Page 6 of An Overdue Match
My shoulders hit the back rest of the chair as I sigh in relief at the reprieve from being the center of his attention. Anxiety unwinds from my muscles. I must be better at the sleuthing thing than I thought. My lips tip in self-satisfaction.
A server arrives at Tai’s table with a steaming plate of spaghetti and meatballs. Tai moves his book—still open—to the side to make room in front of him so she can set down the plate.
I wait. Surely he’s going to put the book away. Close the cover at least. It’s a hardback with a protective jacket, so as long as the book is closed, the cover and pages within won’t get ruined. A wet wipe will clean any food that might splatter.
He picks up his fork. Twirls spaghetti noodles on the tines.
I picture a meatball falling from the utensil. Red sauce splattering over the pages. Stains. Smears. Carnage.
“Wait!”
He stops moving. The fork in the air, his mouth open.
I clear my throat. What’s a polite way to tell a person to cease and desist committing crimes of a bookish nature? “Um. What are you reading?”
He lowers his fork and picks up the publication, showing me the cover. “Unbrokenby Laura Hillenbrand.” He moves to set the book back on the table.
“Can I see it?”
One brow slowly rises. “You haven’t read it?”
I have. And seen the movie. But if I admit that, then there’sno reason for him to hand me the book where I can keep it safe from marinara sauce and flying meatballs. But good southern girls don’t lie. At least not outright. I settle for a smile instead.
He looks to the left, at something over my shoulder, and his brows collapse above the bridge of his straight nose. “I think someone’s trying to get your attention.”
Dagnabit. I’ve totally forgotten about Hayley. I tap my phone screen as I turn. 7:25. Hayley’s eyes are wide and accusing.Sorry!I mouth and quickly click on her name in my contacts. Ringing sounds through my phone and trills in the corner of the restaurant. Hayley picks up.
“I’m sorry. I lost track of time.”
“What? Oh no. Don’t worry. I’ll be right there.” Her voice is full of forced fake concern. Guess her date wasn’t exactly her type after all.
A few seconds later, she marches out of the restaurant, throwing a glare over her shoulder in my direction. I stand to follow her out, needing to apologize again, and give my half-eaten dinner a final mournful look. The sacrifice of uneaten gnocchi should be penance, but I’m not sure Hayley will see it that way. Maybe I should snag Sheriff Jacobs for protection just in case she’s not yet in a forgiving mood.
As I pass Tai’s table, he grins at me. “See you later, Miss Marian.”
It takes a second to catch his reference toThe Music Man,but when I do, my step falters. Curse my inability to channel the essence of Nancy Drew with any amount of success.
4
The conversation from last night replays through my mind like a piece of dialogue highlighted on my Kindle and posted to Goodreads. A bag of English breakfast tea steeps in a mug of hot water, the steam rising and filling my nostrils, gently coaxing me into a state of remembrance.
“After some stewing, I’ve decided we’re even,” Hayley had offered magnanimously.
“What do you mean?” I’d expected her to be exasperated with me for longer than a hot second. I hadn’t come through for her with the phone call on time, and she’d had to endure an extra fifteen minutes listening to a man who thought talking about his irritable bowel syndrome was a great conversation topic for a first date.
“Well, I kind of pulled a tiny, harmless prank on you.” She’d shot me a glance to gauge my reaction at this admittance before plowing forward. “I’d say I more than paid my penance by enduring Dean’s commentary on flatulence for ten minutes straight.”
“What kind of prank?”
She’d looked at me without a hint of chagrin. “Tai’s my cousin.”
“Your cousin?” I’d blinked in confusion. “But you guys—”
“Look nothing alike, I know.”
Not that cousins necessarily resembled each other. But they did usually have some sort of genetic similarities. Hayley had hair the color of watered-down strawberry wine and a freckle-kissed complexion that was allergic to the sun. Tai’s skin, on the other hand, appeared to have been touched by Midas, and he had a head of thick ebony layers of hair.
“My aunt was adopted from China.”
