Page 7 of When You Blush
“You?” she asks.
“Yeah, I’m from Bitterroot Valley.”
“So you went away to medical school and came back home.”
“I did.” The server returns, and we put our orders in. Then we’re silent for a moment as we look at each other over the table. “But let’s not talk about work.”
She lifts a perfect eyebrow. “Okay. What would you like to talk about?”
“You.”
She snorts, then raises her water glass to her lips and takes a sip. “I’mveryboring. This will be a short conversation.”
“Somehow, I doubt that. Favorite movie?”
“Like ofall time?”
My lips tip up at the confused frown on her pretty little face. “Yes.”
“Easy.Captain America: The First Avenger.”
I blink at her.Holy shit.“Nice choice.”
“Yours?”
“Same. Favorite kind of music?”
“Psh. Seventies rock. Hello, have youheard‘Dream On’ by Aerosmith?”
How did my favorite song of all time just come tumbling out of her perfect mouth?
“If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your?—”
“Loaded pizzawithanchovies. But that’s only if the carbs no longer count in your fictional world.”
“You don’t eat carbs?”
“I’m not an animal.Of courseI eat carbs.” She lays her napkin in her lap as our meals are served. “But I try to choose gluten-free as much as I can, just because it’s better for inflammation. But I’m not perfect at it. I’m not allergic or anything.”
I nod and dig into my own Caesar. It sounded good when she mentioned it. “My niece, Birdie?—”
“The apple of your eye.”
“And the love of my life,” I reply with a nod, “has celiac disease. So when we get together as a family, we make sure we have plenty of safe options for her. That poor kid was so sick for such a long time, it broke my damn heart.”
“Poor baby.” She frowns over at me. “Can I see a picture of her?”
Not needing to be asked twice, I whip my phone out and happily share photos of my girl.
“Oh, she’s precious.” Harper takes my phone and smiles down at my girl. “She’s a dancer.”
“Yeah. My brother’s girlfriend, soon-to-be fiancée, owns a dance studio in Bitterroot Valley, and Birdie couldn’t wait to join. She’s actually pretty good.”
“And that’s not just her unbiased uncle talking.”
Harper passes the phone back and digs back into her food.
“Never. I’m completely impartial.” I chuckle and shove my phone back in my pocket.
