Escape Room

"That...that sounds really nice."

"Well, if you're sure."

"Can we, Daddy?" Tyler asked as he put his arm around Trevor who did the same.

"Who could say 'no' to that?" he replied to his son while looking at Abby who was all smiles.

Spring hadn't yet sprung, and it was still cold outside. Even so, both of the Omaha natives thought nothing of going to an ice cream parlor. And as it worked out, there was one that was on both of their ways home, so Abby followed Neil and pulled in right behind him.

All three of the boys had a scoop of ice cream in a waffle cone while Abby had a small scoop of frozen yogurt in a cup which took her twice as long to finish as it did for all three 'men' to destroy their treats.

"Now I see why you're so petite looking," Neil teased when she finally finished.

"Petite? Ha! That's funny!"

"Is that the wrong word?" Neil asked.

Abby laughed then told him it usually meant being very small in both height and size.

"Oh, okay. I meant..."

The right word wouldn't come, and after a few moments of awkward silence, he said, "Okay. 'Sexy' isn't right, either, but that's the only word I can think of."

Abby pulled her head back a bit, opened her eyes wide, then smiled.

"Your vocabulary needs some work, then," she told him, the smile still there. "Because it's been a very long time since anyone used that particular word to describe me."

"Even though it's accurate?" Neil asked, his eyebrows raised a little and a smile on his face, too.

She laughed again then told him, "Maybe when I was your age. But now? Not so much."

She was downplaying the compliment, but the fact of the matter was it made her feel good.

"Your age. Listen to you! You can't be that much older than me. I mean, we both have kids the same age, right?"

"Maybe, but I'm guessing neither one of us is in our 30s," Abby said, still smiling. "Would I be correct?"

"Well, I'm turning the big three-oh in four months, so on my end, at least, you are correct."

Abby tried not to laugh, but lost out at his use of the 'big three-oh'.

"Thirty, huh? Wow, you're really getting up there!" she teased.

Neil had been looking at her, but now he was more studying her to the point that Abby had to ask what he was looking at.

"I believe you just told me you were..."

He cupped his mouth as though he was about to tell a secret and said, "Over 40."

"And?" she asked, her head tilted a little to one side.

"And...I'm not seein' it," Neil told her as he exaggerated the staring and pretended to actually be examining her.

Abby laughed again then said, "Oh, I assure you I am. And I see it. Every time I look in the mirror."

Neil narrowed his eyes into slits as though he was taking one last, careful look before saying, "Okay. You look like an honest woman, so I guess I'll just have to take your word for it."

Abby laughed at his silliness then told him he'd made her day.

Feeling a little emboldened, Neil told her, "And you've made mine."

Again, Abby felt something when he said that, but she wasn't exactly sure what it might be. And it became a moot point when she noticed the time and told Trevor they really did have to go home now.

Fortunately, he not only didn't get upset, he said rather cheerfully, "Okay, Mom!"

"Tell your friend you'll see him tomorrow at school, okay?"

The two boys said their goodbyes as the adults stood up to leave.

"I'm really glad we had the opportunity to get acquainted," Abby told Neil.

"Me, too. This has been a very pleasant surprise."

"To be honest I really didn't think I'd enjoy the escape room. I mostly did it for Trevor's benefit. But I had a wonderful time watching Tyler figure things out. He really is a very smart boy."

Before Neil could respond she also said, "And I really enjoyed meeting you, too, Neil."

"Likewise, Abby, and I'll give you a call soon and see if we can decide on what to do together."

He realized how that sounded, so he added something, too.

"I mean...with our boys."

She laughed then said, "Goodnight, Neil. I really did have a nice time."

"Same here, Abby."

He'd walked with her to her car, so when she her fob made the lights blink and unlock the door, he opened it for her. She thanked him then told him she was looking forward to his call.

Back in their own vehicle, Neil asked his son if he had a nice time.

"That was SO much fun!" Tyler replied. "But I wish it wasn't so easy."

Neil could only laugh as he and Abby had only figured out two of the needed clues during the hour they were in the room.

"Well, they have one room that has a 3% escape rate. Maybe we could try that one next time."

"Three percent. That means that 97 out of every 100 people don't get out," the young boy said.

"Um...yes. That's...that's right," his father replied even as he again wondered how in the world he'd managed to have a kid as smart as Tyler. Whatever it was, Neil often already felt inadequate to be raising someone who might be a kind of child genius.

"So that means we'll be those three out of a hundred that do escape!" Tyler announced, and his father couldn't help but think that just might be true.

Back home, Neil was waiting for Tyler to finish getting ready for bed then asked if he'd like to do something with Trevor.

"Like the 3% escape room?"

"Yeah. Or maybe he could come over here and play. Or you could go over there. Would you like that?"

"What would we do?"

"Um, well, you guys could play video games or..."

Those two words were music to Tyler's ears.

"Okay!" he said with a big smile.

"Yeah?" his father replied, also with a smile.

"Can we play Dragon Ball Z?"

"Isn't that 13 and up?"

Tyler's smile disappeared immediately.

"I'm not saying you can't play it. I just have to ask Trevor's mom if that's okay with her."

"It's not Call of Duty," the boy said as though that should settle the issue.

"No. It's not that kind of game, but I will need to ask. In the meantime, maybe you can think of something else you might want to do."

Satisfied, Tyler's smile was back as he asked his dad if he could read him a story.

Neil smiled at the thought of a six-year old reading to his parent, but that's how things had been in the Silvan household for the last two years or so.

"Sure. What's on the list for tonight?"

Neil had some mystery story books called Encyclopedia Brown he'd gotten from a man at a yard sale who was in his mid-60s. As a boy he'd loved reading them and trying to guess who'd done it before the story revealed the bad guy. Neil paid the man a couple of bucks never once thinking his son would love them as much as this man once had.

Tyler jumped up and grabbed an old, well-worn book titled Encyclopedia Brown Finds the Clues that was published in 1966, then hopped back in bed and turned to the first page and began reading.

Neil tried to listen to his son who already read well above grade level, but he found himself unable to concentrate, because his mind was elsewhere. It was back at the escape room and the ice cream parlor. More specifically it was zeroed in on one particular person, a woman he found distractingly beautiful and charming. But some part of his brain kept pointing out what she'd said about being over 40, and it was trying to tell him that this was an exercise in futility.

Even so, he couldn't let go of the way he felt, and Neil was already looking forward to seeing her again. Hoping against hope, he couldn't help but wonder, and maybe even wish, that she might be willing to at least consider going out with him on an actual date. Seeing her so that their boys could play together would be nice, but he knew that wasn't going to be enough. He also had to admit that she may have brought up the age business as a subtle way of letting him know she wasn't interested in him. But until he knew that for sure, Neil couldn't help but nurture the possibility of a future that involved something more than just play dates.

"I think I know who did it, Daddy!" Neil heard Tyler say, pulling him back to reality.

"Already? How can you possibly know that?"

Tyler explained his reasoning, but because Neil hadn't been listening, he had no idea how logical his choice of villains might be. All he could really do was say how that sounded plausible while knowing he wouldn't need to explain the meaning of that word to his six-year old quasi-prodigy.

"You could be right, buddy. But we're gonna have to wait to find out."

"Ah! Can't we read just five more pages?" his son asked.

"Sorry, big guy. Not tonight. But we'll read some more tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay!" his son replied, that wonderful smile back on his face.

Neil set the book on the nightstand by his bed, gave his son a hug and kiss on the cheek and told him he loved him.

"I love you, too, Daddy! And thank you for taking me to the escape room and for ice cream!"

For a brief moment, Neil stopped thinking about Abby and felt a wave of nostalgia and longing wash over him as he wished with all of his heart that Misty could be there to share the pride and joy he felt at that moment.

"I love you, too, Tyler," he told him before turning off the light then flicking on a nightlight.

"Sleep tight!" he said as he left the boy's room and thoughts of Abby Stevens returned to the forefront of his mind.

"Don't let the bed bugs bite!" his little boy called back, bringing a smile to his father's face as he realized his eyes were a little blurry from his very short walk down memory lane.

Somehow, Neil forced himself to wait until the following evening to text Abby. Part of his reason for waiting was to avoid seeming overly anxious while another part was his need to try and come up with something to suggest that would let the parents spend time together while they kids played.

There was a place in Omaha called Joslyn Castle, the former home of George and Sarah Joslyn. The 34-room house was completed in 1903, and it was a place Neil had never been to in spite of having grown up there. Hoping against hope that Abby hadn't seen it, either, he texted her and threw it out as a fun activity for four.

"Oh, my goodness! I haven't been there since I was maybe 10 years old. I loved going through all the rooms, and the best part is you don't have to escape from any of them!"

Neil smiled when he ready her reply then asked if Saturday afternoon would be okay.

"Yes. That sounds perfect!" she texted back.

"Great! May we come by and pick you guys up?" Neil wrote back.

Abby started texting something about how that wasn't necessary and that she could just meet him when she backspaced and erased every word.

"If you don't mind, that sounds very nice," she wrote instead as goose bumps arose on her arm, the reaction surprising her.

Neil then began tapping out his response that included an invitation for dinner but erased it.

"It's no trouble at all. Can we stop by around 2:30?"

"Sure. That'll give Trevor time to show Tyler his room before we go."

She thought for a moment, smiled, then added, "And it'll give us a chance to talk."

Neil was all smiles as he wrote back.

"That sounds great. We'll see you then!"

"Okay, we're looking forward to it, and I'll pay for our tickets right now."

Neil nearly panicked.

"No. Hold on. I'll take care of that. After all, I'm the one who invited you, right?"

He wanted to say 'asked you out' but thought better of it.

Again, Abby almost started in the way she normally did with her brother, but after giving it some thought decided to accept.

"That's very kind of you. Thank you so much!"

"My pleasure. See you soon!"

The text exchange didn't last long, and it certainly wasn't racy or anything close to romantic, but when Neil set his phone down, he had to admit he felt the way he used to when Misty was alive. The reason why was obvious, and its name was Abby.

Friday after work, Paul and Amanda came over just to spend some time, and in spite of a long day, Abby was all smiles.

"Did someone get a raise?" Amanda asked.

Abby did a little head shake and asked what that meant.

Amanda laughed and told her she had seen her sister-in-law smile that much since...

Realizing what she was about to say, Amanda stopped talking and began apologizing.

"No, it's okay," Abby, who was smiling again, told her. "The fact is, it's probably true."

"So what's the reason?" her brother asked as he nudged her as he walked by.

"Oh...nothing," Abby said in a way that no one bought.

"Uh-huh. Right," her brother teased. "So are you gonna tell us or do I have to guilt you into spilling the beans?"

The look on Abby's face surprised him and did the same to Amanda.

"I...I may have kind of...met someone," Abby said, as that same tingle/goosebump thing happened again even as her brain screamed, "What are you thinking!!???"

Amanda's eyes got big as she looked at her husband who pulled up a chair and said, "Okay. Start talkin'."

When Abby looked away for a second, Amanda said, "She likes this guy!"

Trying to recover, Abby said, "No. It's...it's not like that. He's...he's just really...nice."

"Oh, okay. 'Nice' is always the equivalent of something like 'boring' or 'not very attractive', so...okay."

"Oh, he's very attractive," Abby replied without hesitation. "And he's definitely not boring."

"What?" a very surprised and confused Amanda replied. "Then what's with the whole 'nice' thing? What hot, interesting guy is just...nice?"

"It's...complicated," Abby said a little bit defensively when she realized she'd have to mention his age if this went much further.

"Ah. Yeah, that explains a whole lot!" her brother said with a furrowed brow as though his sister had just said something very deep.

"He has a son. Named Tyler. And Tyler's in Trevor's class at school."

"I see," Paul replied, that look of extreme seriousness still on his face. "Yeah, you don't want to get mixed up in that kind of mess."

Amanda suppressed a laugh, and Abby got even more defensive.

"I'm glad this is all so entertaining to you both!"

"Mom? What time are we going to the Joslyn Museum with Tyler and his dad on Saturday?" a very excited Tyler asked as he walked into the room.

"Tyler...and his dad, eh?" Paul teased without smiling. "Yes, Mom. When are you going? With Tyler and his...dad?"

"His name is Neil and he's really nice!" Trevor told his uncle.

"Neil. Well. That does sound like a very...nice...name."

Paul looked over at Amanda who was still trying not to laugh as Trevor tried to figure out what was going on.

Abby looked at Paul then Amanda, then back at her son. The adults had that 'well?' look on their faces while Trevor's look was one of happy anticipation.

"He'll be stopping by around 2:30 or so," his mom said, hoping that would end her nightmare.

"Wow. So Neil is nice, huh? What's he like?" Amanda asked her nephew.

Trevor never actually answered the question because he didn't know. He'd spent all of his time talking from the time they met at the escape room until they left the ice cream parlor. Even so, he did his best to say something...nice.

"He does sound...nice," Amanda said as she looked at Abby and smiled.

"Gee, thanks, Amanda. Way to stick with your fellow woman!"

"I'm sorry, but...Neil...does sound nice," Amanda told her in a way that Trevor didn't get but Abby did.

Confused and bored, Trevor turned around and left leaving Paul and Amanda sitting there grinning like Cheshire Cats.

Paul stood up and pretended to be a robot.

"Must...have...more...data!" he said as he moved his arms up and down robotically. "Nice does not compute."

Abby tried hard not to laugh, but she lost out and gave up.

"Okay. Just keep an opened mind, all right?" she said as she took a seat across from Paul and his wife.

Her speech wasn't long, but it went on for a good while as she backtracked, corrected herself, and added whatever she thought might mitigate the huge difference in age.

"My sister's a cougar!" Paul said to his wife as he leaned over and pretended to whisper.

"I...I am NOT!" Abby replied, much too defensively.

"Hmmm. Let's see here."

Paul held up his fingers and started doing the math.

"You're 43. And this Neil, this really nice guy, is 29."

"Almost 30," Amanda chimed in as though it was a significant detail.

"Right! Yes, almost...30. So if we start at 43 and count down to 42, 41, 40 39..."

When Paul ran out of fingers he asked Amanda to pull his right shoe off.

"No. You better take both of them off. I'm gonna need all of my toes, too!"

"All right! That's enough!" Abby said once Amanda starting reaching down. "Ha-ha! Very funny."

Paul finally got serious then asked, "So do you really like him?"

Once his sister realized the teasing was over she felt much better and said, "I...I don't know. He really is very ni..."

When Paul and Amanda started smiling, she switched to, "Interesting."

"Interesting enough to go on a second date with, right?" Paul said.

"The escape room wasn't a date. That was a coincidence. And the museum is just so the boys can spend time together."

"Oh, okay," Paul replied. "Because there's no way either you or Neil could take both of them without the other person going, huh?"

"Paul!" Amanda said in defense of her fellow woman.

"Sorry," he said. "I was just kidding around. I'm actually very happy for Abby."

"You should be. She hasn't been this happy in..."

Once again, Amanda stopped in mid-sentence.

"I'm very happy for you, too, Abby," she said, finishing her thought.

"It really isn't a date," Abby let them know.

"But you wouldn't mind if it was, right?" Amanda asked in a supportive kind of way.

The look on Abby's face said she wouldn't. Her hesitance in responding said she was conflicted about admitting that.

"I say you go and have a nice time," Paul said in a louder, more decisive tone of voice. "If that's the end of it, so be it. And if it leads to an actual date, what's the harm, right?"

"Even if he's...not quite 30?" Abby asked with a concerned look on her pretty face.

"I say...yes," Amanda told her as she looked at Paul who nodded before saying he agreed.

"Tyler and Trevor seem to really along, so that's also a pretty big factor," Abby told them as though she was trying to convince herself as much as her family.

"Just go!" Amanda said. "Then I want to hear all about it!"

Abby finally laughed but said there probably wouldn't be much to tell.

"Anything is better than nothing, right?" Amanda countered, causing Abby to laugh again and letting them change subjects.

By the time Saturday came, both boys were driving their respective parent crazy by asking if it was time yet.

Tyler's asking stopped around 2:15 when his dad asked him to get ready to go. Trevor's ended when the doorbell rang 15 minutes later.

"Tyler! Come inside and see my room!"

The boys bounded off before the adults could even say hello, but the way they both looked at one another said it was worth the small, additional wait.

"You look...amazing," Neil said once he and Abby were alone.

"Thank you. You look very nice yourself," she told him, a smile on her face that got bigger when she realized she'd just used 'nice' to describe how he looked to her.

It was cold outside and Abby had chosen an off-white turtleneck sweater and a pair of black pants which confirmed what Neil had believed about her figure; a figure that was amazing for a woman of any age but especially for one in her 40s.

He'd thrown on a black sweater over a dark-blue shirt with a pair of jeans, but the thing Abby noticed the most, other than his smile, was his hair. It was dark, thick, and looked very...nice. She was too modest to admit it looked 'sexy', but a part of her knew it was.

And that went for Neil, too, who loved the way her hair was styled and how it kind of seemed to shine as it framed her face.