“But what about Matt and me? You did a pretty good job of pushing me toward him for somebody who thinks we’re going to turn on each other someday.”
How she’d gotten herself in this no-win conversation, Tori couldn’t remember, but she wanted to kick herself. “It’s different for you two. You’re perfect for each other, and you’re both good people. Even if, God forbid, you did break up, you’d never use your kids as weapons against each other.”
“If it can be different for me, it can be different for you.”
Obviously there was some logic to Hailey’s statement, but Tori shied away from analyzing it too closely. If she thought about committing to a man and allowing him into her life and her heart, she felt almost physically ill. The thing about a couple being together for twenty-five years is that they knew the soft spots—where to hit to inflict the most emotional hurt.
“I’m enjoying my life the way it is” was all she said, and it was the truth. “And I won’t find a new best friend just because you went and fell in love. I draw the line at wearing camo, though.”
“Okay. How do you feel about blaze orange?”
*
After much deliberation, Max decided to contact Tori at six that evening. She was the one who’d suggested that time for their dinner, so he felt he could safely assume that would be the time least disruptive to her work. He was taking a chance on interrupting her dinner, but he’d get right to the point if that was the case. Sitting on the edge of the sofa, he pulled up her number and hit Call.
“Hi, Max.”
He liked cell phones. They removed that awkward need to announce one’s identity to avoid the embarrassment of being a minute or two into a conversation and hearing Who is this? “Hi, Tori. Am I interrupting you?”
“Nope. I just finished eating, so I’m cleaning up before I go back to work for a few hours.”
“You said you prefer texting, but phone calls for longer conversation. I don’t want to tell you how much time I spent going through how I thought our conversation might go to determine if it would constitute longer.”
When she laughed, he leaned back against the sofa and got comfortable. It was something he couldn’t quite put his finger on, but when she laughed at him, it’s because she thought he was funny. There was nothing mocking or scornful about the sound.
“There’s no mathematical formula,” she said. “Just don’t be offended if you go to voice mail. If I’m at the diner or working at my computer, I don’t usually answer phone calls, but I can’t seem to resist text messages. So what’s up?”
“This is slightly awkward.”
“Are you calling to cancel our mock date?”
Even though he heard the amusement in her voice, the need to assure her that wasn’t the case was urgent. “No! Not at all. I’m looking forward to it. For the practice, of course. I need the practice.”
Her soft chuckle touched him in a way that was almost physical, and he held the phone just a little bit away from his ear. He needed to focus.
“Relax, Max. If you have to try too hard to make a woman like you, then she’s not the woman for you. Now, what’s awkward?”
“Josh and Drew invited me for lunch at the diner today.”
“Really? At this rate you’re going to be a regular soon. You might even turn into one of those guys who has a very particular seat at the counter and refuses to sit anywhere else.”
“That would be rude,” he said. “If somebody was sitting at that spot, would I just turn around and leave?”
“You’d be surprised. Sometimes the regular will ask the person sitting on his stool to move over one. And there’s one older gentleman who kind of looms and stares, which is creepy. But he comes in at the same time every morning, so we’ve started making sure nobody sits in his spot.”
“I don’t foresee myself becoming that rigid about which seat at the counter I occupy.”
“Just one more reason to like you. Let’s get to the awkward part.”
“During lunch they were talking about the ATV club. They need a professional logo and a website banner, but I explained to them that’s not my kind of art. I suggested they ask you.”
There were a few very long seconds of silence. “You volunteered my services?”
“Of course not. I didn’t tell them you’d do it. I suggested they ask you if you’d be willing to help.” He knew it was an important distinction.
“And they said?”
“They suggested I ask you because you’re my friend.”
She sighed. “I’ll send Josh an email and see what they’re looking for. If I can’t do it, I can at least connect them with somebody who can.”
“Thank you. I hope I didn’t impose too much on our friendship.”
“You didn’t. I do need to get back to work, though. I’ve worked enough extra hours at the diner, so I need to chain myself to the computer for a few days.”