He could go to the market and buy the ingredients for some BLTs. You can’t go wrong with bacon. What if Tara didn’t like mayonnaise? There were no peas or cooked carrots in mayonnaise, so he should be safe there. Besides, he would load the picnic basket with Comfort Zone’s mouthwatering desserts. No matter how much he messed up on the rest of the stuff, the desserts would save the day.

But first things first, he needed a picnic basket before he could fill it. Did Aubrey and Landon own one? There was no time for him to go up to the house to check. He should just buy one when he went into town. What else did people bring to picnics? A picnic blanket. He’d better pick up one of those, too.

Seth pulled out of the restaurant parking lot and headed for Weldon. He knew where the market was, but that was about it. But the folks in the tiny town were so friendly and helpful, he could ask them about everything else he needed and be pointed in the right direction.

Excitement fluttered in his stomach. Was he having first-date jitters? He chuckled under his breath. When was the last time he felt really excited about something? He couldn’t even remember. All he knew was that he was looking forward to having Tara all to himself.

CHAPTER FIVE

The sock elves not only stole her socks but every presentable piece of clothing she had. Tara had nothing to wear for her first date with Seth. She palmed her forehead and blew out a frustrated breath. It was a beautiful spring day, and she was tying herself into a knot over her picnic outfit.

She chose the park for their first date because it wasn’t really a hangout point for anyone she knew. And it was spread out enough that she and Seth could have some seclusion. Basically, no one would see her, really, except for him, which made her problem beyond silly. Clicking her tongue, she grabbed a pair of black leggings and a loose blue tunic from her closet and put them on.

“There,” she said to her perfectly pleasant reflection on the closet mirror. “Why did that have to be so hard? Is this Seth guy a big deal or something?”

She laughed at herself. He was not a big deal or something. Seth was the guy she was going out with on four dates. He was also the one leaving for Paris in a month. In a nutshell, he was like any other man she casually dated but had an even shorter shelf life. With no option of extending the arrangement. Her stomach dipped ever so slightly at the thought, and she ignored it. She was going out to be not-alone for an afternoon with a fine-ass man. Stomach dipping of any sort was not included. And definitely not recognized or analyzed.

She picked up her favorite lip stain but hesitated before putting it on. Stop it with the overthinking. She wore lip stain all the time. Tara wasn’t doing it to look good for Seth. It just made her feel good.