Chapter 7
Due to their hectic work and school schedules, Lucy hadn’t seen Theresa, her roommate and best friend, for several days. They had a lot of catching up to do.
“So!” Theresa said as she flopped down on the fluffy, beige couch in the living room of their apartment. “Got any new gossip I should know about?” She pulled her shoulder-length, strawberry-blond hair back in a ponytail as she looked at Lucy.
“Yes, I do! I gotta tell you about these two guys I met.”
“Two! You met two guys?” Theresa asked, her eyes lighting up. She had a boyfriend herself, but she was eager to get Lucy hooked up with a great guy. Lucy’s last boyfriend, Eric, had been so horrible to her that Theresa was always saying she was overdue for some happiness. And some good lovin’, as Theresa called it.
“Yes, there’s these guys that—”
“Hold up! I gotta get prepared,” Theresa said. She darted into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of wine. When she came back to the living room, Lucy held up her empty hands.
“Really?” Lucy asked.
“Sorry!” Theresa set her own glass down on a coaster on the coffee table, then ran back to the kitchen to get Lucy some wine. Once they were settled with their drinks, Lucy filled her in on what had been going on with Jesse and Joel.
“Okay! So, I’m walking to work the other day, and completely out of nowhere, these two reenactors come up to me. One’s a Johnny Reb and the other’s a Billy Yank. They claim they’re friends, but I’m pretty sure they hate each other. Anyway, they have a bet going that they pick a random girl, and she has to say which one she would choose between the two of them. And they picked me.”
“Are they cute?” Theresa asked.
“Oh, my God,” Lucy said, dramatically putting her hand over her heart.
“Nice!”
“Theresa, you’d love them. They’re always wearing Civil War military uniforms.”
“Yummy…”
“I knew you’d say that. You practically drop your panties when you see a guy in uniform,” Lucy said.
Theresa laughed. “Oh, baby. Ain’t that the truth?” Her boyfriend wasn’t a soldier, but she had a weakness for men in uniform. She practically swooned over men in camo.
“So who did you pick? The Yank or the Reb?”
“I haven’t decided yet. I really don’t want to. I like them both, and I don’t want to make anybody feel bad.”
“What did they bet?”
“You know, I don’t know!” Lucy said. She hadn’t thought about it. “I’ll have to ask them. They keep hanging around the tavern and asking me to choose. It’s kind of nice. They sat with me at lunch the other day.”
“So who do you want to choose?”
Lucy sipped her wine, put it down, then leaned back on the couch. “I don’t know.”
“C’mon. You gotta have a preference. Who’s cuter?”
“That would be Joel. Definitely. He’s the Union guy. ’Resa, seriously, he’s gorgeous. I get so nervous just talking to him. You don’t see guys that hot in real life, you know? He should be in the movies.”
Theresa swirled her wine. “Oh, damn. I gotta meet this guy. He seeing anyone?”
“No, but you are,” Lucy reminded her.
“I know, I know. I meant for you.”
“Yeah, right,” Lucy scoffed. Then she said softly, “He’s a widower.”
“You’re kidding! How old is he?”
“About our age. Maybe a little older.”
“How awful. Poor guy,” Theresa said mournfully. “What about the Rebel? What’s his deal?”
“I don’t know if he’s seeing anyone,” Lucy said. “His name’s Jesse.”
“Hmmm,” Theresa said. “Interesting.”
“What?”
“I saw that look. You’d pick Jesse, wouldn’t you? I can tell just by the way you said his name.”
Lucy laughed. “I don’t know. Joel’s better looking, but Jesse’s cute, too. But it’s more than that. There’s just something about him. He’s from Texas and has this adorable accent. And he’s just…he’s so sweet. He’s like a real Southern gentleman, you know? Tips his hat to me and everything.”
“Aww, that is kinda sweet. Not many gentlemen left anymore.”
“Don’t I know it,” Lucy said, shaking her head. “It’s not like they’re really hitting on me, though. I have to keep reminding myself of that. For all I know, they both have girlfriends. Just because Joel’s widowed doesn’t mean he has to stay single forever. And Jesse…”
“What?” Theresa asked,
“I have to admit, I hate the idea of him seeing somebody else. Is that dumb?”
“Of course not! It is possible that one or both of them is interested in you, ya know. Why is that so hard for you to believe?”
Lucy shrugged and looked down.
“I want to meet them!” Theresa said suddenly. “I can find out if they’re single.”
“No way!”
“Why not?”
“Because I know you. You’ll be totally blunt.” Lucy mimicked Theresa’s voice. “Lucy wants to know—what’s your deal? Are you single or what?”
Theresa laughed and put her wineglass down on the coffee table. “You know damn well I would never do that to you.”
Lucy nodded. That was true. Theresa usually spoke her mind but was never unkind. She probably would be able to find out if the boys were single.
“It’s so odd, though. All I really know about them is their made-up backstories. When I asked about him, Jesse told me he was Private Spenser from the First Texas.”
“That’s cute,” Theresa said, grinning.
“It really is! And their uniforms are so authentic. Joel wears this nice, blue, button-down uniform…”
“Mmmm,” Theresa said, as if she had just tasted something delicious.
“Oh, yeah. You’d love him,” Lucy said, chuckling. “And Jesse wears this ragged old uniform that the poorer Southerners would have worn. He wears a slouch hat and suspenders, and he really looks like a farm boy. That’s the thing. I keep thinking of him as this sweet farm boy from Texas, because that’s all I know about him. And it’s not even true! I mean, he is from Texas. He promised his sexy accent is real.”
“Good.”
“That’s what I said. But I doubt he actually grew up on a farm. I just wish I knew more about him.” She sighed. “I admit it. I like him. I really like him. But who is he really?”
Theresa grinned at her. “That’s what you’ve got to find out.”