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“Not that I know of, but I’ll follow up.” I promised.
“I thought you’d sworn off men?” Minty inquired.
Junie winked. “I’m no longer interested in forever. I’m looking for fun and physical exertion next time.”
“He’ll find you, Junie. You can’t paint all men with the same brush, although you do seem to pick out the same color over and over,” Minty added.
“I do,” Junie agreed. “Can she get back to her story now?”
Minty waved her arm in royal invitation. “By all means, please continue.”
“He took me and my boxes in his SUV, and Bex went with Rhys in his truck with all of her stuff. He’s nice. Handsome, in a hot, craggy kind of way. He looks like a Viking, a real one, all brawny.” I demonstrated the width of his shoulders with my hands. “With long dirty-blond hair, shaved on the sides, full beard, muscular arms, big legs, lean hips, my gosh guys, he’s actually so yummy. And... he’s a veterinarian! Pulls shifts at the shelter where I work!”
Junie squealed, “Did you do him?”
“Junie!” Minty scolded, “you’re outrageous!”
“I know.” She winked bawdily at me even while waving at me to carry on. “I’m telling you, I’m all about fun now.”
“They came back to pick us up after the fair and he drove me home.When he came in, he somehow finagled me into a thank-you dinner.”
“Finagled? Really?” Junie raised her eyebrows. “You just told me a finer man you’ve yet to meet. How much finagling did he really have to do?”
“Not much.” I laughed. “Anyway,he’s smart, kind of quiet, serious, very intense, incredibly sexy, doesn’t talk much…”
Minty interrupted for the first time. “I like a man who doesn’t talk too much…”
We laughed. Minty had smarts, genius level smarts, and her luck recently had led her to mostly date men who talked of nothing but their own selves in an effort to impress her. Little did they know, she was interested in kindness and confidence, not academics.
“Before he left my place, he took my cell phone and put his number in, then called his phone with mine to make sure he had my number, too. Told me to call him to set a night to go out for dinner. Of course, I haven’t.”
“Points for smoothness.” Junie nodded in approval.
“What do you mean ‘of course you haven’t’?” Minty asked.
“Bex is a good friend. She’s hopefully starting something with Barrett’s brother. She's been alone for so long and I don’t want to do anything to screw it up or add unnecessary drama. We all know I don’t do long term. Dating Barrett would just complicate things for everybody.” I shrugged.
“That’s a great decision.” Minty praised and I nodded. “If you’re not a long-term kind of girl, you should steer clear, unless you’ve found someone worth changing your tune for.” I froze mid-nod. “Don’t you want your own ‘happily ever after’? You don’t have to go it alone.”
“I have my family and you guys, Mint, I don’t need or want to go down that other road. I need peace in my life more than anything else. I haven’t even told you the rest of my story. You might not be so disappointed in a minute.” I looked at her pointedly. “He came to my office yesterday and we’re going for a hike and dinner on Sunday. As friends,” I stressed.
“It’s at least a chance.” She smiled approvingly, then she turned to me, and her smile turned sad. “Whether you believe it or not, you deserve a chance at something good.”
“We’ll see.” I knew what I was about even if Minty didn’t. As smart as she was, she couldn’t see the scars inside. In secret, I dreamed of having my own happily ever after, like she thought I deserved, but I knew the truth.
Junie picked up the office phone, obviously done with the conversation.
“I’m putting in a poutine order to Spuds. You want the usual?”
We both nodded and Junie’s call connected. “Hey, Ruby, it’s Junie. Can we get two Chili Spuds and one Sunny Spud Up for noon?”
On that note, and the promise of Spuds for lunch, we got to work.
Two o’clock Sunday found me wearing a path through my hardwood. Since talking to Junie and Minty on Friday, I’d convinced myself this was no big deal and that it was a great idea to make a friend, a weekend kind of friend, with someone who worked at the shelter and cared about animals as much as I did. I’d stopped lying to myself around six a.m. Sunday morning, and admitted that I found him far too attractive. Going out with him was inviting trouble.
Maybe he’s boring. Maybe he’s rude to waitstaff. Maybe he has poor hygiene, I thought to myself.
Maybe it will be okay.
