Page 47 of Hello Handsome
Ford looked into the fire, letting my words sink in. I could see the orange dance of flames in his eyes. “This isn’t what I planned,” Ford uttered, his voice barely rising over the crackling logs. “I was supposed to focus on football only until we won the Super Bowl.”
And I was supposed to spend forever with Maya.I met his gaze with a corner of my lips lifted. “You can make all the plans you want, but if you hold on to them too tightly, you might miss out on something even better.”
We were silent for a moment, and then I said, “Understand, son?” Hehadto understand. I couldn’t let him make the same mistakes as me, not when I knew the cost.
Ford nodded slowly, clearly lost in his thoughts.
I patted his knee and said, “I’m a little tired. Mind putting the fire out?”
“I’ll get it.” He rose to grab the hose. I was a few steps away when he called out, “Hey, Dad?”
I turned back to him. “Yeah?”
“What about Agatha?”
My heart stalled at the sound of her name. “What about her?”
Ford tilted his head. “I think you know. How long are you going to wait?”
I’d already waited too long. “Goodnight, son.”
“Goodnight.”
31
AGGIE
I smoothedout the wrinkles on my black dress, wishing I had more time before my date to take it off and iron it to perfection. Unfortunately, I’d spent too much time doing and redoing my hair since I rarely wore it down, and then my hands were shaking so much while applying eyeliner that I had to wash off all my makeup and do it over again.
And according to the watch on my phone,David, 42was supposed to arrive any minute now. According to his online profile, he was a Sagittarius, divorced, and had kids but didn’t want anymore. He also had a full head of light brown hair, brown eyes to match, and a nice smile.
We didn’t talk much, just a few messages back and forth before he asked me out to dinner Friday night. I worked most evenings, but I traded a shift with one of the high school girls who worked part time so I could go out.
I glanced at my phone and saw he was five minutes late.
A frown tilted my lips. That wasn’t a good sign.
Since I didn’t want my dress getting more wrinkled, I leaned back against the wall and swiped to the dating app to send him a message. Our last conversation was still there, confirming the meeting time and giving him my address so he could pick me up.
Agatha: Wanted to make sure everything’s okay?
I looked at the phone for a minute, but he didn’t message back. So I locked the screen and held the phone at my side. I shouldn’t be stressing so much over five minutes. He could have gotten caught in traffic since he was driving from the next town over. Or maybe something came up with his kids that stalled him—everything is an emergency with teens.
The minutes continued ticking by, and I didn’t want to waste time just leaning against this wall. So I went to the sink and started washing my dishes from lunch and breakfast. When I was done, I checked my phone again, and... nothing.
My heart sank. He was fifteen minutes late now. But that was still within the realm of reason. So I grabbed a microfiber cloth and a can of wood polish and started dusting off the furniture in my living room.
It had been here since my mother was alive and could do with a good polish.
I started with the TV stand, then the bookcase, and then the picture frames on the wall holding Isabella and Enzo’s senior pictures. I needed to get them updated. Maybe Isa could send me the picture she’d taken for her graduate program since she was teaching while getting her master’s degree.
After tossing the damp and far-too-brown rag into a hamper and putting the spray back under the sink, I checked my phone again.
David’s profile was gone, replaced with a message that saidThis user’s profile no longer exists.
All the hope in my heart whooshed out, quickly replaced with all the pain of rejection. This was the second time lately that a man failed me.
I went to the living room and sagged into the well-worn microfiber couch while blinking back tears. It cleared my visionjust enough to dial Etta’s number. A few rings later, she picked up and said, “You’re supposed to be on a date right now!”
