Page 75 of The Charmed Friends of Trove Isle
Liz would have guessed that Rose would want Liz to stay in her workroom indefinitely. They’d grown closer lately though. They’d come to an understanding that Liz still didn’t quite understand. It was nice. Her mom was right, this summer was good for them. “When I’m finished,” Liz responded, realizing she sounded a bit sarcastic. If there was a single sarcastic bone in her body, it was Rose’s influence this summer. On a sigh, she turned and opened the door. “Now. I’m coming out now. Is there something you need?”
Rose furrowed her brow. “No. I was just, well, you’re always trying to get me to have dinner with you so . . .”
Liz checked the time on her cell phone. “Oh. I didn’t realize it was so late. Are you hungry?”
“A little.” Rose lifted a shoulder. “I can help. If you need me to. And, um, well, Josh is here.”
The preppy guy?“He is? Why?” Liz asked.
Rose looked taken back. “Because he’s my boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend?” This was news to Liz. “Since when?”
Rose shrugged a shoulder. “I wouldn’t expect you to know this, because you’re kind of oblivious to the dating world, but people don’t actually ask you to be boyfriend or girlfriend anymore. It’s not like I can tell you the exact moment it was official. We like each other. We don’t want to hang out with anyone else. At least not romantically. That makes him my boyfriend.”
“Makes sense,” Liz said, overlooking the slight dig at her own personal life.
“So, Josh is here. And . . .” Rose nibbled on her lower lip, “he’s hungry too.”
Liz wanted to laugh. “Are you asking me to cook dinner for you two?”
“Not just for us. For you too,” Rose said. “I kind of thought it’d be nice if we all got to know each other.”
“Oh.” It would have been nice if Rose would have given her a heads up. Liz wasn’t even sure she had anything to cook. “Well, let me check the fridge and see what I can whip up.”
“You’re okay with this?” Rose asked as an afterthought. It was still nice that she asked at all. “You’re not going to start breathing real weird or anything, are you?”
“I wasn’t planning to. But I can if you want me to embarrass you in front of your guy friend.” Liz grinned, loving this new, more playful version of herself that was surfacing now that her anxiety was taking a back seat. It was still there, but it wasn’t driving her life.
“No. That’s okay.” Rose smiled back at her.
“So where is Josh?” Liz asked.
“In the living room. Watching TV with Matt.”
So much for keeping her anxiety in the back seat. “Matt? He’s here?”
Rose furrowed her brow. “I thought you knew he was stopping by. He said he had a free night and wanted to see if you were up for another driving lesson.”
That was sweet. He was always thinking of her. “Where is he now?” Liz asked, suddenly worried that she looked like a complete and utter mess.
“He’s sitting on the couch. I told him you were in the bathroom and you’d be out to see him in a minute.” Rose grimaced.
Liz’s breathing grew shallow. “You told him I was in the bathroom? For how long?”
“Like fifteen minutes now, I guess. I left him there a while ago. Sorry.”
It was too late for apologies. “Well if your boyfriend is staying for dinner, looks like I’ll have a chance to embarrass you too.”
Rose held up both hands. “I’ll go tell Matt I was mistaken. And invite him to dinner.” Her lips curled in a barely smile. “It can be like a double date.”
Liz shook her head. “Matt and I are just friends,” she said reflexively, but even she wasn’t buying that line anymore. She had feelings for him. Feelings that were getting harder and harder to ignore.
“Great.” Rose turned back and started walking before Liz could protest any more. “I’ll tell yourfriendthat he’s welcome to stay for dinner with us.”
* * *
Half an hour later, Liz placed a lasagna at the center of her table. She’d already had one prepared in the freezer and had only needed to pop it in the oven. She sat down nervously beside Matt.
