****

I made sure I had everything, right down to a couple bottles of wine. I set the table for two and threw the steaks in the pan. As I put the final touches on the salad, the doorbell rang. I looked at the clock and it was seven already. As I walked to the door, my heart began to race.

“Hey,” I said almost without breathing.

“Hi,” she said. She held a covered plate and a bag in her hands.

“What’s all this?” I said as I grabbed the bag.

“Dessert. I brought brownie sundaes. I hope you like chocolate.”

“I love chocolate. Come on in.”

She walked into the kitchen and set the plate of brownies on the counter. I put the gallon of ice cream in the freezer and the caramel sauce on the counter.

“It smells delicious in here,” Amelia said.

“Thank you. I’m making us pan-seared tenderloin steak with a sauce, steamed broccoli, baked potato, and a Caesar salad. But first, we’re going to start with marinated shrimp scampi.”

“Wow.” She smiled. “Where did you learn to cook like this?”

“My nanny, Mason.”

“You had a nanny?”

“Yep, and he was the best. He was an amazing cook and taught me and my sister everything he knew. Now, do you like red wine or white wine? Because I have Pinot or Merlot.”

“Pinot is fine.”

She looked so beautiful. She wore a cute white sundress that made her tan glisten and she wore her long, blonde hair straight. She stood about five foot nine with a petite frame. I found myself staring at her more than I should have. I poured the wine into our glasses and told her to step out onto the patio.

“I thought we could eat out here, since it’s a beautiful night.”

“It is a beautiful night.” She smiled.

She sat down with her wine and I brought out the shrimp scampi.

“That looks great.”

“Thank you. Wait until you taste it.” I winked.

I stared at her blue eyes as I took a sip of my wine. I was feeling overwhelmed by her; a feeling I hadn’t had in a very long time. Actually, I wasn’t really sure I’d ever felt like that. She took a bite of the shrimp and smiled.

“Wow, Collin. This is amazing!”

“Thank you,” I said as I nodded my head.

I got up from my seat and walked into the house to get the rest of our dinner. I was nervous that she wasn’t going to like it and then think I was a total idiot. Maybe I should’ve just taken her out to dinner.

Chapter 12

“I’ll say it again. Wow! This food is amazing. You have to be a chef. You’re a chef, right?”

I chuckled. “No, I’m not a chef, but I do like to cook.”

“A man after my own heart.” She smiled as she put her hand over her heart.

I held up my glass and motioned for Amelia to do the same. “Thank you, Amelia, for being so kind to me last night, and also, please accept my apology for running you over with my cart today.”

She laughed as we brought our glasses together. “Thank you for this wonderful dinner and I accept your apology for tripping me and running into me.”

I winked at her and we continued to eat our dinner. There was an aura about her that made me happy when I was with her. After we finished with our meal, we both went into the kitchen and made brownie sundaes. I was startled when I heard the front door open. I looked up and gasped when I saw my mom and dad walking into the kitchen.

“Oh, excuse us, son. We didn’t know you were having company tonight.” My dad smiled.

“Mom, Dad, what are you doing here? I thought you were in Chicago?” I asked through gritted teeth.

“We decided to go next weekend instead,” my mom said. “Hello, I’m Ellery Black, Collin’s mom.” She smiled as she held out her hand to Amelia.

“Hi, I’m Amelia.” She smiled back as she shook my mom’s hand.

“I’m Connor, Collin’s dad.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Black.”

“Son, I’m sorry if we interrupted something,” he said.

“You couldn’t have called first,” I said.

“To be honest, we thought you’d be out for the night. You actually surprised us.”

I turned to Amelia. “I’m sorry. I had no idea that they’d be coming here.”

“It’s perfectly fine. I would give anything to have my parents walk in right now.”

I picked up on a sadness in her voice when she said that. I didn’t want to ask her any questions about it since my parents were here and she’d probably tell me that it was none of my business.

“Let’s grab a blanket and have our sundaes down on the beach,” I said.

“Okay.” Amelia smiled.

“Collin, we’re really sorry. We can leave. Right, Connor?” my mom said.

“Don’t worry about it, Mom. We’re going down to the beach.”

My dad handed me the blanket, and Amelia and I grabbed our sundaes and took them down to the beach. As I spread the blanket on the sand, she handed me my sundae and we sat down, facing the ocean. The water was calm and the light breeze was soothing.

“You never told me your last name,” I said as I looked over and gave Amelia a small smile.

“Well, I was going to until I heard your last name. You’re going to laugh at me.”

“Why? Is it Black?” I asked jokingly.

She set down her sundae and stuck out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Collin Black. I’m Amelia Jean Gray.”

I tilted my head and smiled as I shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, Miss Gray.”

I shook my head as we both laughed. “I told you that you were going to laugh.”

“Okay, now that I got your last name, tell me something else about you.”

“There’s nothing else to tell. My name is Amelia, and I think that’s all you need to know. When people start telling things about each other, a bond forms, and that’s something I’m not interested in.”

“So you’re not even interested in being friends?” I asked.

“Friends? I don’t have any friends. I gave up on any friendships I had a long time ago.”

Something was going on with this girl. She was broken and she had the same sadness about her that I once had, or maybe still had.

“You just did it,” I said.

“Did what?” she asked as she looked at me.

“Told me something about yourself and didn’t realize it.”