“Okay, I think everything is ready.” The sound of his voice jarred her back to reality, and Lexi tried to remember this was a first date, second at best if she allowed herself to count their not-a-date as a date, as it had been pretty close to being one. “Everything all right?”
“Yes, fine, thanks,” she stammered as he set a plate loaded with a steaming pork chop smothered in white gravy, potatoes, and something with green beans in it on top of her charger. “That tree is beautiful.”
“It is, isn’t it?” Max noted, sitting next to her at the end of the table, so that his back was actually to the tree. “Maggie has a lot of beautiful trees in the yard.” Leaning slightly closer, he added, “Luckily, she now has me to rake the leaves.”
Lexi giggled at his expression before removing her napkin an
