Chapter 10
Liza
As soon as I got off work on Friday, I rushed home to change and headed right back out to meet Livvie. She’d texted me earlier in the day and invited me out. We both had to work Saturday, so it wasn’t a full-blown girls’ night, but a nice chance to catch up.
I walked into the diner and grinned at her. She already had a bowl of bread on the table for us to share. “How are you?” I asked as I slid in. “I was glad you invited me out. If I had to study for one more minute, I would’ve exploded.”
She snorted. “Well, we wouldn’t want that, would we?”
We gave the server our orders, then set in on the bread. “Mm,” Livvie said. “This is better than what we make.”
“You’ll have to find out their recipe,” I said as I dipped my roll in the honey butter. “Because this really is good.”
“I’ve been thinking,” she said as she looked at the bread in her hand. “I think I’m going to ask my grandmother to let me take over the business,” she said timidly. “And not sell out to Wayne.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Wow, that’s a big decision. Are you sure that’s what you want?”
She nodded, and we waited as the server set our burgers in front of us.
“Yes, I think so. I don’t want to spend my life as someone else’s pastry chef, and if I get things running smoothly, I could still do a lot of baking.
And I think I can use my skills to build the business even more.
I’ve already started a few things, working with Wayne. ”
“I don’t know jack about running a catering business,” I said as I squirted some ketchup on my fries. “But I’m here if you need anything. If I can help or anything.”
“Thanks.” She beamed at me. “It’s nice to have support, even if it’s just an ear.” She took a big bite of her burger, then wiped her mouth. “And back at you. If you need a friend, I’m here.”
By the time we finished eating, neither of us was ready to go home. “Wanna walk a few doors down for a milkshake?” I asked.
The best thing about this town was the mom-and-pop feel. I loved supporting small businesses instead of corporations whenever possible.
“Sure,” Livvie said brightly. “I’m always down for a milkshake.”
We strolled down Main Street in the hot afternoon air as we sipped our shakes. “You haven’t said much about yourself,” Livvie said. “How are you?”
I sighed. “Good. I’m so close to being done with my clinicals, and I really want to be hired at the hospital.”
“Why wouldn’t you be?” We stepped to the side to let a mom go by with a stroller.
“Well, it’s like this.” I sucked in a big mouthful of chocolate shake and smiled at Livvie as I collected my thoughts. “Do you know Toby Miller?”
She nodded. “Sure. I met him when I catered. We talked about food for a while.”
“I think I have a crush on him,” I admitted.
Livvie burst out laughing and wiped a drop of strawberry milkshake from her lip. “Well, why’s that the cause of such a serious conversation?”
“You know how badly I want to be hired,” I said. “And one of the doctors who will be making the hiring decision, Dr. Abby?”
“Yep.” Livvie nodded. “Met her, too.”
“She has a major thing for Toby.” I grimaced as Livvie stared at me in shock.
“No,” she said.
“Yes. And I think she’s figured out that I like him, because I’m back on her service this week, and she used to be the best mentor, putting me right in the thick of it, but now she asks me to do work that is normally done by assistants or clerks.
Stuff that really doesn’t help me with my education. ”
“That’s terrible. You should say something to someone.” Livvie’s cheeks reddened, and she picked up the pace.
“Now, hang on.” I chuckled as I hurried to catch up. “It’s not quite that easy. It might not be personal. I could be imagining it. And I do want to get to know Toby, but I’m terrified of opening myself up again. So, it might all be a moot point if I can’t even bring myself to date him.”
“Why wouldn’t you want to open up to him?” Livvie asked.
“I told you a little bit about Dax…”
She nodded. “Sure. He cheated.”
“He was my first and only boyfriend,” I explained. “I’ve never dated, never flirted with anyone else. And since he broke my heart, I haven’t really wanted to.”
Pursing her lips and ignoring her milkshake, Livvie gave me a sympathetic look. “That is rough.”
“But I can’t help being attracted to Toby, no matter how hard I fight it.” I shrugged. “It’s just not worth risking the job I’ve worked so hard for.”
“This Abby is a bitch,” Livvie muttered. “She shouldn’t put you in this situation.”
We turned around and headed back toward our cars. “Listen, I know you’re in an awkward situation, but I don’t think you should ignore strong attraction like that. He’s obviously feeling it too, or he wouldn’t have asked you out.”
“Yeah,” I grinned as I thought about the stolen glances and watching him read until Abby had interrupted him. He’d looked irritated for a second. “Well, you’ll be happy to hear that I agreed to have dinner with him tomorrow night.”
Livvie stopped short and stared at me with her jaw dropped. “Next time lead with that!”
I shrugged. “Well, I wasn’t sure if I was going to maybe cancel.”
She grabbed my hand and looped my arm through hers. “You cannot cancel. I have to live vicariously through you. And you have to go see if this thing with Toby is going to lead somewhere.”
“My mother was a serial dater,” I admitted. “She always had to have a man by her side. I don’t want to be like that.”
With a snort, Livvie reared her head back and gave me a scandalous look.
“I know we haven’t been friends for a long time, but I feel like I’ve got a good measure of you.
And you are anything but like that. If anything, you’re the polar opposite.
Don’t push your mother’s problems on yourself. It just creates unnecessary drama.”
She had a point. I definitely couldn’t be accused of playing the field. I just didn’t want to start now.
“Don’t miss out on your own happiness,” Livvie said as we reached our cars. “Just let nature take its course.”
I hugged her tight and headed home, and the mindset she helped me get into was the one I clung to Saturday as I studied. Rather, I tried to study. The butterflies in my stomach made it difficult, but I gave it a valiant effort.
Toby hadn’t given me much to go on for our date. He texted me and told me to wear sensible shoes and dress comfortably.
Great. I stood in front of my closet, lamenting my choices. I had half a closet full of scrubs, and the rest leggings and oversized tees.
I dug through the back of the closet until I found a pair of jean capris that were newer and in better shape than my other worn-out jeans.
It was time for a shopping spree to the big outlet stores that had reasonable prices. I couldn’t date in yoga pants.
I wore a flowy tank top and light jewelry. If we were going to be outside, I didn’t want chunky jewelry making me hot.
Ugh, I wished he’d told me where we were going. My butterflies flapped more urgently as I applied light makeup and sweat-proof mascara.
Hair up or down?
I settled on down but stuck a hair tie in my pocket.
Okay. What now?
I checked my phone for the time.
I was an hour early.
Geez. Okay. Okay. I was fine. It was fine.
Sitting on the edge of my bed, I ran through the scenarios of where he might take me.
And nothing was too scary. He wouldn’t have told me to wear comfy shoes if we were going somewhere nice, so I didn’t have to worry about fancy manners or remembering which fork to use.
The hour passed faster than I thought it would, and the next thing I knew, Bert was buzzing that I had someone waiting for me in the lobby.
Sucking in a deep breath, I tucked money in my pocket, a tube of lip balm, and my apartment key. This way I didn’t have to take a purse.
I let the elevator take me down instead of the stairs, which I chose more often for the exercise. If I was going to end up sweaty on this mysterious date, it wouldn’t be in my lobby before the date had even started.
Bert stood and nodded at me as I passed. I gave him a big grin before turning my gaze to the right, where Toby was rising from the lobby chairs.
Shit. He looked damn good. I had to bite my tongue to keep from babbling something stupid.
“You look great,” he said with a genuine smile. “Ready?”
I nodded and we both turned toward the door, which Bert held open. “You kids have fun,” he said brightly. “Imagine both of you living in the building and dating, and here I was not even realizing it.”
Stiffening, I kept walking but looked at Toby. “What is he talking about? You live in this building?”