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“And figured out what you wanted.”
“I
did.”
“Yes to the career, no to the boyfriend?”
She sighed. Sexy Glamour Girl would be a serial heart-breaker, but Candy didn’t have it in her to lie about Chuck.
“The breakup was his idea.”
“I’m sorry.” He slowed as they approached Brady Street.
“I know how that feels.”
“From recent experience?”
“Pretty recent, yes. It doesn’t feel good.”
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. No, it never felt good, and sometimes it seemed it never would again.
“When do I get to come to one of your parties?”
“Well…” Candy forced herself back to life, appreciating his change of subject. “I’m doing an engagement party tomorrow, a bachelorette party Saturday and a formal tea Sunday.
Would you like to go to that? Finger sandwiches and tiny crumpets?”
“Uh, gee.” He cringed comically. “You know, it happens that my white gloves are at the cleaners.”
She was even able to giggle. “Why don’t you hire me for a party and come to that one?”
“There’s an idea. Hey, help me look for parking.” He scanned the street on either side. “How about a book-launch party?”
Candy blinked. A guy who could park and talk at the same 64
time? Chuck always went grouchy and silent. “Absolutely a book-launch party.”
“What would you do?”
“Let’s see…a book-shaped cake, of course, topped by an edible photo of your cover. Around the room, fake quotes from famous authors extolling your work, Shakespeare, Dante, Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway. Then small bites, spelled bytes because it’s a computer book. Tiny pizzas that look like CDs, little square sandwiches with letters on them arranged to look like a computer keyboard. Then we could have licorice cables connecting—” She turned from looking for parking.
“What is so funny? Wait, look there, someone’s leaving a space.”
“Across from the restaurant? Toto, we are not in San Diego anymore.” He pulled behind the exiting car and turned on his blinker. “Have you done one before? A book party?”
“No. It would be fun though.”
He turned toward her, and in the dim car his eyes were even more powerful than they’d been at her front door. Or maybe she was just in a better frame of mind to notice. “I’m amazed. All those ideas poured out of you, all great ideas, and you didn’t even have to stop and think.”
“Oh.” Candy shrugged self-consciously. Brainstorming party ideas didn’t seem amazing to her. “It’s how my mind works.”
“Remarkable.”
“If you say so.”
“I do.” He pulled the car forward and gave a deep sigh.
“Oh, boy. Parallel parking on a first date, a serious test of my manhood. Will you still respect me if I mess up?”
She pressed her lips together, shaking her head regretfully.
“I don’t know, Justin. A guy who can’t parallel park…”
“Uh-oh. Wish me luck.” He backed in at the perfect angle, maneuvered parallel to the curb and gave her such a cocky look she burst out in giggles and high-fived him. If Justin could make parking fun she was going to have a good evening no matter what. In fact, he seemed to be exactly what she needed—a low-key, funny guy she could enjoy without getting bogged down in expectations. This date could go a long way toward making her feel she had a chance to belong in the romantic world again someday.
“You are The Man.”
“I am.” He turned off the engine and winked at her. “Now that’s settled, let’s go eat.”
Cempazuchi was bright and colorful, walls painted rich shades of red, yellow and blue to match bold floor tiles of the same three colors. Decorations hung on the walls: papier-mâché masks, woven hangings, demon heads and Day of the Dead skulls. Bold Mexican rhythms played through the speakers, making Candy’s feet itch to dance. The place looked like a cross between a funky art house and an elementary school.
She loved it.
Almost as soon as they were seated at a table next to a cheerful wall mural of a woman tucking a bottle of booze into the saddlebag of an appreciative cowboy, a basket of thin, crisp tortilla chips showed up alongside two types of salsa that their efficient waitress explained were house-made: one dark red and complex with chili heat, the other rich with a spiced peanut flavor. Candy could have made a meal of those alone. They ordered margaritas, which arrived on the rocks, strong and fresh with real lime juice—no premixed base here.
