Page 49 of Lucy Loves Him Not
“Everyone will love it,” he said like a proud teammate. “It’s brilliant.”
There was that fragile friendship coming through. “Thank you.”
He cleared his throat and I suddenly panicked that he was going to hang up. For whatever reason that seemed like a tragedy, so I nearly shouted, “How’sLittle Women?” to keep him on the phone.
“Fantastic. It’s sitting here by me on my bed. I’ve been reading it off and on all day.” I imagined him all disheveled and relaxed, lying on his bed, legs crossed at the ankles, messy hair, and a white tee shirt on.
I shook the picture from my mind. “Who’s your favorite character so far?”
“Jo, of course. Amy is underrated, though, in my opinion. The book would be a snooze without her.”
I stirred diced onions, tomatoes, and cucumbers into my macaroni noodles. “Look at you coming in with strongLittle Womenopinions.”
“Would you expect anything less?” he said in a jokey way that made me crinkle my nose in delight.
“No. This conversation would be a snooze without Adam and his strong opinions.”
“Speaking of which. I did all the talking last night with your family and didn’t get to hear much from you,” he said, sounding disappointed about that fact.
“You were the one under inquiry.” I put my phone on speaker so I could stir the dressing.
“I found it deeply unfair that I had to be put on the spot like that. I feel with our fifty-fifty deal, you should at least answer questions, too. Keep it even,” Adam said.
“Fine, fine. I can answer questions to make it even.” I drizzled the dressing over the pasta. “Put me on the spot. What do you wanna know?”
“Favorite vacation spot?” he asked quickly, mimicking my mom’s rapid-fire questioning style.
“Take me to the water. Be it the ocean, lake, or river.”
“A puddle?”
“I don’t care. Just put me by water with a towel, a book, and some sunshine.” The scent of my pasta filled the kitchen—seasonings, tomatoes, and onions.
“Noted. Any dinner guest, who’s your pick?”
“I would have Grandma Rhodes, too, for one more family dinner.” I poured the pasta into a plastic container so I could set it in the fridge to cool.
“Secret talents?” I could almost see Adam raising his eyebrow in question.
“I am actually a top-notch tap dancer. I took tap all through grade school. I won competitions. I put on shows,” I said proudly.
“Do you have video of this? What am I saying? I’m sure your mom has a whole collection and scrapbooks.” He laughed tenderly.
“You’re right. My mom was my biggest fan.” I cleaned my hands in the sink.
“Okay, what got you into teaching?”
“When I was in dance, I adored when I was at a level where I could teach the girls. Which made me think I might like tutoring in school. I couldn’t get enough of it. It led me to study education, then while I was in college and got to be in the elementary classrooms, kindergarten was my favorite.”
“I’m sure you’re beloved, Miss Lucy.”
“I work for it, though.” I leaned against the counter, folding my arms over my chest.
“Now, the big one…” I could hear him tapping a drumroll on the phone. “What movie do you watch over and over?”
“You’ve Got Mail. No contest. I’ll probably watch it tonight.”
“I find it weirdly comforting to imagine you watchingYou’ve Got Mailand eating dinner. I can hear you rummaging around in your kitchen. What’re you making?”
