Page 62 of Lucy Loves Him Not
“Well, we haven’t really spoken, beyond emails, in a few days,” I said. “It felt kind of different for us.”
“Yeah, I know. I’ve been in a time crunch over here.” He gave a shrug.
“It’s tough to do this fifty-fifty,” I pointed between the two of us, “if we’re doing everything solo. I’m here to help you.”
“You don’t have to worry about me, Lucy.” He reached out like he was going to touch my arm, but he stopped himself.
I cleared my throat. “After our last meeting, Ihavebeen worried. I’ve felt bad about our conversation. And we’ve emailed and wrapped up the work side of things…but…” We moved up in line. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay, Lucy. I am.” His voice was lighter. “Thank you.”
“It might be a little late to tell you, but I know none of the Lim stuff was your fault. I realized that during our discussion, but after talking to them, it really affirmed that for me. They really like you.”
“Is that right?” He sounded nearly playful.
“Yeah, it is. They told me so. You seem to charm everyone you meetexcept for me,” I teased him.
“I got you to come around,” he said warmly. My chest squeezed. There was so much I still hadn’t gotten to say.
“Was that on your to-do list, Mr. Work Ethic?” I placed a hand on my hip. “Get Lucy to come around.”
“That was at the top of the list. Work in progress, it is.”
I took a deep breath. “You’re screwing up the curve.”
“Is that a teacher metaphor sneaking in?” Adam gasped dramatically, placing a hand on his chest. “A teacher compliment?”
It was almost my turn in line. I wanted to plead with the customer in front of me to please take forever to decide on their order.
I turned completely to Adam. “I know this is your first year working the festival and I haven’t made it easy on you. Then there’s a hitch with a past donor and I made you feel like youwere to blame. I just…I feel awful about it. I’m so sorry.” I let it all tumble out as fast as I could.
Before he could respond, the barista called out, “Next!”
I ordered my usual. I dropped a couple of dollars in the tip jar and waited for Adam at the end of the bar. Espresso machines whirred behind the barista counter. The door chimed as customers left clutching their to-go cups.
Adam walked over beside me. The two of us waited for our orders. Lo and behold, the person behind Adam in line was Penny from the library book fair. She kept glancing at us as she made her order.
“Want to grab a table?” Adam asked.
We sat down at a table by the window. My iced coffee was ready, so I took a sip. Adam said, “Lucy, thank you for what you said.” As he was speaking so earnestly, Penny walked slowly by, caught my eye, and mouthed, “Boyfriend?”
“I feel bad about it, too,” Adam continued.
I opened my eyes wide at Penny to indicatenot now. She misconstrued it, giving me a thumbs up and ducked out with her coffee.
I nodded for Adam to go on. “I hate that our last meeting was so tense. Iwasprojecting like you’d said. I want to believe the narrative has changed, that you don’t see me as this enemy who came in and stole your festival anymore, but…I know how you think of me?—”
“No.” I put my index finger on his lips, shaking my head. “I don’t think you do. I don’t think you’re the enemy at all.”
“Notat all?” I could feel his smile forming beneath my finger. I pulled my hand away as my body buzzed.
“Well, you’re at least 90 percent there,” I said. His phone buzzed on the table. He flipped it over and read a message.
“This is important. I’ve got to grab my coffee and go. I was only supposed to be on a 10-minute break.” He started to walkaway, but then stopped and said, “I can work on that last 10 percent, just you wait and see. Let’s start with a meeting. Can you come in tomorrow morning?”
Olivia and I met to go for a walk along the winding trail that runs along the river. The sun was setting soon, the air falling a few degrees. Olivia opened her passenger car door and a golden retriever puppy with floppy ears hopped out.
“Who is this?” I called out as she tried to wrangle a harness around his wiggly self.
