Fish Tacos

"The offer is most definitely still on the table," he told her.

"Did you want to finish your other taco first?" she asked nodding to what was left.

"Oh, right," he said before he popped the rest of it into his mouth.

She thought about shaking her head and saying, "Men!" but didn't. She just sat there smiling and watching him...be a man. It not only didn't bother her, it seemed perfectly normal and that made her wonder why she felt the need to 'bust men's balls' all the time when only Jerome had hurt her.

"Okay. I'm ready," Thad said as he swallowed the last bite before washing it down with a swig of water.

It was sunny but still rather brisk so walking felt very good.

"You said you have a son who's a senior in high school," Thad mentioned as the pleasant conversation continued.

"I do. His name is Stone, and he'll be graduating the first week of June then going to college this September."

"That's incredible. I'm sure you're very proud of him."

"Oh, you have no idea. He's such a great kid."

Thad smiled then said, "Okay, I'm pretty good at math, and if he's 17 or 18, then when I subtract that from 40, I get..."

Fallon did his math, too, then laughed.

"Um, well, I'm not telling you my age, but I will admit I wasn't 23 when Stone was born. I wasn't even married then. Is that fair enough?"

Not wanting to 'get in trouble' Thad changed the subject.

"I have a daughter who just turned eight, so I was married at that age and..."

Fallon laughed then said, "I always wanted a girl. Don't get me wrong. I love my son with all my heart, and he is the nicest boy you could ever meet. But I would have loved to have a daughter."

"It's not too late, you know," he said wondering if he was now treading on thin ice as he was still assuming she was well under 45.

"Oh, I'm afraid it is," she said rather quietly.

When Thad didn't say anything at all in response Fallon said, "I'm...quite a bit over 40, Thad."

Not sure what else to say, he told her, "Well, you certainly don't look it."

They were just yards from her shop when Thad said, "So...Flaco's Tacos again or something a little less...outdoorsy?"

Fallon laughed and told him, "As much as I enjoyed the fish taco, something a little less breezy might be nice."

"I agree," Thad told her. "Could I call you?"

"Um...okay," she said. "If you'll come inside I'll give you my card."

When they walked in, Beth looked up and when she him, her eyes opened wide in surprise as she recognized him immediately. When she saw he was with her boss, she smiled politely while simultaneously feeling a twinge of envy or possibly even jealousy.

"Welcome back! How was your lunch?" she asked Fallon while staring at the incredibly attractive man with her.

"Fishy," she said without explanation.

She grabbed a card off the counter and then wrote her private cell number on the back.

"You could have just let me put that in my phone," he told her with a smile as she handed it to him.

"I guess I didn't think of that," she told him.

"That's because back when she was dating they still..." Beth started to say.

"Don't you need to be going to lunch? Soon?" Fallon said cutting her off but not in a mean way.

She was still smiling at Thad as she grabbed her purse and a sweater.

"Okay. I can take a hint," she said as she headed for the front door.

"Beth is very interested in finding a husband," Fallon informed him. "In case you couldn't tell."

Thad laughed then said, "She seems nice. I'm sure it won't take too long."

"Well, it's not like there are all kinds of good, decent, marriage-minded men out there," she said then immediately realized how it sounded and why.

Thad also realized that comment probably came from the bitterness she felt over the divorce and didn't respond to it.

"I will definitely call you, Fallon," he told her.

"And I will definitely look forward to that. But just so we're clear, this is just lunch, right?"

"Of course," Thad told her immediately wondering if that's all he really wanted it to be.

He hadn't been drawn to anyone since Sarah's death, and he was more than a little surprised at the way he seemed to feel about this woman who was clearly quite a bit older than he'd assumed and maybe a lot older, but who was nevertheless someone he found very attractive and, having talked with her, very interesting. And she was also very pleasant to be around.

"All right. Then just let me know when and where, okay?"

"I will," he assured her.

They stood there looking at one another not sure how to end this first...meeting. Thad went to move and so did Fallon so they both stopped and she said, "You first."

She thought he was going to turn around and leave but he instead he smiled at her before gently putting a hand on her lower arm and bending down slightly and kissing her on the cheek.

"I uh, I...I wasn't expecting that," she said almost nervously.

"Honestly? I wasn't planning on doing that," Thad told her.

He stood there for a second then said, "Well. I should probably get going."

Now fully recovered, or at least mostly so, Fallon said, "Thank you again, Thad. This was...nice."

"My pleasure," he said.

After another awkward moment, he finally turned around and headed for the door, but stopped and called back to her.

"I'll call you. Soon."

"Bye!" she said with a wave and a smile.

For the next half hour while she was alone, Fallon felt like she did when she'd been asked to the junior prom by the cutest boy in school. It was foolish because this hadn't been a date nor was their next 'get together' for lunch. It was just two people who'd run into one another and had an enjoyable time talking. And at 30, he was way, way too young to be anything more than a friend. Or perhaps the truth was, she was way too old to be anything more to him.

Either way nothing would come of it, and yet she felt like she was floating on air. Maybe this was some kind of 'sign' for her to give dating men her own age another try. After all, Stone would be leaving home in another three months, and living alone was getting very, well...old.

Just then, Beth walked back in and smiled at her.

"Why are you grinning like The Cheshire Cat?" Fallon asked.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you came in with one of the most handsome, eligible doctors in town," Beth told her.

"Thad? He's a doctor? Are you serious? And how do you know he's a doctor?" Fallon asked one question after the other.

"Well, remember when my sister was so ill last August?"

"Yes. Of course. You needed a morning off to take your niece to the doctor, right?"

"Uh-huh. She needed a physical and shots to start school. My sister uses Doctor Nelson. Doctor Thad Nelson. He's a pediatrician. And he's single, just in case you didn't know. I heard his wife died from brain cancer or something awful like that. Can you imagine?"

Fallon didn't reply. She just stood there trying to take everything in. Finally, she realized what Beth had said and told her, "No. Actually, I can't. That would be so awful."

"I guess it all happened very fast. Like in a week or two fast," Beth relayed.

"I had no idea," Fallon said quietly.

"Anyway, my sister says every single woman who's met him is trying to catch his attention, but they all say he doesn't date. At all."

Beth thought about adding something else she'd also been told about many married women trying to get his attention, too, but knew better.

"So...are you going out with him?" Beth asked instead.

"What? Going out? Please! Be serious. No, we just talked in the park, and he got me to try a fish taco, and... It's a long story, but no, we are most definitely not going out."

"Oh. I see," she said as she turned away. "He's just calling you because...why is he calling you?"

"Beth? Don't you have something to do?" Fallon said trying to sound stern.

"I'm sure I do," Beth said.

She turned to go do it then said, "But if you are going out with him, I want to know everything, okay?"

Fallon just leered at her until Beth said, "Fine! I'll go see if we had any online order come in while I was at lunch. Alone. Again."

Thad was in a fantastic mood the rest of the day, and it stayed with him until he thought about the Permissive Parent's blog. In fact, he was in such a good mood he didn't care what she wrote and decided not to even look to see what kind of idiocy she might be spewing. Instead, he decided to do something he hadn't done since Sarah was alive. He watched a romantic comedy with Sophie and managed not to tear up even once.

It was almost like Sarah was there with them as Sophie snuggled up with him as they both commented about whatever was happening and laughed several times.

When it ended, Sophie asked, "Are you ever going to get married again, Daddy?"

Until that very day he'd have immediately said, "I don't know, honey, but probably not."

Now, after just one pleasant meeting with a woman he found attractive he said, "Maybe. I don't really know. Why? Do you want me to get married again?"

"Well, I really miss Mommy, but it makes me sad that you're alone," she told him.

"Hey! I'm not alone. I have you!" he said before grabbing her again as she shrieked with laughter.

After he put her to bed he realized she was right. He was lonely. He missed Sarah terribly, but the truth was she was never coming back. And he'd made a promise; a promise he hadn't thought about until just then.

Fallon was also in a fantastic mood the rest of the day and it showed in her online post to her blog that evening:

"Hi folks!

I'm taking a break from busting 'GoodCop-Bad Cop's' chops today. (Did you catch that little rhyme?) That's because I'm in such a good mood!

Why, you ask? Well, I had the nicest time today, and because of that, not even a jerk like 'Cop' can bring me down. I'm not letting him off the hook, mind you, I'm just cutting him a little slack because I don't want to spoil the emotional high I've been on all day!

No, it's nothing big. I'm not getting married or anything. It's not even romantic. I just had such a wonderful time talking with someone I met today quite by chance.

Okay, okay. I'll admit it. It was a man, and as you know, I've been pretty hard on men since my divorce. But this guy was different. Or at least I think he is. He promised to call me, and if he doesn't, then I'll have my answer, right? But something tells me he's the kind of guy who really will call. So...we shall see!

So while it's no big deal, it was just such an unexpected treat I thought I'd share it with you this evening. That means no fireworks for at least one night!

Seriously, friends. Occasionally, things just seem to happen to us with no advance notice. Sometimes they're bad or even terrible—like losing a loved one. But every now and then, something really nice happens for no apparent reason. Today was one of those times, and I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts!

Stay tuned tomorrow just in case 'you know who' decides to try and start some stink. if he does, I'll be ready to put the gloves back on and take him down a notch or two!"

The following morning, Beth, having read the blog, asked Fallon if she thought the handsome doctor would call.

"I don't know. I mean, he is a man, so..."

"You need to stop being so cynical, Fallon. It's not going to help you find another husband."

"And what makes you think I'm even looking for one?" she asked with a bit of an edge.

"I can't know what's in your head, but I do know most people don't like living alone. Maybe that changes when someone gets to be your..."

Beth stopped immediately when Fallon gave her a 'don't you dare go there' look just as Beth was about to say 'you're age'.

"Sorry. I don't even know what it's like to be 30 let alone..."

Another look silenced her.

"If he calls, great. If not, no big deal," Fallon said trying to convince herself it didn't matter more so than Beth.

So why was she looking at the clock every few minutes and checking to make sure she had her phone within arms reach at all times?

Thad waited until he had an open window in his schedule just before noon to call. He woke up still thinking about Fallon and wanted to call her earlier but didn't want to appear too anxious.

When her phone finally did ring, it caused a burst of adrenaline to shoot through Fallon's body. She grabbed her cell phone so fast it made Beth smile.

She held it and let it ring twice before casually saying, "Hello?"

Caller ID told her who it was, but she pretended she didn't know.

"Fallon? Hey. It's Thad. From the park."

"Oh, right!" she said as though she was trying to place him. "How are you?"

"Great. You?"

"I'm fine. What's up?" she asked as though she had no idea why he was calling.

"Well, I said I'd call and a promise is a promise, right?" he said pleasantly.

Fallon laughed and said, "Oh, right. You did agree to take me lunch, huh?"

"I did and I always do what I say."

He paused for a second then said, "I was wondering. Would today be too soon?"

Fallon was smiling from ear to ear but stopped before she spoke because she knew most people could tell when someone was smiling when they talked, even on the phone, and she didn't want him thinking this was a big deal to her.

"Well, let me see," she said as she quickly walked to her desk and started flipping the pages of her desk calendar loudly. "Um...today is really busy, but..."

"We could try for tomorrow if you'd like," Thad let her know.

"Actually, I was thinking I could probably fit lunch in somewhere today," knowing she could leave at anytime for as long as she wanted as long as Beth got time for lunch.

"Great! I have an hour break from one to two. Is that okay for you?" he asked trying not to sound overly excited.

"Hmmm. Maybe I can get Beth to cover the one o'clock delivery. Let me check, okay?"

Fallon nearly dropped the phone when she looked up and saw Beth standing just three feet away smiling and trying not to laugh.

"Sure! I can cover the 'delivery'," Beth said very loudly making huge air quotes with her fingers to signify there was no one o'clock delivery.

"Thad? My assistant says she can handle that so, sure, one o'clock will work."

"Great. Can I pick you up right at one?"

For some reason Fallon had assumed she'd meet him somewhere, but if he wanted to pick her up...

"Okay. Sure. I'll be ready," she told him trying not to smile again.

"I'm looking forward to it," Thad told her as he did a 'yes' and a fist pump in the air.

"See you then, Thad," she said sweetly.

She hung up then saw Beth still trying not to laugh.

"Wow. That was bad. Even for you, Fallon," Beth teased.

"Don't you have something..."

"Okay. Okay. I'll go away. But still..."

Fallon couldn't be mad. She was too happy to be mad. She didn't care that it was just lunch—or whatever. All that mattered was that she enjoyed spending time with this incredibly handsome, much-too-young man who just happened to be a doctor. So if it was only lunch, so be it. She was still very much looking forward to it.

Thad was always polite and pleasant with his patients and their parents, but for the next hour he was as friendly as anyone could ever remember. He was playful to the point that those who knew him could tell something was going on.

Almost no one knew him there from when Sarah was alive, so they had no idea this was the real Thad Nelson. Since her death he'd become much more subdued but even then, he seemed like a very pleasant kind of guy. Today, he was on a kind of Cloud Nine and felt more optimistic than he had in years, and the real Thad Nelson was making a return debut. The oxymoron made him laugh out loud and that fit with his overly gregarious mood.

Thad pulled up at exactly 1pm and jumped out and ran inside.

"Hey there!" Beth said.

"Oh, hi. I uh, I was looking for Fallon," he said as he looked around.

"I think she's getting ready," she told him.

Fallon was touching up her makeup and brushing her hair when she heard Thad's voice which caused a different kind of surge through her body.

Satisfied she looked her best she came out from the back and said, "Thad! Hi!"

"Wow!" he said as he looked at her while she walked toward him.

"Now who's grinning like The Cheshire Cat?" Beth quipped as she wondered if Fallon's face might break from smiling so big.

"You look amazing!" he told her.

"She should. She's been back there primping for..."

Thad saw the look Fallon gave her and wondered if everything was okay.

"Well, you were," Beth said defensively. "And yes, you do look very nice."

"Thank you. Both of you," Fallon said. "Are you ready?"

"I am," Thad told her.

He extended his arm and offered her his elbow.

"Oh. Well, thank you," Fallon said as she took it.

"Have fun, Fallon!" Beth said.

There was a brief pause then, "Bye, Doctor Nelson!"

Thad turned around as they walked then looked at Fallon who said, "I'll explain in the car."

Thad went around and opened the door for her and Fallon thanked him.

"So how does she know I'm a doctor?" he asked when he got in.

Fallon explained the story causing Thad to nod and said, "Ah. Okay. I thought she looked familiar. I see a lot of faces."

"And I understand a lot of them would very much like to...how did Beth put it? Oh, right. Catch your attention."

Thad laughed and said, "I guess there have been a few women who've kind of let me know they're available."

"If you don't mind me asking, do you date much?"

"I don't mind," he told her. "The truth is this is the first date I've been on since..."

He caught himself just as Fallon was about to say, "Date?"

"I didn't mean 'date'," he said as he turned toward her and smiled. "I was using the term generically, of course."

"Of course," Fallon said smiling back.

"How about you?" he asked.

"Me? Oh, no. Not for a couple of years now. I tried dating for a while, but let's just say I didn't find it a very pleasurable experience."

"Well, maybe that'll change. You never know," Thad said smiling at her again.

"No. You never really do, huh?" she said rather quietly as she continued looking at him after he looked away.

For the first time in...forever...her body ached to be loved. He was so good looking and yet she knew he was just being friendly. How long had it been? Three years? Four? There'd only been one man since Jerome and it had been just the one time and that one time was both awkward and clumsy and not at all satisfying.

Since then she'd done her best to tell herself she didn't need that kind of love. She had her work and her son, and that was more than enough. And yet...she knew it was nowhere near enough, and the longing she felt was so strong it scared her.

"So which one?" she heard him say.

"I'm sorry?" she had to say knowing she hadn't been paying attention.

"American or Italian?" he repeated.

"Oh. Um...you choose. You were right about the fish taco, so I'll trust you on this, too," she said with a smile.

"Italian it is," he replied.

After spending the rest of the time on the way to the restaurant in total silence, the two of them talked without a break the entire time they ate. They only had 45 minutes and it felt more like two when they found themselves back in the car still talking.

Thad offered to walk her inside, but Fallon knew he was close to running late and insisted he just drop her off.

"We can't keep those sick children waiting," she's said sweetly.

As he pulled up to the curb at the shop, Fallon said, "I can't remember the last time I enjoyed myself so much. Thank you for a very lovely time, Thad."

"I was going to say the same thing," he told her.

"Well, I should get inside so you can get back to work," she said as she reached for the door handle.