Page 21 of Book and Ladder
“Probably a lot of things, honestly. But in this case, I’ve never met the man. Have you?”
“I saw his photo. He looks nice.”
“Nice.”
“Is there something wrong with being nice now?”
“No. Not at all. It’s just … nice is often code for boring or unattractive.”
“What if nice is just code for nice.” She smiles a grin of satisfaction. She knows she’s got me.
“Fine,” I concede. “I’ll go to dinner with your friend’s nice son.”
“Great. I’ll give him your number.”
“Not my number. Please. Remember the last guy you fixed me up with?”
“That was not entirely my fault.”
“Of course it wasn’t. Please. Give him my personal email—not the shop.”
“Your email?”
“It’s fine, Becca,” Mom says, patting my aunt’s arm for reassurance.
“Okay. Fine. I’ll give him your email.”
“Great.” I smile at them and turn to head home.
I truly don’t mind dating—when the man is a potential match and is actually interested in me. I’m not a fan of dating at a level that could require me to acquire a personal security detail.
I pass Patrick on my way out the double doors. He’s standing just outside the doorway.
“Thanks for supporting the festival,” I say.
“Thank my dad,” he says.
“I’ll get right on that,” I answer. Then I turn and walk to my car.
I almost turn back to apologize for sounding brash. Almost.
Chapter 7
Patrick
Holding a grudge is like holding a hot stone
hoping the other person will burn.
~ Unknown
Am I stalling?Maybe.
Shift change just ended, and I’m sitting in my car outside Sip and Repeat, opening my email app to reply to M&M. Yesterday at work, I snuck a peek at her response and nearly got busted by Dustin when I couldn’t hide my smile.
“You sure there’s not a new woman in your life, O’Connell?” he had asked.
I assured him there wasn’t.
