Chapter Twenty-Nine
“T hat sounds good to me,” Thatcher said. He’d already eaten pizza for the majority of his meals this week, but who was counting. He nodded at Vickie. “Are you in?” He hated to be the third wheel. And even more than that, he looked forward to the chance to spend time with her without the pressure of carrying the conversation. At least if Jason and Dawn were there, his awkwardness might not be so obvious.
“Sure.” She smiled. “It’s been ages since I’ve eaten there. I try to limit my pizza intake.”
“Then it’s settled. Can we go ‘as is’ or are you ladies going to insist we go clean up first?” Jason nudged Dawn.
“As is will be fine with me.” Dawn smiled prettily. “There aren’t many five star pizza joints, so you shouldn’t stick out too much.”
“Let’s go.” Jason grabbed Dawn’s hand and headed for the Metro.
Thatcher hung back for a minute.
Vickie stopped walking and glanced at him over her shoulder. “You coming?”
He hurried to catch up with her. “Thanks for coming to support us today.”
“It was fun. I haven’t been to a game in a long time. Besides, Dawn didn’t want to sit in the bleachers alone.”
Thatcher looked over at her. Was that her way of saying she definitely didn’t come for him? “Yeah, I guess that wouldn’t have been much fun.”
“Nice catch out there, by the way,” she said. “Really.”
Throwing him a bone? Maybe. But he’d take it. “Thanks.”
Fifteen minutes later, the four of them were seated in the restaurant.
“I’m starving.” Jason rubbed his hands together in anticipation. “I could eat a whole pizza by myself, but I’ll spare y’all the ugliness.”
Dawn laughed. “Thanks.”
They settled on a large pepperoni and a large cheese. Thatcher’s stomach rumbled at the thought. He took a sip of his Coke. “So, did you get any work done this morning?” he asked Vickie.
She shrugged. “I found a couple of things.” She picked up a straw wrapper and folded it into a tiny square. “One of Lincoln’s former law partners gave a speech after his assassination where he discussed the relationship between Abraham and Ann. He claimed it was vital to the future character of Lincoln. But, as seems to be the case everywhere we look, there isn’t anything to back his claims except for speculation.”
Thatcher thought for a moment. Were they foolish to think they could solve a historical mystery so many others before them had sought? The very idea that Clark could one-up him made him even more determined. If the proof was out there, he and Vickie would find it. “We’ll just keep looking.”
Dawn slapped her hands on the table, startling him. “Enough, Indiana Jones. Don’t you two have anything to talk about besides history?”
Vickie let out a tinkling laugh. “Sorry if we’re boring you. You seemed a bit preoccupied over there anyway.”
Dawn raised an eyebrow but didn’t respond. Instead, she directed her blue-eyed gaze at Thatcher. “So, Thatcher, why don’t you tell us a little about yourself?”
He shifted uncomfortably. “Not too much to tell. As you know, I’m a professor of history. I grew up not too far from here in Virginia. I have a dog.” He pressed his lips together. “That’s about it. Nothing too interesting.” His answer clearly wasn’t enough for Dawn’s liking.
She regarded him for a moment, her eyes narrowed. “You’re single?”
He nodded. “That I am.” Thatcher glanced over at Vickie, who was pouring over the menu. Since they’d already placed their order she must be bored with the conversation.
“Well that’s a real shame.” Dawn smiled sweetly. “For some reason, ever since Jason and I met, I’ve just wanted to see the whole world coupled up and as happy as we are.”
Thatcher gave her a wry grin. “I’m glad you two are so happy.” He cleared his throat, eager to extract himself from the conversation. He didn’t like the look she had in her eye. He’d seen it before and it usually ended with someone trying to fix him up. He looked at Vickie for help but she was still fascinated by the menu. “So, Jason. Did you always want to be a detective?”
Jason grinned and shook his head. “Nope. I wanted to be a major league baseball player. I even played in the minors for a couple of years. But I had a pretty serious knee injury followed by a torn ACL, so I finally decided to go into something else.”
“I’ll bet your job is exciting.”
“I enjoy it. My old man is a cop, so I sort of grew up around it.” He leaned back. “I’m never going to be one of those guys whose job is his whole life though.” He put a hand on Dawn’s shoulder and gave her a squeeze. “In my line of work, I get the chance to think daily about what’s really important. No one ever went to his grave wishing he’d spent more time at the office, you know?”
Thatcher was quiet. This probably wasn’t the time to tell them about the amount of hours he put in during a normal week and that if he didn’t have Buster, he’d probably just live at the office. Instead he nodded. “That’s true. It’s nice that you’ve got your priorities in order.”
“Of course, getting this workaholic to cut back so we can see each other some during the week was the real challenge.” Jason planted a kiss on Dawn’s cheek. “Thankfully she finds me irresistible.”
Dawn blushed.
Thatcher felt an unfamiliar pang in his stomach. Something about being in the presence of a couple so obviously in love caused him to have to acknowledge his loneliness.
The waitress sat two steaming pizzas on their table.
“Wow.” Vickie slapped the menu down and her eyes lit up. “I didn’t realize how hungry I was until just now.”
Jason said a quick blessing for the food and they dug in.
“So, have you finally adjusted to your new work schedule?” Dawn asked Vickie.
Thatcher glanced at Vickie from the corner of his eye. Her hair was swept back in a ponytail, but there was one strand that had escaped. His hand itched to reach out and tuck it behind her ear.
“Mostly. I was really tired at first, but I think I’m starting to get used to the longer days.” She grinned at Thatcher. “Plus now I have more time to devote to one of history’s mysteries.”
He laughed. “And I’m thankful to have your help.”
“At least this prevents her from taking some kind of class,” Dawn said, wiping her mouth daintily.
Thatcher caught Vickie’s horrified look. “A class?” he asked.
Vickie rolled her eyes. “Sometimes I’ve been known to take classes to fill my time.” She shrugged. “I was considering a salsa class when you came along needing a researcher.”
Dawn met his eyes across the table. “She’s got a lot of unusual talents now. Cake decorating, genealogy, quilting—but that one didn’t turn out very well,” she grinned and continued, “ballet, painting. . .” she trailed off. “And of course, who could forget belly dancing?”
Thatcher almost spit out his Coke. He looked at sweet, demure Vickie. “Belly dancing?” he asked incredulously.
Vickie, ten different shades of red, shot daggers at Dawn with her eyes. “Let’s not make a big deal about that. It was a class of all women and it was only for exercise.” She was quiet for a moment then a tiny smile broke through her embarrassment. “But I guess it does sound a little shocking.”
“I’ll say,” Jason piped up, a mischievous grin plastered on his face.
The waitress arrived at the table, putting a halt to the conversation. “Is this separate checks?”
“You can put ours together,” Jason pointed from Dawn to himself.
Thatcher froze. He didn’t want to overstep his boundaries with Vickie, but he also didn’t want to be rude. “You can put ours together too,” he told the waitress.
“You don’t have to do that,” Vickie placed a small hand on his arm. “At least let me give you some cash for my part.”
He turned toward her, suddenly aware of how close they were in the booth. He could see a tiny freckle underneath her eye. “You made lunch for me yesterday. It’s the least I can do.” He nodded at her plate. “Besides, you only ate like two pieces.” He grinned.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
They stepped out of the restaurant into the night air. The chill took Thatcher by surprise. The day had been unseasonably warm, but now in just shorts and a t-shirt, he was cool.
Dawn shivered and Jason put an arm around her. “This was fun,” Jason said, “We’ll have to do it again sometime.”
Thatcher nodded. It had been fun.
“We’re going to head to Jason’s to watch a movie,” Dawn directed her comment to Vickie. “Thanks for being a sports fan with me today.”
Vickie grinned. “Have fun.”
Hand in hand, Dawn and Jason strode off toward the Metro, leaving Thatcher and Vickie standing in front of the restaurant.
“I’m actually not too far from here,” Vickie said. “So I’ll just walk home. Thanks again for dinner.”
“My pleasure. I’ll call you later in the week and we can discuss the project.”
“Sounds good.” She met his eyes for a moment. “Good night.” She gave him a smile and walked away.
“Night,” he called, rooted to the spot. A part of him wanted to stop her and offer to walk her home. But he didn’t. Instead, he set out toward the Metro. He’d try to get a little more work done before bedtime. This day had become way too much of a social outing. It was time to get re-focused.