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He smiles as he takes them. “I knew I loved you for a reason.”
“Yes, we’ve established there are hundreds of them,” she says, giving him a quick kiss.
God, I’m so happy for them. But there’s also a feeling of…well, I guess it must be jealousy.
“We’ll be fine here,” Mira assures me, then gives me a hip check. “Well, don’t you look like a hot little piece?”
I roll my eyes. “I’m wearing a coat.”
“But it’s a new coat.” She’s right about that. I was embarrassed of my dirty stuffed-animal-esque coat, so I added a coat to my wishlist. It wasn’t expensive or anything, but I still felt guilty when it showed up on my doorstep two days later. Guilty and a little euphoric.
Mira waggles her eyebrows. “Let me guess, you’re going to have another candy fest later?”
I frown at her. She gives the shrug of a woman who’s waited too long for a scoop.
“When did you have candy, Mom?” Izzy asks, her eyes fixed on me. “You’ve always said you don’t like the way it feels on your teeth.”
“I don’t,” I say, bending to kiss her forehead. “But sometimes any sugar will do.”
Mira waggles her eyebrows. Thank God Danny’s busy watching the dog-and-hamster show, but honestly, she’s becoming a liability.
“Okay,” Izzy says, “but I’m disappointed that you ate it without me. We’ll talk about it later, though. Say hi to Uncle Shane. I’ll see you in the morning.” She gives me a kiss and then skips down the hallway.
I hold back the requisite, he’s not your uncle.
“Let me walk you out,” Danny offers. I’m hoping it’s just because he wants an excuse to leave for a few minutes. He still hasn’t put on the headphones, and Flower is letting her presence be known.
“Okay,” I agree.
When the door closes behind us, I give him a look. “I see Mira’s not wearing her ring yet.”
He gives me a half-smile. “It’s not enough for one of us to be married?”
“Oh,” I say, feeling a solar-plexus punch of guilt. “You’re waiting because of me.”
He takes a step toward the stairs, and I follow him.
“It’s not because of you,” he reassures me. “Mira’s planning a Valentine’s Day party at her bar. She gets wound up when she has an event coming up, so I figured it would be better to wait.”
“Oh, that sounds like fun.”
He gives me a wry look as we reach the top of the stairs. “If you say so. She gave me the green light to skip it. We’re going for a hike the next day to celebrate.” He watches me for a second. “Why don’t you go to the party, Ruthie? Izzy can stay here with me. You don’t do enough for yourself. Maybe Tank could come.”
“I’ll think about it,” I tell him, a lump in my throat. Because Tank isn’t the person I’d like to go with, even if he should be. I don’t let myself acknowledge who I’d really like to go with. “I should leave.”
He nods, then adjusts his glasses. “Say hi to your husband for me, huh?”
I shove his shoulder. “Very funny.”
“You look beautiful, Ruthie.” He smiles at me, his eyes filled with warmth, and that lump lodges itself in my throat.
“Danny, am I quitter?” I ask, the question coming from nowhere, or at least it feels like it is. Maybe it’s been eating away at me since Shane and I faced off last Friday.
“What makes you say that?” he asks, frowning. Then his expression hardens. “Did Shane say that to you?”
He sounds seriously pissed, and I can’t let that stand. Even though Shane is the person who made me question myself and my approach to the bookmobile, I’ve realized I needed to question myself. I was throwing my efforts at a wall, waiting for it to break, rather than trying to build a door. He opened my eyes, even if I didn’t like hearing what he had to say or how he chose to say it.
“No, it’s just something I’ve been thinking about.”
