Chapter 3

Ruby finished setting the table, then glanced at the place cards she held in her hand. She placed one next to each plate, then when she felt she had the order right, she sat down on the couch to anxiously await the arrival of her dinner guests.

After what seemed like hours, Ruby glanced at her phone. It had only been twenty minutes, but she saw she had a text from Sam that she had somehow missed.

Sorry, we’re running late.

Of course they were. They had probably burned dinner and now had to pick up something on their way over. At least Zoe would be there as a buffer between her and Parker. And if all went well, it would be Zoe that Parker would ask to take home, and Ruby would be off the hook. At least, that was the plan. Her phone vibrated in her hand. Another text message, this time from Zoe.

Hey, something came up and I won’t be able to make it tonight. Rain check?

Anxiety welled within Ruby’s chest. She punched the call symbol and waited while the phone rang. After several rings, it went to Zoe’s voicemail.

Panicked, Ruby tried Sam’s phone. Same result.

Katie was Ruby’s last chance. She crossed her fingers as the phone rang.

“Hello?”

Ruby breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank goodness you picked up. Where are you guys?”

“Um…we had some trouble with dinner,” Katie said. “But we’ll be there in a little while.”

“Why don’t you just pick up some pizza or something? I’m sure Parker won’t mind,” Ruby said, wanting nothing more than for Sam and Katie to get there as soon as possible.

“Don’t worry, we have it covered,” Katie said. “The food will probably get there even before we do.”

Ruby was about to protest, but then heard laughter in the background. “You’re not at home, are you?”

“W-what? Of course we are,” Katie said.

Ruby listened more closely. “I can hear kids playing in the background,” she said. “You guys are at the farmer’s market.” She couldn’t believe it; had they even been planning on coming at all?

Katie sighed. “Okay, yes, we are, but don’t worry about anything. We have it covered.”

“How?” Ruby yelped. “Parker is going to be here any minute expecting to eat, and I am home alone with no food prepared. If you don’t get your butts over here—” Ruby was interrupted by the doorbell. “Oh great, he’s here. I’m not going to forgive you for this one.”

Ruby ended the call, threw her phone on the couch, and went into full-on panic mode. She hadn’t been on a date since Clark, and she wasn’t sure she was ready. Scratch that. She knew she wasn’t ready. People constantly reminded Ruby that it had been four years and she should be ready to move on with her life, as if there was a time limit to how long she should be allowed to grieve.

But not everyone worked through tragedy in the same way—her therapist had taught her that.

Ruby focused on her breathing, and that helped a bit…until there was another knock on the door, this one a little more insistent. She glanced around the room, frantic. Ruby had spent hours cleaning, so everything was in order. Minus the food. There was nothing for her to do, except let Parker in.

Ruby stared at the door as if it were a dark tunnel that would swallow her if she got too close. She could do this. One step at a time. Ruby took a step, then another, then stopped. This wasn’t working. She needed to treat it like a band-aid instead. Ruby leaped across the entryway, grabbed the knob, and yanked the door open.

To her surprise, it wasn’t Parker. Instead, two teenagers, a boy and a girl, stood on her front porch, each holding a bag.

“Are you Ruby Freedman?” the girl asked.

“Yes,” Ruby said slowly.

“We’re from Red Iguana.” When Ruby stared at the girl blankly, the girl said, “With the food you ordered.” She gave Ruby a weird look, like this was information she should have already known.

“Oh. Yeah, of course,” Ruby said, plastering on a smile. She took the bags. “How much do I owe you?”

The boy said, “You don’t. It’s already been paid for.”

They started to walk back down the walkway, but Ruby called out, “Can I at least give you a tip?”

“That’s already been taken care of too,” the girl said over her shoulder as they left.

Steam wafted up from the bags and it smelled amazing. Maybe her family was devious, but at least they had good taste.

Ruby went back inside and grabbed a few dishes to scoop the food into. She didn’t want it to be completely obvious that they had just ordered in.

“It’s not a date,” she told herself as she transferred the green chile enchiladas onto a platter. There was no reason to be nervous about Parker Loveland, because he wasn’t anyone special—just a guy she had been tricked into having over for dinner, and he certainly wasn’t anyone she needed to worry about impressing.

Ruby had just dished out the beans and rice when another knock sounded from the entryway. Her heart stuttered, but then it calmed. She was done panicking.

Ruby sauntered to the door, and when she opened it, she momentarily forgot that she didn’t like Parker. His curly hair was perfectly gelled and his eyes danced, like he was excited to see her. Ruby smiled, and when he returned it with his own heart-stopping smile, butterflies erupted in her stomach. A sudden breeze drifted past and the scent of his cologne drifted with it. It was her favorite brand—the kind that Clark used to wear.

Parker’s spell over Ruby instantly vanished, and the panic returned. Ruby wanted to tell him to take a bath, or at least use the hose—anything to get that smell off him.

“You okay if I come in?” Parker asked. He seemed nervous, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

“Oh yeah, of course,” Ruby said, opening the door wider and standing to the side. When Parker passed her, his cologne hit her like an atomic bomb, and Ruby almost crumpled.

“Hey, I don’t know if it’s going to work out for this evening,” Ruby said, trying not to breathe through her nose. “Maybe we should try again for tomorrow night.”

“What’s wrong with tonight?” Parker asked, eyeing the set table and prepared food.

“Sam and his wife, Katie, got caught up with something and won’t be able to make it.”

“Does that happen a lot?” Parker asked.

“Yeah,” Ruby said. “He was just re-elected mayor, so there’s plenty to keep him busy.”

Parker nodded. “My mom mentioned something about that.” When Ruby didn’t say anything more, Parker said, “She likes to keep me up to date with what’s going on with everyone.”

“That’s nice of her,” Ruby said, but what she really wanted to know was how much Parker’s mother had told him about Ruby.

Parker and Ruby stood awkwardly in the entryway, and Parker didn’t seem to know whether he was staying or going. He lifted a foot as if to step toward the door, but then stopped and shifted back.

It wasn’t until Ruby heard Parker’s stomach growl that she realized what a jerk she was being. The poor guy had come over for dinner and must be famished.

“You know what, I can’t eat all this food by myself,” Ruby said. “And it’s Sam and Katie’s loss for not showing up. Would you like to stay?” She paused. “Of course, if it’s too awkward, you don’t have to—”

Parker turned on his million-watt smile. “I don’t feel awkward. Do you?”

“N-no. Of course not,” Ruby said, tripping over her words. “It’s always fun running into an old friend from high school.” Almost as much fun as going to the dentist.

“Great,” Parker said, walking over to the dining room table and seating himself. “Let’s have some fun, then.”

* * * * *

Parker smiled at Ruby’s discomfort. This was turning out better than he had expected. “Did you cook dinner yourself?” he asked. Steam from the enchiladas spiraled toward the ceiling, and Parker’s mouth watered.

Ruby stood next to the table, seemingly unable to decide which seat she should sit in. There were place cards, but because it was only the two of them, it would seem weird if she sat at the other end of the table—where she had originally placed herself. Looked like she hadn’t been as excited for dinner as he had been, considering she had attempted to put as much distance between them as possible.

Ruby finally relented and sat down across from Parker. “This was all Sam and Katie’s doing,” she said.

“Well, it looks delicious. I swear I ordered something that looked just like this from Red Iguana the other day.” Parker enjoyed seeing the blush that crept up Ruby’s neck.

She served herself some enchiladas, rice, and beans, but then just moved it around on her plate with her fork. It was almost like she thought he wouldn’t notice she wasn’t eating it, like when he was a kid and would move all the food to one side, so it looked like he had eaten more than he had.

Parker wasn’t sure if it would be rude to start eating before her, but she was just sitting there. And he had at least made the effort to wait until she sat down and served herself. Parker took a bite. Yup, they had definitely ordered this from Red Iguana. It was delicious though, so he didn’t mind. “What was Sam doing at the daycare yesterday?” he asked between bites.

“Practicing,” Ruby said. She set her fork down on the plate and placed her hands in her lap.

Parker tilted his head. “Practicing for what?”

“Fatherhood,” Ruby said with a small smile. “Katie is pregnant and having a little girl next month.”

“Congratulations,” Parker said.

Ruby’s smile faded. “Thank you. Anyway, when Sam found out, he was excited of course. It also freaked him out. The last time he had spent time with kids was at the daycare a couple years back, and…well, it didn’t go well. So, he takes time off from his mayoral duties and volunteers at the daycare a couple times a week.”

“I suppose you’re excited to be an aunt for the first time,” Parker said.

“Sure,” Ruby said, though she sounded anything but excited. Then she abruptly said, “I’m sorry, but could you please go wash your cologne off? It’s giving me a headache.”

Parker smelled his shirt. He had made sure not to spray too much, and he’d never had a woman complain about it before. In fact, it had always seemed to help him with women. “Are you sure it’s the cologne?” Parker asked.

“Positive,” Ruby said. “Something about it is upsetting my stomach and I’m having trouble eating.”

She wasn’t eating because of how he smelled? Apparently, time had not been kind to Ruby. She’d always been a little on the stiff side, but this was ridiculous.

“I thought it was giving you a headache.”

“It is. And upsetting my stomach. Both.”

“Fine,” Parker said. “Can you tell me where your bathroom is?”

“Down the hall on the right,” Ruby said, pointing behind him.

Parker stood and slid his chair back, purposely making it screech on the tile floor. He walked at a brisk pace toward the hallway so that Ruby would know he wasn’t happy about what she was asking him to do. He was a guest in her home, and she was asking him to wash himself down? But then he paused. Parker saw the bathroom, and next to it…he glanced back to make sure he was out of sight, then slipped into the laundry room.

A minute later he had the washing machine going, then he walked back and sat in his chair.

Ruby gaped. “W-what are you doing?”

“You told me I needed to wash off the cologne, but I sprayed it on my shirt, so I’m washing it, just like you asked.”

Parker grinned and took another bite of his food, enjoying the fact that Ruby had not yet been able to look away from his bare chest.