Page 69 of Finding Jack
“Because if I was in love with Jack, being this much of a nutcase would make more sense. I’m into him, yeah. But the more I date, the more I’m starting to realize that I’m more ready for a relationship than I thought I was. Like I want that in my life in a real way.” I sighed. “If I could just get a hybrid of Jack and Paul, I’d have the perfect guy.”
She dropped the kettle, and the clatter into the sink made me jump. “You thought Paul had qualities of the perfect guy?”
“Mainly that he lives in the same city. Maybe not the rest of him. But you add that to Jack, and we’d be getting somewhere.”
“So you didn’t like anything else about Paul?”
There was something odd in the way she asked. It reminded me of the way my mom used to ask me too-casual questions on lazy Sunday afternoons to get a sense of my weekend when I was a teenager. It was a way of trying to get info out of me, making sure I was on track, without asking things point-blank so that I clammed up.
“Paul was fine,” I said, trying to figure out what Ranée needed me to say. “I’m never going to be convinced that he was the personification of watching paint dry.” That had been one of her more memorable criticisms of him after an awkward double date when Ranée’s chatter had unnerved him enough that he barely spoke.
“I might have overstated that for dramatic effect,” she said, turning the water off.
“Duh.” But my eyes narrowed. From Ranée’s mouth, that was a borderline defense of a guy she had once called her nemesis. Wait, no. Nothernemesis: the nemesis of all that was fun and interesting in the world. “Have you been seeing Paul around lately?”
She fumbled the kettle as she tried to settle it on its base. “Stupid kettle.” She bent and glared at it like that would somehow make it fit.
“Ranée?”
“Hmm?”
“I asked if you’ve seen Paul around lately.”
“Around? Yeah, sure.”
“And how’s he doing?”
“Fine.”
“How do you know? Do you guys talk?”
“Sure.”
This was getting interesting. The more vague her answers became, the more curious it made me. “About what?”
“You want to know what we talk about?” She shrugged. “Just whatever.”
“Just whatever. I see. And how often do you guys talk?”
“He’s at the barn a lot.”
“And so are you. So you guys talk a lot at the barn?”
“Sure.”
“Ranée?”
“Hold that thought. I’m going to change my clothes while the water heats. Efficiency. Aren’t you proud of me?”
“So proud I can hardly stand it.” It was hard not to laugh as she disappeared down the hall. She was obviously hiding something, and it equally obviously had to do with Paul. Those conversations must be goingreallywell for her to want to avoid the subject. Not too long ago, she would have spent all the kettle-heating time making fun of him.
Ranée might drive me crazy in a dozen different ways, but for as much of a know-it-all as she could be, she was also quick to admit when she was wrong. She wouldn’t normally have a problem saying she’d misjudged Paul and confessing that he was a pretty good guy. I didn’t think that was what had sent her escaping into her room. Which meant…
Whoa. Ranée had a thing for Paul.
Chapter 26
It was the only thing that made sense of her behavior. I considered the facts. Ranée used to call Paul names and say he was the most boring guy in the world. Ranée bumped into him at the volunteer barn and got a different side of him. Ranée automatically gave anyone who knew horses a higher starting grade as a human. Ranée then had to revise her opinion of Paul. Ranée started seeing Paul around the barn regularly and her opinion kept improving. Ergo…
