“A couple of months ago, I broke up with my girlfriend. And it’s turned out to be a little more complicated than I expected.”
“She stalking you or something?”
“No, nothing like that. In fact, she hardly goes out at all.”
The cheese sandwiches sizzled gently as Sam lowered them into the hot pan. “That’s normal after a breakup.”
“Yes. But she needs to get on with her life. I was trying to think of someone for her to meet—someone she could have some fun with. And from what I’ve heard, you’re not going out with anyone right now … are you?”
Sam’s eyes widened incredulously as he realized what Kevin was getting at. And then he began to laugh. “I’m not interested in your leftovers. And I’m sure as hell not going to be thanking you for them.”
“It’s not like that,” Kevin protested. “She’s great. She’s hot. Well … not hot, actually, but pretty. And sweet. Supersweet.”
“If she’s so great, why’d you break up with her?”
“Well, I sort of have a thing going with her younger sister.”
Sam just looked at him.
Kevin’s expression turned defensive. “Dude, the heart wants what it wants.”
“Right. But I’m not dealing with your toxic waste.”
“Toxic waste?” Kevin repeated quizzically.
“Any woman would have major issues after something like that. She’s probably radioactive.” Sam flipped the sandwiches deftly.
“She’s fine. She’s ready to move on. She just doesn’t know it yet.”
“Why don’t we let her decide when she’s ready? Why are you so interested in finding a new guy for her?”
“The situation has caused some problems in the family. I just got engaged to Alice.”
“That’s the younger sister? Congratulations.”
“Thanks. Anyway … Alice’s parents are pissed off about the situation. They’re not going to pay for the wedding, or help with the planning, or any of that crap. And she wants the family to come together. But the kumbaya moment won’t happen until her sister gets over me and starts going out with someone.”
“Good luck with that.”
“You owe me, Nolan.”
With a scowl, Sam put the soup into the microwave and started it. “Damn it,” he muttered. “I knew that was coming.”
“All that dirt work and haul-off I did for you, for practically nothing. Not to mention helping you transplant that wild grapevine.”
It was true. The vine would have fallen victim to a road project if it hadn’t been transplanted. Not only had Kevin done a good job with the painstaking and difficult process, he had charged Sam a fraction of what anyone else would have.
So yes. He owed Kevin.
“How many times do you want me to take her out?” Sam asked tersely.
“Just a couple of times. Maybe once for drinks, and then for dinner.”
Sam put the steaming sandwiches onto plates, and cut Holly’s into four precise triangles. “After I take this woman out—if I can even get her to agree to go somewhere with me—the score is even, Pearson. No more favors. We’re done.”
“Absolutely,” Kevin said at once.
“How do you want to introduce us?”
“Well, the thing is…” Kevin looked uncomfortable. “You’ll have to find a way to meet her on your own. Because if she knew I had anything to do with this, she wouldn’t go for it.”
Sam stared at him disbelief. “So you want me to track down your bitter, man- hating ex-girlfriend, and talk her into going out with me?”
“Yeah, that’s basically it.”
“Forget it. I’d rather pay you for the dirt work.”
“Don’t want your money. I want you to take my ex out. Once for drinks, once for dinner.”
“I feel like a manwhore,” Sam said sourly.
“You don’t have to sleep with her. In fact—”
“What’s a manwhore, Uncle Sam?” came Holly’s voice as she wandered into the kitchen. She went to Sam and linked her arms around his waist, smiling up at him.
“Man
“Who is that?” she whispered.
“He’s an old friend of mine,” Sam said. He gave her a plate with a sandwich on it, sat her at the table, and went to ladle out some soup. Giving Kevin a narrow-eyed glance, he asked, “You got a picture of her?”
Taking a phone from his back pocket, Kevin scrolled through some photos. “Here’s one. I’ll send it to your cell.”
Sam took the phone from him and looked down at the woman in the photo. His breath caught as he recognized her.
“She’s an artist,” he heard Kevin say. “Her name is Lucy Marinn. She’s staying at Artist’s Point, has her own studio in town. She does stained-glass stuff … windows, lampshades, some mosaic stuff … she is cute, see?”
The situation was interesting, to say the least. Sam considered mentioning that he’d already met Lucy, that he’d walked to Artist’s Point with her the previous night. But he decided to keep it to himself for the time being.
In the taut silence that followed, Holly said from the table, “Uncle Sam, what about my soup?”
“Here you go, gingersnap.” Sam set the bowl before her, and tucked a length of paper towel at her neck.
With that concluded, he turned to face Kevin.
“So you’ll do it?” Kevin asked.
“Yeah, I’ll do it.” Sam gestured casually to the doorway. “I’ll see you out.”
“If you like Lucy,” Kevin said, “you should see her sister. Younger and hotter.” As if to reassure himself that he, Kevin, had still gotten the best of the bargain.
“Great,” Sam said. “I want this one.”
“Okay.” Kevin looked more puzzled than relieved. “I have to say, I didn’t expect you’d go along with it this easy.”
“No problem. But there’s one thing I don’t get.”
“Yeah?”
“What’s the real reason you broke up with Lucy? And don’t give me crap about wanting someone younger or hotter, because what this woman doesn’t have, you don’t need. So what is it?”
Kevin wore the bemused expression people sometimes had when they tripped on their own feet and turned around to check out some invisible obstacle on the sidewalk. “I just found out everything there was to know about her, and … it got boring. It was time to move on.” He frowned as he saw Sam’s faint smile. “Why is that funny?”
