* * * *
After painstakingly picking out what he was going to wear and primping in front of the mirror for an hour, Sherman declared himself ready for his date.
He’d showered—washing his bits and pieces in case he got lucky—lotioned his body, and tried fruitlessly to do something with his stubborn hair. He grabbed his keys and headed for the door.
“Are you sure there’s nothing you need before I go?”
His mother smiled at him from the couch. She hadn’t coughed in the past few hours, which gave Sherman hope that she would be feeling better soon.
“No, dear.” She got up and crossed the room, fixing his collar and then pressing a frail hand to his cheek. “You look stunning. Your date is going to be blown away.”
Sherman wasn’t too sure about that.
“You seem nervous.” His mother pursed her lips. “What’s wrong, sweetie?”
“I don’t know.” Sherman shrugged and looked away. “He’s really nice-looking and has a great job, Mom. What if he gets to know me and doesn’t like me?”
Although Sherman’s parents argued like crazy, he knew they loved him, and Sherman had always had a great relationship with his mom. She was more like his best friend in some ways, and he cherished her.
“Sherman Albert Gaines. You are a catch, and any man who can’t see that doesn’t deserve you.” She curled her thin arms around him and gave him a hug. “You’re the sweetest, kindest man I know.”
“And fat.” Sherman had never cared about the extra pounds before. George and Cornell hadn’t seemed to be bothered by it. But Dalton looked like a gym rat, and he could have any guy he wanted. What was so special about Sherman?
His mother released him and then smacked Sherman on the back of his head.
“Ow!”
“I don’t ever want to hear you body shaming yourself. Not everyone is skinny, and there are plenty of men out there who like healthy young men.”
Healthy. Sherman inwardly rolled his eyes but knew better than to do it where his mother could see. He wasn’t big-boned. Sherman had the extra weight because he loved to eat. There was no psychological reason. He didn’t eat because he was depressed or had some core problem. He just loved food.
“Yes, ma’am.” He kissed her on the cheek. “I have to go, or I’ll be late.”
“I’ll wait up for the details.” She blushed.
They were close, but not that close. Sherman wasn’t giving his mother any intimate details, if anything intimate happened. He would call Payton for that.
Sherman headed out the door and stopped dead in his tracks. Where in the hell was his car? It wasn’t in the driveway or parked at the curb. It had vanished into thin air. Who on earth would steal such a piece of shit?
“Mom, did you let anyone borrow Betsy?” he asked when he walked back into the living room. “I parked in the driveway when I got back here, but my car is gone.”
His mother appeared as perplexed as Sherman felt. Her thin brows were knitted as she looked out the window. “Oh dear. I didn’t let anyone use it, Sherman. You need to call the police and report it stolen.”
Great. Just fucking great. Sherman finally had a date with a decent guy and someone had stolen his wheels. He should have known this was too good to be true.
He pulled out his phone, but instead of calling the sheriff’s department, he called Dalton. When the guy answered, Sherman said, “I’m going to have to cancel.”
“Is something wrong?”
God, the guy’s voice was sexy as sin. Sherman loved the deep timbre and could listen to it for hours on end. “Someone stole my car, so I have no way of getting to town without freezing to death.”
That might have happened anyway since Betsy’s heat was out.
“Give me your address and I’ll pick you up,” Dalton said. “Have you reported it stolen yet?”
“Not yet. I wanted to call you first so you didn’t think I was standing you up.” Sherman rattled off his address. “Sorry, I didn’t mean for our evening to go to shit.”
“We’ll stop at the station and file a report,” Dalton said. “I’m on my way. Our evening isn’t ruined, Sherman. It just has a few more turns in it.”
He loved hearing Dalton say his name. “You’re an optimist.”
“And you’re not?” Dalton chuckled. “We’ll talk when I see you.”
Sherman used to be an optimist until he’d nearly been blown up. “See you soon.”
When he hung up and turned, he saw his mother smiling at him. Her hazel eyes seemed to sparkle.
“I told you that you were a catch. A scoundrel wouldn’t go out of his way to keep a date. I think you might finally have found Mr. Right.”
Sherman wasn’t going to get his hopes up. He’d been burned too many times before to think he’d finally found the one. “Mom, we haven’t even had our first date yet.”
“Yes you have.” She patted his chest. “Lunch was a date.”
Not in Sherman’s mind. He’d eaten, filled out an application, and had gotten hired. That hadn’t been a date. “I still have to figure out what happened to Betsy.”
“Maybe she drove off to the big car lot in the sky,” his mom said. “Lord knew that car was dangerous to drive and an eyesore. If you ask me, someone did you a favor by stealing it.” She went to her purse that she kept by the door and extracted her keys. “I’m going to hang these up. If you ever need to use my car, go right ahead.”
Sherman’s heart fluttered when the doorbell rang. Was that Dalton? Why hadn’t he just honked from the driveway?
“Answer the door, dear.”
Taking in a deep breath, Sherman went to the door. He wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans before he swung the door open. God, Dalton was sexier the second time around.
“Are you ready?”
Sherman’s brows shot up. “Did you really bring me flowers?”
In Dalton’s hand was a bouquet of red, orange, yellow, and pink flowers. “What are these?”
They smelled wonderful.
“Transvaal daisies,” his mother said from behind him with a sigh. “They’re lovely and very appropriate for a first date.”
Sherman’s face heated. “Um, thanks.”
He’d never gotten flowers before or had a date pick him up at the door. Come to think of it, Sherman had never had anyone treat him like a date. George just told Sherman to come over and they played video games. Cornell always had Sherman meet him somewhere, and Sherman always picked up the tab.
“You fellas have fun,” his mother said and then whispered to Sherman, “Don’t forget to put a condom in your wallet.”
“Mom!” Sherman wished a hole would open up and swallow him. From the grin on Dalton’s face, the guy had heard her.
Dalton stuck out his hand after he entered. “I’m Fire Chief Dalton Knowles, ma’am.”
“I know who you are. I’m Gladys Gaines.” She held out her hand, and he kissed her knuckles. The guy was charming the pantyhose right off Sherman’s mom.
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Gaines. I’ll take good care of Sherman.”