At Last

was a narrow creek running from pure snow melt. And far below, she could see the Pacific Ocean churning under a sky dotted with white puffy clouds. It looked so perfect and beautiful that it could have been a painting.

Needing to catch her breath, she sat with the creek at her feet and pulled out her sketch pad, wanting to draw this place, wondering, hoping, her grandma and Jonathon had sat somewhere nearby enjoying the view, three decades earlier.

It took an hour to sketch in the basics enough that she could finish it up later. As she’d been doing for some time now, she thought about Riley, and hoped the girl was okay. Amy wasn’t used to worrying about others, but she worried about Riley, big time.

Hungry, she grabbed the lunch she’d packed and ate the brownie first. Heaven, but even soft, gooey chocolate couldn’t keep her brain from going back to her shocking problem.

She was going out with Matt tonight.

A date.

She went for her sandwich next and pulled out her phone to call Mallory, who didn’t pick up. Probably working a shift at the ER or the health services clinic. She tried Grace next and got lucky. “I have a problem.”

“Oh, thank God,” Grace said with feeling. “I’ve filled out fifty job apps, and no one’s hiring. No one wants me except you. I need to feel useful. Tell me your problem. Tell me all your problems. Need a good girl lesson? What number are we up to now, seven? Always be available when your friend is feeling like a loser.”

“I’m available,” Amy promised. “And I’ve told you, if you’re desperate enough, we need a bus person at the diner. I offered the job to Riley but I don’t think she’s going to take it.”

“Nothing personal, but I’d rather take a shift running the Ferris Wheel at the pier than work for Jan. If I worked for Jan, I might have to do something drastic.”

“Like kill yourself?”

“Like kill Jan,” Grace said. “Now talk to me.”

“I’m going out tonight.”

“Out?”

Amy sighed. “On a date.”

There was a complete beat of silence. “Hang on,” Grace said, and there was a click.

Two minutes later, Grace was back. “Okay,” she said. “I’ve got Mallory on the line too. I wasn’t qualified to handle this problem alone.”

“Hey,” Mallory said, sounding breathless. “You just caught me. I’m on break. It’s going to be a full moon tonight, and we’ve already had two women in premature labor and a fight victim from the arcade. Better make this quick. What’s the emergency?”

“No emergency,” Amy said. “I just-”

“It’s a complete emergency,” Grace interrupted. “Amy has a date with Ranger Hot Buns.”

Mallory squealed with delight so loudly that Amy had to pull the phone away from her ear. “Jeez!” Amy said. “Warn a girl. And how did you know it would be with Matt?” she asked Grace. “I hadn’t said.”

Grace laughed. So did Mallory.

“What?”

“Well who else could it be?” Mallory asked. “Matt’s the only guy you’ve ever looked at twice. And good Lord, the way he looks at you is contributing to global warming.”

Amy flashed to the look on Matt’s face when he’d been buried deep inside her and felt herself go damp. Yeah, the way he looked at her was pretty boggling. The way he did everything was boggling, especially the naked stuff. He was exceptional at the naked stuff, knowing when to be sweet and coaxing, knowing when to not be either of those things. And the things he’d whispered in her ear… He’d given her everything he had, until he’d been taut and quivering with his own need.

Damn. She wanted him again.

“So where’s he taking you on this date?” Mallory asked.

“And what are you wearing on this date?” Grace wanted to know.

“Okay, why do we have to keep saying date?” Amy asked. “I mean you eat, you talk, you get naked… we don’t have to label it.”

“It’s supposed to be labeled,” Mallory said calmly, the voice of reason. “It’s supposed to be a lovely time.”

Amy rolled her eyes.

“I heard that,” Mallory said. “Now tell me what’s the problem with a gorgeous guy, a really good gorgeous guy, taking you out and calling it a date? He’s got a job, a home, and the best abs I’ve ever seen. Besides, he’s already charmed you out of your pants, right?”

“Okay,” Amy said to Grace’s unladylike snort. “First of all, the only reason I took off my pants was because I had a cut on my thigh.”

“That wouldn’t be my first guess,” Grace said.

“And second of all,” Amy went on as if Grace hadn’t spoken, “it wasn’t a big deal! I was on a hike, and I got lost and-”

“-And he rescued you,” Mallory pointed out. “Another check in the pro column. The man is hot and he rescues fair maidens in distress.”

“I wasn’t in distress! I called you first, and you-”

“-Wouldn’t have charmed you out of your pants,” Mallory said.

Grace burst out laughing.

Amy thunked her head against her knees. “You aren’t listening.”

“Then say it again in English this time,” Mallory said.

“Fine,” Amy blew out a breath. “I’ve never been on a real date.”

Utter silence. Amy checked the phone screen to see if she still had reception. “Hello? You guys still there?”

“How old are you?” Grace asked, sounding confused.

“Twenty-eight.”

“And you’re still a virgin?”

“I didn’t say that,” Amy said with a laugh. “And no, I’m not.” She was just about as far from a virgin as one could get. “Look, it’s not a big deal. I left home when I was sixteen, and after that, it was more about survival than dating.” She’d done what she’d had to, and sometimes that had involved being with a guy because he had a place to stay or food-neither of which meant a “date” in any sense of the word.

“And then somehow I just never got to a place where dating was really an option,” she said, staring at the creek at her feet. A butterfly had landed on the water and was floundering, trying not to drown. Amy knew the feeling. Leaning forward, she tried to rescue the thing but it was swept away in the current. She knew that feeling, too. “Listen, I’ve got to go so I don’t get stuck up here again.”

“No, wait,” Mallory said. “Please wait. I’m sorry we laughed at you. I think it’s lovely that Matt asked you out.”

Amy sighed. Mallory was sounding like maybe she was feeling very emotional-which didn’t really count because lots of things made Mallory emotional. Like the sun rising and setting. Last time they’d watched TV together, Mallory had sobbed openly at one of those save the puppy SPCA commercials.

“You should go with him, Amy,” Mallory said. “Do the eat and talk thing. But not the naked thing, not yet.”

Amy winced, keeping to herself the fact that she’d already done the naked thing.

“Just enjoy your first date,” Mallory said. “And FYI, I have a good girl lesson for you. This one is serious, Amy. Really serious.”

“I don’t need-”

“You deserve good things,” Mallory said anyway. “You deserve good people in your life, and Matt is both good and good people.”

Dammit. Amy’s throat felt tight, and there was no SPCA commercial in sight. “How can a man be both an adjective and a noun?”

“Trust me,” Mallory said. “Ty’s both. And so is Matt.”

“I agree with Mallory,” Grace said. “You should definitely go tonight with Matt. But I say