CHAPTER 1
She was running late. Lainey had taken way too much time on her hair, and it still wasn’t right. No matter how many times she took a flattening iron to her bangs, the fact remained, she’d whacked too much off, hastily trimming them herself.
Lainey looked in the mirror one last time and sighed, “This is as good as it gets. You’re not getting any younger either.”
She rushed out of the bathroom, hearing a cartoon reverberating down the hall. “Viv, turn that down!” she yelled, searching the back of her closet for a pair of red snip-toed cowboy boots.
“Okay, Mama,” her six-year-old daughter replied from the living room.
She found the boots, and they were dusty, really dusty. Lainey passed her sister Cora on her way to the kitchen. Cora had come into town to spend the weekend with her. “Ooh la-la!” Cora said when she saw Lainey’s dress.
“Pssh,” Lainey waved her comment away as she dampened a paper towel and wiped the dust off her boots at the kitchen sink.
“Is that the dress you wore to Jacqueline’s wedding three years ago?” Cora asked.
Lainey pushed her feet into each boot. “Yes. Is it too much?”
Cora smiled. “Not at all! You’re super cute, and it’s the perfect dress for a first date.”
“My hair’s a mess. I couldn’t get my bangs right,” Lainey said, brushing them one way, then the other.
“You’re fine. You look great,” Cora said, pushing her towards the door.
Lainey grabbed her purse. “Viv, be good for Aunt Cora.” She pointed her index finger at her. “I want a good report when I return.”
Her daughter glanced at her briefly before looking back at the television.
“Don’t let her talk you into another chocolate chip cookie. She’s had three already today.”
“I know, and make sure she brushes her teeth before bed. I got it,” Cora said, opening the front door for her. “We’ll be fine.” Cora turned to look at her two sons, Viv’s cousins, sitting on the floor in the living room with her. “Won’t we, boys?”
Neither of them looked at her. They were too immersed in the cartoon.
“I’ll see you later,” Lainey said, stepping onto the porch.
“Oh, Sis!” Cora stopped her.
Lainey turned back.
“Your ring?” Cora pointed.
Lainey looked down at her left hand. “Oh. Right.” She took off her wedding ring and handed it to her sister. “Can you put it on my nightstand?”
“Yep,” Cora said. “Now go have fun.”
On the drive to the restaurant, she sent Emma a text, Running late, but almost there.
Emma responded, No prob. We’re still waiting for a table.
In the three years since her husband’s death, Lainey hadn’t even thought about dating, let alone going on a blind date or a double date. She was far more nervous than she needed to be.
Perhaps it shouldn’t be regarded as a blind date. At work Emma had shown her a photo of her husband’s friend. She’d taken it nonchalantly one Sunday afternoon when he’d come over to watch a football game at their house.
Lainey asked if she could search for him on social media to get a better look at him, but Emma said, “No, he doesn’t do social media. It’s not his thing,” she shrugged.
“Why do you think he’d like me?” Lainey asked.
“Jake and I talked about it, and we both think you two should meet. Neither of you gets out much. And if there’s no chemistry, at least we got you both out of the house for the night.”
But Lainey wasn’t convinced this was a good idea.
“Listen, he looks way better in person than in this photo. I had to sneak it when he wasn’t paying attention. You can’t tell it, but he IS good-looking. He’s six-four, built like a brick house, and Jake calls him Ice.” Emma shrugged. “It’s his nickname from high school.”
“Ice?”
“I know it’s weird. I need to ask Jake what it’s about.”
Emma mentioned he’d been divorced for six years, and he became really funny after about three drinks.
Lainey and Emma had worked together for the last three years as tellers at the Central Savings and Loan. They were both working their way up to be loan officers.
She pulled into the restaurant and circled the parking lot finally finding a spot in the back. She was now twenty minutes late.
Lainey got out and shut the door. Crap! Her lipstick. She turned back, unlocked the car and snagged it from the center console. She’d purchased a new shade at the drugstore this afternoon and intentionally left it in the car so she wouldn’t forget it.
She jogged across the lot as swiftly as she could in slick-bottomed boots. She shouldn’t have worn these stupid red boots. They were too loud, and probably made her look desperate, which she wasn’t.
When she got to the crowded sidewalk, she realized there were four restaurants side by side.
It was a busy night. People were coming, going and loitering outside the restaurants.
Emma had said it was a steakhouse, so she eliminated the Chinese restaurant right away.
The other three restaurants had names she couldn’t decipher to be steakhouses or not. She grabbed her phone to text Emma.
“You lost?” She looked up. A man smoking a cigarette had asked.
She sighed, “Yes. My friend told me to meet at a steakhouse, but I can’t tell which one it is.” She stepped back, looking at the signage for each restaurant.
He took a drag. “A steakhouse, huh? Are you sure you’re not looking for the cowboy dance hall down the street?” he smirked, motioning to her red boots.
She looked down. “I know. It’s too much, isn’t it?
It’s a double date with her husband and his friend.
” She shrugged. “I’m nervous and I threw these on since they matched the dress.
But now I’m questioning my decision, plus my entire existence while we’re at it.
” Why was she divulging her life story to this stranger?
He smirked again. “Carltons.”
“I’m sorry, what?” she wasn’t sure if it was a question or a statement.
The tall man had a buzz cut and a tattoo peeking out the bottom of his shirt sleeve. Why she was engaging in conversation with this man, she didn’t know. He looked decent, but suddenly she felt eerie from the way he continued to study her.
He pointed at the sign to his left. “Carltons.” Which is what the sign read. “Best steak in town. I’m sure that’s the restaurant your friend’s at.”
She gasped, “Oh. Thank you.” Lainey headed for the front door but stopped short. She turned to him. “I don’t have lipstick on my teeth, do I?” She smiled goofy at him, probably emulating the Joker from Batman.
He stooped and genuinely looked at her teeth. He shook his head. “No, you’re good.”
“Wish me luck!” she said and marched through the door.
She spotted Emma and Jake standing by a bench of people squeezed in beside each other. Emma’s face lit up when she spotted Lainey and flagged her over.
“Lain!” They hugged, and Jake nodded, greeting her.
“I’m sorry I’m late.”
Emma gazed at Lainey’s ruffle-skirted dress and red cowboy boots. “You look cute,” she said with approval as she scrunched her nose.
“Our pager’s buzzin’. The table’s ready,” Jake said, pulling out a flashing red lighted plastic box from his pocket.
Lainey looked around. “Where is he? Your friend?”
“Here he is, coming up behind you,” Emma motioned.
Lainey turned, spotting the smoker she’d met out front.
“Robert, this is Lainey. Lainey, Robert,” Emma introduced them.
Lainey felt her face heat to a bright red.
“We met outside,” Robert said with that now familiar smirk.
“You did?” Emma asked, but the hostess was ushering them to a table before Lainey could answer.
Lainey shrunk at least two inches on the way to the table that was a booth. She squeezed in across from Emma, and Robert sat next to her, trapping her against the wall.
“Robert, huh? Not Rob, Bob, Bobby, or Robby?” The filter between her brain and her mouth had disappeared, and she knew the instant the words left her mouth how dumb she sounded.
He furrowed his brow. “No, just Robert.”
The hostess finished distributing the menus. “Your server will be right with you,” she said, hurrying away.
Lainey needed to keep her mouth shut. She’d already made a fool of herself outside. She replayed the moment she smiled the most unattractive, absolute lunatic-like grin at him to check her teeth for lipstick. She felt herself shrivel even more into the seat.
The server appeared. “Welcome to Carlton’s. What drinks can I getcha?”
Emma ordered a margarita; the men, beers; and Lainey ordered an iced tea. She wanted a shot of tequila to calm her nerves. But she didn’t need any help loosening her tongue to produce random stupidity.
Robert smelled like sandalwood and another masculine spice she couldn’t identify, but she liked it.
He took up most of the booth, and the dress shirt he wore was taut across his wide shoulders.
Lainey got a better look at the tattoo peeking out of his sleeve when he reached for his beer.
Whatever the design, it ended in sharp dark angles at the line of his wrist.
The men engaged in their own conversation, and so did Emma and Lainey. When the steaks came, Emma tried to facilitate a conversation between the two. “Robert has a daughter, like you, Lainey.”
“Really, how old is she? My Viv is six.”
Robert glanced briefly at her. “She’s twenty-two.”
“Oh,” Lainey verbally reacted, not meaning to. How old is this man to have a twenty-two-year-old child?
“He started early. Didn’t you, Robert?” Emma said, reading Lainey’s mind.
Robert gave a nod and started cutting his steak.
“Ice?” Lainey asked. “Emma says it was your nickname in high school. How’d you get that nickname?” She said, trying to lighten the conversation.
Jake dropped his fork and glared at Emma. This was obviously not meant to be public.
Emma winced at Jake and shrugged her shoulders.
Robert ignored the question and continued cutting his steak.
Lainey couldn’t help but think the name referred to his personality. He was giving her nothing and was indeed ice cold.
He was all smirks and helpful information guy outside, but now that he knew SHE was his blind date, he apparently did not approve.