Page 19 of Shadowed Rubies
“Oh,” I nodded as I frantically searched my mind for another idea. The saloon was about the only place left in town for a sit-down meal, now that the diner had burned down. Feeling the need to justify the suggestion, I said, “I thought you might like to see Meg.”
“I doubt if she’s working there tonight. She was supposed to head out for the police academy, right before everything happened with the fire and abductions, so she had time scheduled off from the bar. The last I heard, she was trying to convince the big wigs at the academy to let her start late, due to the extenuating circumstances behind her delay.”
“I bet Meg can be quite convincing when she wants something.” I weighed in.
“Oh, you have no idea.” Dani’s pretty smile emerged as she thought about her pushy best friend.
Unsure what to suggest in lieu of the saloon, I asked, “Where would you like to go?”
“How about if we drive down the coast to the new brick-oven pizza place in Camden?”
“Sounds good,” I responded, even as I glanced down at the truck’s gas gauge, suddenly wishing I’d used my extra time to fill the truck’s tank. I had anticipated staying in town, but now it was going to look like I wasn’t properly prepared for our date.
Without another word, I started the truck and headed out toward the highway. Unfortunately, despite how much my mind was racing, I couldn’t think of a single thing to talk about with the beautiful, brilliant woman beside me, so we spent almost the entire hour-long ride in deafeningly awkward silence.
22
Dani
This had to be the most awkward, awful ride to a restaurant in the history of the entire world. I spent the entire time, including when Max stopped to fill his truck with fuel, mentally kicking myself for suggesting that we eat at a restaurant so far outside of town.
His idea of going to the local saloon would have shortened the tense drive down to a few minutes, and the rowdy atmosphere of the bar would have alleviated the need to chat during our meal. I was beginning to dread the idea of trying to make small-talk while sitting across the table from this Adonis in a relatively quiet pizza joint. He was undoubtedly already regretting asking such a socially-stunted woman on a date.
When the first few bright white snowflakes began to swirl in front of the windshield, I said, “Oh, looks like we might get some snow.”
“Yep,” he responded in a flat tone.
I felt like kicking myself. Silence was better than talking about the weather.
When we finally pulled into a parking spot at the pizza restaurant, I practically jumped out of the truck. Perhaps the bitter cold air would do something to perk up my imagination and provide me with something interesting to talk about.
Max rounded the truck as if he had intended to open my door. He only faltered slightly when he saw that I had already emerged, before gallantly offering me his elbow. If nothing else came of this date, at least I now knew that he was an unfailing gentleman. He likely wouldn’t be interested in ever seeing me again after this boring date, but the knowledge that perfect men really did exist could give me hope for the future.
The pizzeria was warm and inviting. We sat in a deep booth with a view of the large stone oven where the pizzas were fired. Our perky waitress was friendly and efficient. She quickly secured our order and brought us drinks.
I stared after the woman as she hurried off to refill the water glasses at another table. She would probably have all kinds of interesting, bubbly things to say if she were on a date with a sexy fireman, like Max.
Glancing back at him, I realized that Max should be with someone petite and pretty, like her, not stuck with someone frumpy like me. I looked down at the dated clothes I’d borrowed from my mother’s closet. The lavender pantsuit wasn’t that far off from what had been in my wardrobe that burned. In another decade, I would probably be dressing like this all the time.
Our waitress gave Max a wide, flirtatious smile as she dropped off our salads and breadsticks. He grinned back, barely seeming to take note of the bold gesture. That type of open come-on probably happened to him on a daily basis.
I felt like screaming at the woman to back off because he was here with me, but that type of childish gesture wouldn’t accomplish anything. Besides, it didn’t make sense for Max to be here with me. We would probably all be better off if I left and let the two of them see if they could forge a love connection.
Even though I knew the waitress was more Max’s type than I was, I couldn’t bring myself to put an end to this dreadful date. Instead, I stared at my hands as I folded the paper rectangle that had encased my cloth napkin into a tiny fan.
“Practicing your origami skills?” Max asked with his eyes sparkling across the table in my direction.
“I guess,” I answered as I took note of the fact that he had been spending his time tearing his paper straw wrapper into numerous tiny pieces.
Even though I would be the first to admit that this date wasn’t going well at all, I was still stunned when Max said, “Look, this isn’t going at all like I hoped it would.”
23
Max
By the crushed look on Dani’s face, I could tell that my words were coming out all wrong. She probably thought I was blaming her for this dreadful, uncomfortable date. I was the one who was so nervous I could barely speak, yet somehow, I’d still managed to make her feel inadequate.
“I pictured us laughing and talking and getting to know each other on a whole other level,” I admitted, wanting to relay what high hopes I had for this night.
