Clara and Randi exchanged a look.
There was a bit of scuffling on the air—Clara pictured a microphone perhaps being offered, headphones perhaps being waved away—followed by an awkward silence. “Hi to our listeners,” a meek voice said finally. Randi gripped Clara’s arm in an excited squeeze.
Sonny laughed easily. “Izzy is one of our producers, and what you don’t see—or don’t hear, I should say—is that Izzy helps make Second Date Update possible. She does all the work behind the scenes so we can have all the fun on the air.”
“That’s right,” Day chimed in. “Anyone out there with a happy ending from Second Date Update, you really have Izzy to thank. It starts with her.”
“She knows how to pick ’em,” Sonny agreed. “Which is why we couldn’t resist when we got a private message from someone who’s hoping Izzy will pick him—for herself.”
Clara’s eyes widened in alarm. It couldn’t be. Surely Paul couldn’t be clueless enough to call a radio show over another woman while Kristin was missing.
“I thought Izzy secretly hated this segment?” Randi whispered, as if they might be disturbing the rest of the listeners.
“She does.”
“Been holding out on us, Iz?” Day’s voice was breezy, though Clara could only imagine how Izzy must be glaring at her right now. “Any dates you’d like to tell us about?”
Izzy cleared her throat. “No,” she said, sounding genuinely confused. “No dates, period.”
“Well, it wasn’t exactly a date,” a male voice cut in. Clara and Randi cocked their heads, like puppies trying to distinguish their owner’s footsteps from the rest. Behind them, an activity table burst into song, and Thomas and Maddie shared a delighted laugh.
“Kind of an unconventional format we’re rolling with here,” Sonny said, “without Izzy to pull it all together offstage. So forgive us for any bumps. But let’s back up and start at the beginning. Paul, welcome! Pretend you’re an ordinary caller, and we don’t have Izzy on the line yet. Tell us about your date, or … what would you call it?”
“I don’t know. She called it a parallel universe. I kind of liked that.”
The doctor’s voice was smooth, well suited for radio, and Clara closed her eyes. Her grasping-at-straws hope that it was anyone other than him faded. When she opened them, Randi was staring dramatically at her. “That Paul?” she mouthed, pointing in the direction of his house, and Clara nodded, dropping her forehead into a hand.
“The timing’s all wrong, I know that,” he continued. “I’ve been going through a divorce and there are … complications. It’s taking longer than it should, and I can’t say I blame anyone for keeping their distance from that.”
“Things with your ex, though, they’re done for good?” Day was using her best suspicious voice, though she was clearly oblivious of the gravity of what Paul had left unsaid.
Paul’s laugh almost disguised his bitterness. Almost. “No question.”
“So if the timing’s bad, why pursue Izzy?”
He sighed. “Have you ever met someone who just makes you feel … different? Better. She never judged me for … you know, the drama. She’s kind, and easy to talk to—she really listens. She’s her own force in the natural world, though I can tell she doesn’t think of herself that way. She’s like … like the call of a whippoorwill high in the trees. Like a river cutting through a ravine. Like a ride on a fast bike, that feeling of freedom.”
“Whoa, buddy. No need to lay it on so thick!” Day and Sonny erupted in laughter.
Izzy still hadn’t said a word.
“We’ve had a few moments,” Paul said. “A good connection. And then we had one great moment. At least, I thought so.”
“Ooh, we’re getting warmer!” Day said.
“Are we talking about something physical here?” Sonny asked, adopting his best man-to-man tone.
“I don’t kiss and tell, so to speak,” Paul said. “But I thought there was … a spark.”
“And then what?” Day again.
“Then nothing. It’s been over a week. I’ve tried going by her house, stuck a note on her door. Left a couple of voice mails. I don’t have her cell number, only what’s in the phone book. But she hasn’t gotten back to me. Then I saw her leaving for work and I thought—you know what, she’s off to this Second Date Update thing, what the hell, why not call. This is what you do, right?”
“Izzy!” Sonny laughed. “I have to say, I did not know you had it in you to ghost someone. You always seem so … I don’t know, approachable. Accessible…”
“I’m not ghosting anyone,” she said. Her irritation was unmistakable, but Clara couldn’t tell if it was directed at Sonny or at Paul. “I’ve been busy, is all.”
Clara bit her lip. Izzy had promised to think on what she’d said about Paul. And evidently that had been enough to keep her away for at least a week. But now he was putting her on the spot. She wanted to cry.
“He called you a mountain stream, Iz,” Day said. “He called you a whippoorwill. Freedom. This guy is like a walking Garth Brooks song.”
“Or is it Randy Travis?” Sonny mused. “John Denver?”
“Whatever it is, I think it’s sweet,” Day said.
“I wasn’t trying to turn it into a joke,” Paul said, and Sonny’s laughter stopped at the edge in his voice. “She’s very different from me is what I mean.” The edge softened, and Dr. Paul reappeared, polished and smart. “Izzy has a calming effect. I like being near her. And she knows what I mean about the whippoorwill.”
“Well, I have to say, that speech alone would knock most women I know right off their feet,” Day said. “Okay. So what gives, Izzy? You know the drill. Paul is calling because he wants to know why you haven’t been responsive.”
“Actually,” Paul interjected, “I don’t so much care why. She doesn’t have to say. I just want to change her mind. I just want a chance.”
“Well, I—” Izzy gave a nervous laugh. “Paul, I didn’t even know you actually wanted to date. Like you said, it’s not great timing.”
“I just … I don’t want to put my life on hold anymore. I’ve already wasted so much time.”
“I’m not sure you’re thinking it through. I don’t think this is the venue to discuss this…”
“You caught me. I was trying not to think it through. Like we talked about?”
“We talked about me not thinking things through so much. Not you.”
“Even better.”
Adele had fallen asleep on Clara’s chest, and she wrapped her arms tightly around the baby, evading Randi’s eyes. Paul had laid his trap with impressive cunning. What choice did Izzy have but to say yes?
“Why don’t we just try one real date,” Paul said.
“Freshly Squeezed picks up the tab,” Sonny reminded Izzy. “What do you have to lose?”
“Well…” An awkward silence filled the kitchen.
“Did you know about this?” Randi hissed.
“Why not,” Izzy said. She sounded … well, not unhappy.
“Smart move,” Day crooned. “This one sounds like a keeper, Iz.”
Randi switched off the radio and looked wide-eyed at Clara.
“I saw her pull up on the back of his motorcycle last week,” Clara said. “That was the first I ever saw them together. Though Hallie had mentioned to me that they seemed to be friends. She was worried.”
“Well, yeah.” Randi was shaking her head.
Clara shifted the baby’s weight. “I tried to talk to her about it, and she was pretty defensive. I ended up feeling awful. But maybe it worked, if he hadn’t heard from her…”
There was a scuffle over by the play center, where Thomas and Maddie were at the end of their attention spans for peaceful parallel play. They were battling over a plastic phone receiver, and Randi pulled a face at Clara, who sighed and held out the baby, reluctant to trade in the sleeping bundle for the arguing toddler-preschooler combo.