Page 27 of Love By the Slice

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

VALENTINE’S DAY. HOORAY.

Lacey and Ezra were both working today because of the “loveless pizzas” sold only on February 14th. Loveless pizzas were the opposite of heart-shaped pizzas. Ezra said heart shapes were a pain to create anyhow, so instead, they worked magic with the toppings. In the past, Ezra had claimed the “loveless pizzas” were topped with sadness and spite. This year, the loveless pizza would have the toppings spread in the shape of a sad face or a mad face, depending on which option the customer ordered.

An engaged couple shouldn’t be making broken-hearted pizzas, but Greg probably felt nothing like heartbreak. He was probably in front of his gaming console, telling himself it was all right and he’d get over it, so the only one to feel disappointed was her. And, well, shewouldbe all right, and shewouldget over it. This Valentine’s Day, the warm loveless pizzas could be delivered by someone with no love whatsoever in her stony cold heart.

Ezra had asked Shelly to meet him at the pizzeria half an hour before her normal start time, and he stepped into the alley before she even had the engine off. “Great. I need you to run this delivery real quick.” He shoved the thermal bag at her along with an order sheet. “It shouldn’t take too long, and they know this is early so the tip will make it worth your while.”

She snorted. “What, a divorce pizza?”

Ezra looked solemn. “You’re functioning as the process server for their divorce papers, which are taped to the lower lid of the box.”

She rolled her eyes. “Sounds good to me.”

GPS showed this delivery as just beyond the edge of the delivery zone, on unfamiliar streets. Didn’t matter. Ezra wanted it delivered, and they’d promised to tip. Money was money, whether it came from Hartwell or Juniper.

Also, if Shelly had been turned into a de facto process server? That fit perfectly with her Valentine’s Day.

She reached a subdivision from the 1980s, all the houses identical, the streets curvy, every home with an identical azalea bush in the yard. At the correct house number, she pulled the pizza from the front seat and marched it to the front door. Maybe she should bang on it while screaming, “Bounty hunter! Open up!” but instead she pushed the doorbell.

Greg answered, smiling.

Oh, for crying in a rusty bucket… Shelly stepped backward. “No.”

He offered a tentative, “Happy Valentine’s Day. Can you come inside?”

Shelly shoved him the pizza, then stalked back to the driveway. Before she got in the car, though, the phone in her pocket sounded off with Ezra’s ringtone. She snarled at him, “This had better be good.”

Ezra said, “It’s good. Go inside.”

She said, “And how did you know where I was?”

“I’m your brother. I know everything. Also, Greg may have texted me that you arrived in the driveway, and I knew without a doubt you’d shove the pizza at him and leave”

Shelly huffed. “You said I was getting a good tip for this.”

“Go back and get it.”

Shelly muttered, “It had better be fifty bucks,” and she marched to where Greg stood at the door, then past him into the dooryard were she waited with her arms crossed.

Greg said, “Thank you. There’s something I want to show you.”

He led her to the kitchen she’d seen before, with its stainless steel appliances. He put the pizza box into the oven to stay warm, then sat at the table with a stack of papers. Shelly sat across from him, still scowling.

Greg said, “First off, I owe you an apology for not listening to you. Just because I thought things would work out didn’t mean I should blow you off when you said they wouldn’t. That’s entirely on me, and I promise to do better from now on.”

Shelly glared at the table top. “There’s nothing to do better with. We went on one date and baked one batch of cookies. That’s not a relationship.”

Greg said, “Not to bethat guy,but it wasn’t a relationship because even though you were relating to me, I wasn’t relating to you. What I’m talking about needs to change no matter what happens between you and me, and thank you for showing me where I was messing things up.”

Shelly sat back in the chair and uncrossed her arms, but her fists were still tight and she still didn’t look up at him. “Why am I here?”

Greg snickered. “I pulled in every favor I ever had with Ezra to get this chance, plus now I owe him five favors more. That’s why you’re here. Now, as for why I wanted you here, I wanted to show you this.”

He started laying out the pages from the stack in front of him. “You’re right about a lot of things, but the thing I wanted to talk about is the pizzeria. Ezra and Lacey offered me the management of the new branch, and I was fine with letting things ride. But you’re right that what I’m doing now is coasting.I was coasting with you, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized, I’m coasting with everything. I’m working with my dad because it’s easiest. I have a part time job at the pizzeria because Ezra asked me, and when I figured it out, that was easy, too.”

Shelly bit her lip. “Did you ask me out because it was easy having me right there?”

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