Chapter 4 #4
“They usually do, but they’ve both got tests tomorrow. Briley has one in calculus and Hadley has one in biology.”
“Yeah, those are tough subjects. Briley is the boy?”
“Yes. He’s sixteen. Hadley’s fourteen.”
She heard a chuckle from the other end of the phone. “That’s a little bit of info your sister got right on that profile!”
“She should’ve! She dotes on those two. Doesn’t have any of her own, so they’re her kids. And it doesn’t hurt that I need the help.”
“I’m sure. So I was thinking—Friday night? Are you free?”
“Sure. Where are we going?”
“I’m going to leave that up to you. Where would you like to go?”
“You know, there’s a sushi place in Madisonville that I’ve wanted to try, but I’ve never had anybody to go with me, and we all know sushi is more fun when there’s more than one person eating. Are you interested in that?”
“I’ve never had sushi before, but I know the restaurant. As long as I’ve got somebody with me who knows the ropes, I’ll try it. I’ll try pretty much anything once.”
“Good. And because it’s Madisonville, it makes more sense for me to come to you. Can I meet you at the restaurant?”
“That would be fine. Seven?”
She smiled. “Seven it is. See you then!”
He was quiet for a few seconds, and she wondered if he was changing his mind. When he did, he blew her away. “Gina, I really like you. I hope you feel the same way about me.”
“I do.”
“Your sister said on that profile that your favorite quote was, ‘Honesty is the best policy.’ Is that true?”
“It is. That’s important to me.”
“Then I’m trying to be honest with you.”
“And I’ll always try to be honest with you too,” she assured him. “I think if we don’t have that, we don’t have anything.”
“I agree. See you Friday night.” There was that hesitation again, and she wished she could see his face. “Would you mind if I called you between now and then?”
Oh my god, he really did like her! “That would be great.”
“Okay then. You have a good rest of the evening and I’ll talk to you later,” Kyle said.
“You too. Talk to you soon. Bye.” Footsteps rang out behind her and she turned to find Hadley standing there. “Hey, honey.”
“Who was that on the phone?”
“Just a …” Should I tell her? There was that honesty thing again. It needed to apply to everybody in her world. “A guy I met.”
Her daughter dropped into one of the kitchen chairs, her mouth gaping before she asked, “You met a guy? Where? When?”
“Today. At the store.”
“And?”
Gina sat down in the adjacent chair and clasped her hands on the table.
“Well, it happened kinda like this. Your Aunt Sabrina put me on this dating site without me knowing it, and she pretended to be me. And she made arrangements with this guy to come and meet me, but when he got there, I didn’t know anything about it.
Neither did he. I felt so bad for him that I asked him to go have coffee at the bakery. One thing led to another and …”
“Ewww! Mom! I don’t need the details!” Hadley almost screamed.
“No! Nothing like that! I was going to say, one thing led to another and he asked me out for dinner on Friday night. The sushi restaurant in Madisonville that I told you about.”
“Oh. I thought you meant … never mind. So are you going?”
“Yes. I need something new to wear though. I should take care of that tomorrow.” She thought about her wardrobe. It was pathetic, just jeans, tees, and the polos she wore at the co-op. Something with a little pizazz and color might be nice.
“Is he cute?”
Gina sat there for a second and thought about Kyle. “Yeah. He’s really cute. Very good looking. And he’s got a great smile. And he’s a good kisser, and …”
“Ewww! Mom! Please!”
“Oh. Sorry. Didn’t think that would totally gross you out.”
Hadley frowned. “You’re my mom. Of course that grosses me out!” Then she grinned. “But if he’s cute, I guess that makes it less gross.”
“Oh, well, thank you very much for that! Have you finished studying?”
Hadley shook her head and stood. “No. I just came in here to get a drink and I heard you on the phone. I need to get back to it.”
“What’s your grade average in there right now?”
“On a one hundred point scale?” Gina nodded. “Ninety-eight.”
“Good. What’s the test this time?”
“Cellular structure and abnormalities. Right now the part I’m studying is on hemolysis.” The girl gave a little laugh. “Do you even know what that is?”
“No. I don’t. But I know it has something to do with blood because the word starts with ‘hemo.’ That means blood.”
“Very good! It’s a type of cellular breakdown.”
“Good enough. Go,” Gina ordered and pointed down the hallway.
“Slave driver,” Hadley muttered as she went, but she was smiling too.
Friday night. She needed something new to wear and maybe to have her nails done.
Oh, who was she kidding? It was only going to be one date.
When he really got to know her, he’d know there was nothing to her.
Absolutely nothing. Nothing interesting, nothing endearing, nothing.
Just a waste of space. But for one night, she could enjoy a nice meal with a good-looking man and pretend it could go somewhere.
And that would have to be enough.