Page 33 of Life, Love, and Other Messes

Vera shook her head. “Sam’s right, it’s enough. Leave her alone already.”

“Yeah, I’m going to take off. Thanks for this.” I waggled the sticker on my finger and barely acknowledged Terri, who was still looking crafty.

Why couldn’t anything in my life be normal? Now I had too much information going into a date I wasn’t sure I wanted to go on in the first place. There was no way we’d get naked on the first date, anyway. I didn’t operate that way. I wrote that way, granted, but I’d never done more than exchange small good night kisses on first dates in real life.

Of course, Maudie had read all of my books.

Lisa came over with brownies that evening. I’d asked her if she had lesson plans to do again, but she’d grinned sheepishly and said no, it was just too quiet in the house. She’d asked if I had papers to grade and I’d said no, but I had writing to do. I wanted to try again, to see if I could write in her presence. I figured it couldn’t be worse than my usual sitting and staring at the screen.

Brownies were first on the docket though. “These are really good.”

Lisa laughed. “They’re from a box.”

“Nothing wrong with that.” I settled in with my computer on my lap and a second brownie in my hand. Lisa sat in the middle of the sofa like she had the other night, and she followed my lead of kicking off her shoes and putting her feet up on the coffee table. “What’re you doing?”

“Scrolling social media. Very important. After that, I have an equally important game of hearts going.”

I smiled to myself. Very important. I opened my thriller doc and stared at my screen for a minute. Nothing. I tried not to look up at Lisa. A few words. A few new thoughts. A half hour, then an hour passed. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good, either.

“May I ask you a question?”

She nodded. “Shoot.”

“So I’ve got a date with this woman Friday night…”

“Congratulations! I’m excited for you! Are you excited?”

“I’m nervous.”

“That’s okay. I think most people are nervous on first dates.”

“Yeah, I barely know anything about her. My question…Okay, you’ve read all my books, right?”

She nodded. “At least once.”

That made me feel amazing. “So most people I’ve dated either haven’t read them before we get together or we at least knew one another pretty well before going out.”

“All she knows about you is what she’s read.”

“Exactly. So…if you and I were to go out on a date…hypothetically, of course…”

Lisa nodded. “Hypothetically.”

“Would you expect me to be like…”

A small smile started on Lisa’s lips. “You’re wondering if she’s expecting you to jump her bones within the first twenty minutes.”

“Okay, I’ve never written that.”

“But you’re wondering if she’s going to think you write from personal experience.”

“Yes.”

Lisa’s eyes sparkled. “So do you?”

“Not…I mean…”

“My guess is that you’re a vers,” she said. “And shy but talented.”