Eddie stood looking in the mirror. Never before had he thought twice about what to wear when hanging out with Janet but tonight was different. He actually asked her out on a date. They were going on a date. He still couldn't quite believe it. Over the years that his drinking habit increased he spent more time at Sully's, sitting at the bar drinking and getting to know her and he really liked what he had learned. She was an amazing woman. She was one of the nicest women he had ever met. He had witnessed many people pouring their hearts out to her and she never turned them away. No matter how busy she was she always took time to listen. She would do anything for anyone and as nice as she was she was just as tough. She put up with nothing and took crap from no one including him; she had a great sense of humor. She was fun to be around and he wanted to be around her.

After he crashed and burned with Aubrey he was feeling a bit sorry for himself so he showed up at Sully's just as it was going to close so besides Ikey being passed out in the booth, he and Janet were alone. He was hoping for a bit of sympathy from her but he should have known better. Instead of sympathy, in no uncertain terms she told him that it was his own fault because he had his sights set on the wrong type of girl and maybe he would have better luck if he set his sights on another type of girl. No other girl but Janet would have the nerve to tell him that and when he heard that, a light bulb went off and before he had truly thought it out, he heard himself asking her out and to her credit, she didn't jump at the invitation. She said she will have to think about it. No woman had ever said that to him before and he liked it. She did think about it and made him wait two days for a yes which led him to where he was right now; standing in front of his mirror approving the brown and cream stripped button down shirt and jeans he was wearing. He was ready.

"Whoa. She must be hot. You actually put forth an effort in your wardrobe." Phil commented and Eddie rolled his eyes. "Who is the lucky lady?"

"I'll be home late mom. Don't wait up." He answered and walked out the house without answering his question.

Sometimes Phil acts dense but he was actually pretty smart and Eddie figured that he picked up on the fact that he avoided answering his question. He wished he could have answered that question but something, not quite sure what, but something was holding him back in telling Phil or anyone that the lucky girl was Janet.

Janet was not like any woman he had ever dated in the past, He still had the popular quarterback image so he dated as the image required; women with the popular high school cheerleader image; thin with big breasts and not very smart. The not very smart quality was important because those girls were easy to talk into his bed and out of a relationship but Janet was different. She was short and curvy; most would say chubby but he preferred curvy or at least he preferred curvy if the curves were on Janet which they happened to be. He really liked everything about her but what would everyone think of him dating someone like her so until he knew what was going to happen with them and until he knew how he really felt about her and dating her he wanted to keep it and her on the down low. He knew it was stupid and childish but it's what he had to do now.

Janet glanced at the clock. Eddie would be picking her up in fifteen minutes and knowing him, he would be early, just to catch her not ready and that couldn't happen. Glancing in the full length mirror she looked at her outfit; jeans and blue top with the cool flower looking designs of darker blue, green and black that came down mid thigh and to top it off she was going to wear her brown jacket that buttoned at her neck; it should throw everything together nicely. Now her hair on the other hand was another issue entirely. Her curls were very curly today of all days and it took her awhile to tame them. She was going for a soft, lose curl look but her hair had other ideas. When she managed to get them under control, she ended up leaving it long and down with the front pulled back. The final finishing touch was leaving a few strands down on one side of her face. It was the best she could manage.

Leaving her bedroom, she went to the living room and put her jacket on. She still had ten minutes before Eddie was due to arrive so she did what any nervous girl before a "maybe" date would do; she paced. Eddie asked her out. He suggested that maybe she would want to come and meet Ernesto the singing Koloa Bear in his attic and talking animals is his main pick up line. She wasn't quite sure she heard him right so she verified what she thought she heard; she specifically asked him "Are you asking me out?" And he responded with "I don't know. I guess." She established that he asked her out but his phrasing of his answer did nothing to put her mind at ease. "I guess." Yeah, those words are the words every girl dreams of hearing when the guy of her dreams asks her out; not.

Every straight girl in Knights Ridge had a slight crush on Eddie Latekka and who wouldn't. He's hot and the word on the street and in Sully's is that he is very talented. Janet has passed many a lonely night with fantasies of dating Eddie but they were just that; fantasies. She never, ever thought he would ask her out because she's Janet The Planet and Eddie Latekka doesn't date any girl with a nickname like that so the world must be ending. That was the only explanation. Why else would he ask her out? And since he did ask her out the question was did he ask her out as a friend or as something more. She had no idea and according to Hannah the only way for her to be sure was to wait for the goodnight kiss. It was going to be a long night.

Janet was so deep in thought that she didn't hear Eddie pull up in front for her house until the door of his truck shut and she panicked. This was it. Not really thinking clearly, she grabbed her purse and rushed outside. As she was shutting the door, Eddie was to the steps.

"Hey." She greeted and then mentally slapped herself. Couldn't she of come up with something better then "Hey?"

"Hey yourself." "She looks so pretty." He thought when he laid eyes on her. She wasn't made up like a clown. She was wearing makeup but she looked natural; beautiful. "I'll admit that I am surprised that you are ready. Usually I end up sitting around twiddling my thumbs as I wait." "Great move slick, talking about waiting for my other dates."

"I've been ready for hours." "Okay. That came out really wrong." She thought to herself. "I wanted to sound cool and casual and now, I just sound pathetic."

"Well if you are ready let's not waste anymore time. I'm starving." "Wow. Way to make a girl feel special Latekka. I can be such an idiot."

Together, they walked to the truck. When they arrived at the passenger door, Eddie opened the door and held out his hand. Janet wasn't the tallest person in the world and his truck sat up high. She was going to need his assistance. She placed her small hand into his large one and he helped her into the truck.

"Thanks."

"No problem." He shut her tightly in the truck and walked around to his side, savoring the feeling of the way her hand felt in his. The second her hand touched his, his heart skipped a beat. That has never happened before and he was mystified by it. Taking a deep breath to stop his pounding heart, he climbed up in the truck.

"So where are we off too?" Janet asked when Eddie began to drive.

"You'll just have to wait and see."

"Why are you being so mysterious?"

"Because it's fun to torment you for once."

"That scares me."

"Just trust me on this one, will ya?"

"I don't know. As far as I know, your taste of food is primarily burgers and fries."

"I am a man of many tastes."

"That remains to be seen." She remarked.

They passed the remaining of the drive with comfortable conversation, music and in between the comfortable conversation they argued (jokingly of course) about the music. There was some music that they agreed to but for the most part their taste in music was vastly different and they couldn't agree on what to listen to. It was fun.

"May I help you?"

"Reservation for Latekka." Janet grinned. This wasn't a fly by the seat of his pants kind of "maybe" date. He took the time to make a reservation.

"Eddie?"

"Yes. That's us."

"Your table is ready. Please follow me." The hostess grabbed two menus and Eddie gestured for Janet to follow. He followed behind her which gave him a chance to check out her back side and he couldn't help but think how nice her butt looked in those jeans.

"Wow. How far did we drive? Are we still in Massachusetts?" Janet joked as they walked to their table.

"They have the best veal scaloppini ever."

"We drove through three time zones for veal scaloppini?" They took their seat and took their menus at which Janet took the opportunity to look around the restaurant.

"There are a disportionate number of older men with younger men here." She observed and Eddie looked around.

"No." He answered but he realized she was right and he had the feeling this could go bad real quick.

"This place. This is where people come for assignations."

"What's that?"

"Secret romances. Sneak aways. Affairs.

"Nooo." He repeated.

"It's called Hugo's Hideaway."

"That's because it's tucked in the woods."

"I think that's a chicken egg thing. Is it an affair place because it's tucked in the woods or did they tuck it in the woods because it's an affair place." Janet glanced at the menu and something caught her eye. "Check this out." She began to read. "During prohibition colorful Canadian bootlegger Hugo Callahan opened the Hideaway as a place to entertain lady friends far from his wife's prying eyes." Eddie began to laugh. "It's a virtual shrine to cheating."

"I come for the veal scaloppini." Janet continued to look over the menu and her heart dropped in her stomach when she realized that what she was looking for wasn't there.

"Of course, they don't have veal scaloppini."

"What?" Eddie looked genuinely confused.

"It's not on the menu anyhow." He flipped the menu over trying to find it and then he looked up at her. "I don't ask for much Eddie." She began. "Heck, I don't ask for anything. From where I'm sitting, I'm just happy to be sitting where I'm sitting. There is only one thing I require of my friends. That's honesty. Are we here because you are embarrassed to be seen with me?" Eddie didn't respond. The table was silent and she realized that she nailed it. He didn't want to be seen Knights Ridge with her. Her heart broke as his silence answered her questions. She was considered the best way to walk out with her dignity and pride still intact when Eddie flagged the waitress down.

"Have we decided?" She asked.

"Yeah. Umm would you mind explaining to my friend what Vito's special is?"

"Oh. That's our version of veal scaloppini; the best in the state." The waitress answered and Janet wished there as a hole she could crawl into right then.

"Really? We'll have two." They handed their menus back to the waitress and Eddie smiled smugly at the beautiful woman across from him.

"Well, I feel really stupid." She admitted with an apologetic smile.

"Janet, why do you always think the worst?"

"Can we start over?" She chose to ignore his question because if her little outburst hasn't already convinced him she was nuts her answer to his question certainly would.

"Start over?"

"Start over. Pretend like my little outburst never happened."

"If you would like."

"I would like." Janet grabbed her purse and left the table. She walked to the entrance, took a deep breath and returned to the table. "What a quaint little restaurant you brought us to Eddie." She commented with a smile when she sat back in her seat.

"I'm glad you like it. I was worried that you would think that it's an affair place."

"Me? I would never think anything like that."

"I ordered for us. I hope you like veal scaloppini."

"I love veal scaloppini and I heard this place makes the best in the state."

"Oh really? Now, where did you hear that from?"

"A pretty good source. A very good friend."

"Is that an apology?"

"Yes." She admitted softly.

"I accept."

"Here is your wine." The waitress set down a glass of red wine in front of each of them.

"Thank you."

"When you took your start over walk I ordered the house red." He explained, gesturing to the glasses. "I hope you like red."

"I do. I didn't think that you drank anything but beer."

"I'm a man of many surprises." He held up his glass and Janet did the same. "To friendship."

"To starting over." They clinked glasses and sipped their wine. "Wow. This is really good."

"Everything about this place is good."

"I'm getting that."

"You ain't seen nothing yet. Just wait until you try the scaloppini."

"You really like the scaloppini don't you?"

"I do."

"How did you find this hideaway? Have you snuck someone up here before?"

"Nope. My dad and I used to come here."

"Really?"

"There is a stretch of land about ten miles from here that dad and I used to hunt at. Before we would start out our hunting weekend we would stop here for dinner."

"That sounds like fun."

"It was. I was always the youngest guy here but dad and I had fun." Sadness filled his brown eyes.

"You miss him." It wasn't a question. It was statement of the obvious.

"You know I never had the veal scaloppini until after he died."

"Really?"

"It was dad's favorite. Every time we came here he ordered the scaloppini. He loved it. He always tried to get me to try it but I never did. I was young and cheeseburgers and fries was as fancy as I got so I never tried it. After he died, I started coming here on the anniversary of his death. I needed to feel closer to him so I ordered the veal scaloppini and it turns out, it was the best stuff I had ever had."

"Did it work?" She asked softly.

"Did what work?" At that moment the waitress delivered their plates so they grew silent.

"Can I get you anything else?" She asked.

"I'm good." Eddie answered.

"No thank you." Janet told her.

"I'll be back to check shortly."

"Okay. Give it a try. I want to know what you think." Feeling slightly self-conscious she cut herself a bite and placed it in her mouth very aware that Eddie was watching her every move.

"Oh my…wow. This is delicious." Another smug smile crossed Eddie's face.

"Told ya." He dug into his own meal. "What did you mean when you asked if it worked?" He asked after a few minutes and a few bites.

"Did you feel closer to your dad by coming here and ordering what he liked?"

"No."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Something better came of it."

"What's that?"

"I am honoring my dad. Every year I come here, sit at the same table by myself, ordered my dad's favorite meal and spent the meal remembering our hunting trips and our relationship. By doing that I am honoring my father and our relationship and that's I think that's more important than feeling close to him."

"That's beautiful." She told him.

"It's the truth."

"If you don't mind my asking, how did your dad die?" She knew his dad had passed away but he never talked about it. "If you don't want to answer you don't have to."

"It's no problem. I can't believe that I have never told you before. Dad had pancreatic cancer. He died six months after his diagnosis."

"I'm so very sorry Eddie."

"It was rough but I got to say goodbye. I have no regrets but I do miss the hunting. After dad died, I couldn't go alone."

"Well if you want to go, I know someone who could go with you who would be great company."

"Really? Who would that be?"

"Me." Eddie's jaw dropped open.

"Are you kidding me? You hunt?"

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

"Because you're a girl."

"Did you really just say that?"

"Sorry. I didn't mean to insult you."

"Well you did."

"I've never known a girl to hunt before."

"This girl does."

"I just can't believe it. You really hunt?"

"I do. My dad wanted a boy but he ended up with three girls and I was the only one he could get to do boy things with. In case you have forgotten, because I sure haven't, but I was a tomboy in high school." And she was. Her long curls were always in a pony tail and she played most every sport a girl could possibly play; volleyball, basketball and softball.

"I remember the tomboy girl from high school." He said with a twinkle in his eye. "And I'll be damned. She hunts."

"Yes she does."

"Has she ever gotten anything?"

"She usually gets a doe a year and she has gotten one buck." Eddie let out a whistle.

"I just may take you up on that." The two of them shared a smile and continued their meal.

The drive home was mostly silent with the exception of the radio. From out of the corner of his eye he noticed that her right hand was holding onto her purse while her left hand sat limply in her lap; a sure sign that she was waiting for him to take hold of her hand but he couldn't bring himself to take her hand. Normally, he wouldn't think twice about holding a girl's hand. He knew girls liked that and made them all weak inside and easier to seduce; not that the previous women he dated were all that difficult to seduce but Janet wasn't like the previous woman he had dated and he wanted something different with her so instead of holding her hand, he kept both hands on the wheel.

"So… um how do you feel about Nick moving back to town?" Janet asked after a moment of awkwardness after Eddie pulled his truck up in front of her house.

"It's a free country. People are allowed to move where they want." Janet laughed.

"That's very generous of you. Let's try again. How do you feel about it?"

"I'm sore at the guy."

"Was it the book?"

"I haven't even read it. " Another laugh. "It's the movie. Remember that scene where Freddy Venntta gets so drunk that he hits the car; he's so afraid of getting in trouble he takes off? That never happened. Yeah. I hit the car but I stayed. I faced the consequences. I didn't take off unlike some people." He finished with a shake of his head.

"You know what I like about you Eddie? You're not like the guy in the movie. You're brave. You don't run but I also think that a lot of that gets lost in the shuffle of you being you." She smiled softly at him.

Eddie knew she was expecting a goodnight kiss but for the first time in a very long time he was too nervous to kiss her; he probably would miss, bang heads and give them each a concussion but he wanted the taste of her skin under his lips. Deciding to risk concussion, he leaned forward and closed the distance between the two of them. At the very last second, he chickened out, lifted his head and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"I'll see you later Janet." He saw the hurt flash across her face. If she only knew how much he really wanted to kiss her.

"Yeah. See you." With her head held high, she climbed out of the truck.

As Eddie watched Janet walk up to her house an overwhelming sense of loss washed over him. By not kissing her, he was afraid he just blew the best chance of taking their relationship to the next level and by not taking it to the next level, he is afraid that he just lost an amazing woman. "I should have kissed her." He thought to himself. "I should have kissed her."

"I'm going to kiss her." He said out loud turning off the car.

Janet did her best to keep her head held high as she walked to her house but she couldn't stop the tears from falling. She thought that things had gone so well but apparently she was wrong. Once safely inside her house she stood behind her window, where he couldn't see her wondering what went wrong. "I shouldn't have confronted him about being embarrassed about being seen with me. I shouldn't have brought up his dad's death. Who talks about death on a date anyways?" She sighed and wiped her tears. "He should have kissed me." She thought.

Suddenly she saw him turn off his truck and then come running through her front yard. Her heart began to pound. She went to her door and just as he went to knock, she opened the door and stepped out onto to the porch. Without a word, he reached out, grabbed her hand and smiled tenderly at her. "I should have kissed you."

"You should have kissed me." She agreed.

"I'm going to kiss you." He pulled her to his chest. His free hand reached out and cupped her cheek. Janet placed her free hand on top of his and linked their fingers together. Slowly, Eddie lowered his face and pressed his lips to hers.

Their kiss started off slowly and hesitantly but that only lasted for about thirty seconds before it increased in urgency and need. They had never felt passion like this before. They couldn't get enough of each other. It was the best first, second, third and forth kiss they had ever experienced. When they finally broke apart they rested their foreheads together while they caught their breath.

"Come with me to the Pumpkin Fest tomorrow." He mumbled.

"Is that a request or a demand?"

"It's a request. Please, will you come to Pumpkin Fest with me tomorrow night as my date?"

"I'll have to check my schedule. I may have another date."

"Check it and let me know."

"I will." This time, Eddie purposefully kissed her forehead. "Good night Eddie." He moved his lips from her forehead to her lips for a slow kiss.

"It is now." He opened her door and she stepped inside the house and he stole one more kiss. "Good night Janet."

Walking back to his truck he had a smile on his face that he couldn't get rid of. Instead of thinking about what everyone else was going to say when they saw them together at Pumpkin Fest tomorrow, he was counting down the hours until he would see, touch and kiss her again.