He lifted a hand. “No need to get heated about it. Look, shecame in the other day wanting to make a pear and wildflower ginger beer. I haven’t seen her on fire like that in a while. She’s been in a slump. That mean anything to you?”
I didn’t respond. Icouldn’t. Here I’d been telling myself there was no chance Nora might reciprocate my feelings, but I’d inspired her to create something.
Maybe I had a shot after all.
A shot at what, I had no idea. Our parents were still married, and it would be ill-advised for us to try actually dating. But I didn’t care about that as much as I should.
“I can see that it does,” he mused, the look on his face not exactly pleased. “Nora’s a special person. Good for you.”
“Of course she’s special, but you don’t sound pleased about us being together.”
He resumed tapping the bar. “Take the compliment, man.”
It wasn’t a compliment, but I saw no point in saying so. Maybe I should have responded by saying something pleasant about Pansy. I honestly couldn’t think of anything to say, though, other than that she seemed very enthusiastic about her business.
So I excused myself to the restroom.
As soon as I closed the stall door, I texted the not-so-little-and-old ladies.
Me: José says Nora made a new ginger beer inspired by me.
I felt a little stupid immediately after sending the message. What was I doing anyway? Bragging?
Three dots appeared, followed by Dottie’s response:
Dottie: Excellent news!
Dottie: It’s time for you to take a leap of faith, my dear.
She followed up by sending a bat emoji.
Maybe she thought it was a bird? Same wings, seen through tired eyes.
Then Ann’s reply came through.
Ann: It’s those forearms. Good going, son. Now, if you really want to seal the deal, play the guitar for her.
Me: I play the bass. It doesn’t sound the same when it’s by itself.
Ann: You might want to consider changing instruments.
Me: How do I know she’s not interested in José anymore?
Dottie: Ask her.
I couldn’t deny she had a point. It was a question I didn’t want Nora to answer, in some ways. But I needed the answer.
Maybe I could ask the question as my prize for our contest the other day.
I headed back to the bar, where the drinks were waiting in front of José. He patted me on the back—a little overly hard—and we headed back outside together.
Within minutes it became clear that Pansy was under the delusion that because I now had money I would want to spend it on foolish things.
I desperately wanted to end our dinner date, but Nora thought we’d be doing José a great favor if we broke up his relationship. While I didn’t care about doing him any favors, I couldn’t deny she had a point. He would certainly be better off alone than with this woman.
Which was why I cornered Pansy into lying about her dating history.
Perhaps we could have accomplished more this evening if we’d continued the date, but the idea of going bowling with them had sparked the opposite of joy.
