcy out, and she said yes. We’re going to the movies, and I want to pick her up. It’ll feel more like a date that way.”

“Phillip’s got a date. Phillip’s got a date,” Kit crowed.

Phillip elbowed him.

“Not in the car,” Thane snapped. “If you act that way, I’m not sure I can trust you to drive.”

“Sorry,” Phillip said. “Kit’s just being a little shit.”

“Hey!” Kit protested.

“Boys,” Thane said with a sigh. “I just asked you to behave. Am I going to regret taking you to get pizza?”

“Sorry, Uncle Thane. We’ll be good,” Kit said.

Thane only barely believed that, but he’d take it for now.

They found street parking—the parking lot was already full—near the Mellow Mushroom, which didn’t bode well for getting a table, but the line inside wasn’t terribly long. Thane put their name on the list and settled down to wait. Kit and Phillip leaned against the far wall, heads together as they talked about something they clearly didn’t want Thane to hear. He could go over and barge in, but that wouldn’t help anything. They’d tell him when they were ready.

Blake came in a few minutes after them, his cheeks red from the wind or from hurrying, Thane didn’t know which. Either way, it looked good on him. He smiled at Thane as he undid his coat. He’d changed his sweatshirt for a green sweater that brought out the color of his eyes. Thane returned the smile as he drank in the sight of Blake dressed casually but not for stage crew or clubbing. This, he suspected, was the real Blake, the one he wanted to get to know.

“They should have a table for us in a few minutes,” Thane said.

“I’m not in any particular rush,” Blake replied. “Unless the boys have a lot of homework they need to finish?”

“I haven’t asked,” Thane admitted. “I should probably do that.”

“There will be time to ask them after dinner,” Blake replied. “We’re here now, and you can’t take away a promised reward after you’ve offered it.”

“I don’t know a lot about being a father, but I do know that much,” Thane said.

Blake’s smile grew wider. “I think you’re doing a wonderful job, especially given how short a time they’ve been with you.”

“Their father died when they were very young. He was in the Army during the second Gulf War. A roadside bomb destroyed his Jeep. I know Kit doesn’t remember him, and I don’t think Phillip really does either,” Thane said. “I tried to be around as much as I could. Lily lived in Louisville, so I could go visit on weekends or between jobs, and definitely for birthdays and holidays. I never tried to replace their dad, but at least I was familiar to them when Lily got sick.”

“There’s a big difference between being an uncle, no matter how beloved, and being the one in charge,” Blake said. “Don’t diminish what you’ve accomplished with them already.”

Kit grabbed Phillip around the neck, wrestling with him.

“We’ve still got a long way to go. Boys, not inside.”

Blake laughed. “They’re teenagers. That’s perfectly normal behavior.”

“Not in a restaurant.”

“I said normal, not acceptable. Honestly I’m glad to see them acting that way. It means they’re coming out from beneath the shadow of their grief. They didn’t play around much when they started working with the stage crew,” Blake said.

“Dalton, table for four.”

Getting seated and ordering ended the conversation, much to Thane’s relief. He wasn’t comfortable taking credit for anything where the boys were concerned. They were awesome and amazing, but that was their doing—and Lily’s. All he’d done was give them a roof over their heads and as much straight talk as he could manage. Hardly worth Blake’s admiration.

Blake didn’t seem to notice his silence, chatting instead with Kit and Phillip about their day and their upcoming assignments. Kit and Phillip answered with happy smiles and plenty of teasing, especially when Kit brought up Darcy.

“I thought I saw you hanging out with her,” Blake said with a smile for Phillip. “She’s a very nice girl. I hope you have a good time at the movies.”

Nothing in the conversation was in any way out of the ordinary, but maybe that’s what gave it its power, because as Thane sat there watching Blake with his nephews, a burst of longing hit him like a sledgehammer. He wanted this. This simple moment with his boys and Blake. Nothing fancy. Nothing earth-shattering. Just family.

He’d never thought about it for himself. He’d been busy building his business, too caught up in that to take the time to date seriously because no one could compete with his baby. Dalton Construction was established now, though. He could spend time with the boys without having to worry about not getting the next contract and what that would mean to the bottom line. These days he had more contract offers than he could take, even with hiring a second foreman and crew.

He tried to plug in to the conversation, to engage Blake as well as the boys, but his mind was still reeling from the realization. If Blake noticed, he didn’t give any sign, all his attention on Kit and Phillip. With anyone else, Thane might have felt neglected, but Blake wasn’t ignoring him. He was enjoying the boys, and that was another thing entirely.

He was such a goner.

The waiter brought the check at the end of dinner, and Thane pulled out his wallet to pay. Blake reached for the check, but Thane slid it out of reach.

“My treat,” Thane said. “I invited you.”

“That’s really not necessary.”

“Maybe not, but I’m still paying for dinner.”

“We’re going to wash our hands.” Kit slid out of the booth, Phillip right behind him.

“This isn’t a date,” Blake said as soon as they were out of earshot.

“I know. I wouldn’t ask you on a first date with my nephews along,” Thane replied. Blake could say what he wanted. It was a date.

“Then why won’t you let me pay for my half?”

“Because you ate two slices. Kit and Phillip ate two-thirds of a pizza each. Your ‘half’ is about two dollars, and I’m not a cheapskate.”

“Fine,” Blake said with a huff that Thane found ridiculously adorable, “but next time it’s my treat.”

Thane grinned. He could live with that—because that meant there would be a next time. “Deal.”