As Colleen began skipping across the floor toward them, he forgot about the mascot and was now full of terror at meeting her. Before he had a chance to prepare what he might say, Colleen stopped right in front of them and looked up at her mother.
“What’s so funny, Mom?”
“My friend and I were just laughing at the pirate captain,” she said, bending to kiss her daughter’s forehead. “Are you having fun?”
Nodding emphatically, Colleen’s gaze moved up to his, and she tilted her head to the side in the exact same way Tara did. “Are you Mommy’s friend?”
He smiled, but before he had a chance to speak, Tara said, “Sweetie, I’d like you to meet my friend, Mr.— ”
“Carter. You can just call me Carter.” He jerked his gaze to the side, now wide-eyed as he stared at Tara. “Um… if that’s okay.”
She smiled and nodded, placing her hand on his arm and giving a little squeeze. “Carter, this is my daughter, Colleen.”
“Hi!” Colleen shouted, bouncing on her toes. “I’m six years old and in the first grade.” She looked over her shoulder and pointed to a table several rows away. “My friend, Sally, is having a birthday today. She’s already seven. I’ll be seven on my next birthday.”
He squatted so that he would be at face level with the excited little girl. “It’s nice to meet you, Colleen. Are you going to have a birthday party here, too?”
Colleen crinkled her nose and looked around. “I don’t know. I don’t really like the pirate. He smells funny. Mom says we can have one in our backyard.”
With a bark of laughter, he nodded. “I was just telling your mom that I’m not too crazy about the pirate, either.”
Another little girl came over and shouted, “Colleen, come play!”
“Not too much longer, sweetie,” Tara said. “You’ve had pizza and birthday cake, and Sally has already opened her presents. How about five more minutes?”
“Okay, Mom!”
Watching her run off with her friends, Carter said, “She’s cute, Tara. It’s like looking at a miniature you.”
She nodded, her eyes on Colleen for a moment before twisting around to look up at him. “Thank you. I have to admit that when I look at her, I see myself as well.” She leaned forward and whispered, “I know this sounds bad, but I’m so glad she has more of the McBride genes than her father’s!”
“Can’t say that I blame you.”
A few minutes later, Colleen came skipping back, stopping right in front of them. He watched as Tara bent and helped to zip her daughter’s coat, adding a scarf around her neck, a cap on her head, and mittens on her hands. He started to laugh at how wrapped up the little girl was but remembered the blast of wind that had hit him as he walked into the building.
The three of them weaved through the tables as they headed toward the door. The pirate almost intercepted Colleen, but a growl from Carter had him backing off. Continuing forward, he heard Tara giggling behind him.
Stepping outside, he spied Tara’s car, but before he could step off the curb, Colleen grabbed his hand. When he jerked his head down in surprise, she was looking up at him with a smile on her face.
“Mama says we have to hold hands when we cross the street.”
His gaze shifted up to Tara, the smile on her face chasing away the cool from the evening air. Looking back down at Colleen, he said, “She’s absolutely right. Let’s keep you safe and get you into your car where you’ll be warm.”
He stood back as Tara buckled Colleen into her car seat. When finished, she turned around and looked up at him.
“I still can’t believe you spent your Friday evening at Pirate Ship Pizza when you could’ve been at a pub.”
He reached out and linked fingers with hers, knowing that their hands were out of sight from Colleen. As with every time he touched her, the warmth traveled up his arm. “I don’t want to rush things, Tara. But I really wanted to see you, and quite frankly, I really wanted to meet Colleen. She’s a beautiful little girl, and you should be very proud of the job you’re doing with her.”
“Thank you. She is special, and believe me, it’s not all from me. My family has pitched in and are the true definition of ‘it takes a village to raise a child.’” She glanced into the car before lifting her gaze back to his. “I know we said we’d go out tomorrow night, but I was wondering—”
“Tara, honey, if you need to be with Colleen, that’s fine. I’ll miss you, but I understand.”
She sucked in her lips as though to still a grin. “What I was going to ask was if you’d like to come over for dinner.”
“Seriously?” Seeing her nod, he let out a sigh of relief. “I’d love to. And we can play this however you want with Colleen.”
Nibbling on her bottom lip, she said, “That would be good. I don’t know that she understands dating anyway. But you can be a friend that comes for dinner.”
“I can’t think of anything I’d like more.” Chuckling, he added, “Well, except to kiss you right now. But since I can’t do that, I’ll look forward to tomorrow night.” He stepped back and allowed her to climb into the driver’s seat. With a wave toward both, he grinned as Colleen returned his wave.
16
The hot dogs had been eaten along with the french fries, apple slices, salad, and homemade double chocolate brownies. The dinner certainly had not rivaled what Lorenzo would have prepared, but at least Tara was pleased that Colleen had eaten what was on her plate.
As soon as Carter had rung their doorbell, Colleen had screamed, “Mom,
