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“Those are so pretty!” she exclaims as I hand her the vase filled with vibrant yellow, purple, and red alstroemerias. “Judith is going to love these.”
“She’s retiring, right? I think Sarah mentioned that when she called in the order.”
“Yes. She deserves it, too. She’s worked at the bank her whole life, almost.” Mandy lowered the bouquet after smelling the flowers. “So, Matthew was asking about you today when I was heading out.”
“Ugh,” I groan, dropping my head back. “He didn’t.”
Mandy chuckles. “Oh, he did. He even offered to come with me.”
“No.” I drop my head forward, resting my face in my hands. “Do you think it’s because I’ve been seen with Mitch?”
“Who knows? What ever happened with you two, anyway?”
I lower my hands and look up at my friend. I don’t want to think about my ex-boyfriend, especially when I’m possibly seeing someone new, but I guess it can’t be avoided. Small town perk.
“Nothinghappened. He just wasn’t for me. He was nice, just no spark.”
“Like there is with you and Mitch?” she asks, the corner of her mouth raised in a small smile.
“You could say that.” I feel myself start to blush, the heat rushing to my cheeks. “But, I don’t know. He’s been so good to me, especially since my van broke down, but how would this even work? I mean, how do you make it work with Zach? You work days and he works nights. When do you even see each other?”
“It’s not easy, that’s for sure. We make the time we do have together count. Especially with the kids, we can’t always go out on dates, so we make our own at home when we can. He drops by the bank when he has a break, or I’ll stop by the brewery on the way to pick up the kids. You find a groove and what works best for the two of you.”
“I don’t know. I might be thinking too far ahead. I’ve been ononedate, and he hasn’t said anything about a second one.”
She places the bouquet on the counter between us and places her hand on mine. “He likes you, Rachel. Anyone can see that he does. Plus, I heard he’s been your personal chauffeur all week. A guy wouldn’t do that unless he was really interested.”
“You think so?”
“I know so. Think about all the other guys you’ve dated. Matthew is a nice guy, but I don’t think he would take time off work to pick you up, drop you off, and make your deliveries for you. He’s the type that would suggest that you get a rental car from Okanagan Falls and do it yourself.”
“That’s true.” She does have a point. Matthew, and all my other boyfriends, would be sympathetic to what I was going through, but they definitely wouldn’t be going out of their way to drive me around.
“Plus, Zach said he was listening to one of your books yesterday while he was working. The guys got a good kick out of it. It sounded like it started playing from his pocket when he was behind the bar.”
“No! That happened to him, too?” I gasp. “Wait, he was listening to a romance novel?”
She gives me a funny look before answering. “We’re going to circle back to how that also happened to you, but yes. He was listening to something about a lizard?”
“He’s reading ‘The Monster’s Human Prey?’”
“You know it?”
“He bought it for me! He gave it to me on our date. He said Kylie recommended it to him.” I look out the window over Mandy’s shoulder. “I can’t believe he’s listening to it.”
“And you’re still doubting that he’s into you?” Mandy chuckles.
I bring my gaze back to her, realizing for the first time that I haven’t been seeing what’s right in front of me. Mitch has paid me more attention in the last few days than any man ever has my whole life.
So why am I waiting for it to all fall apart?
15
MITCH
Iclose my eyes and let go of a yawn so big I almost feel my jaw crack. My eyes droop as I sag into my couch, barely keeping track of the hockey game on the screen. Travis does the same beside me, stretching his arms up over his head.
“Can you believe we traded Karlson for Merrick? I don’t know what the management was thinking. Karlson was our best forward,” Travis says, rubbing his hands over his face.
