Chapter 19

 

 

“What is Reed waiting for?” Marta asked. “He should have asked you out for your next date by now.”

“I don’t know,” Kate said.

Kate looked down and realized she’d been fidgeting with her napkin so much that it had torn. With an effort she put it back on the table and leaned back in the bench, causing the vinyl to creak.

“Your date is tomorrow,” Ember said, demolishing a roll. “What’s taking him so long?”

Kate and the blondes were sitting at dinner at Marta’s restaurant. It was the third of July, just one day before they were supposed to go on a date, but Reed had yet to extend an invitation. She reflexively pulled out her phone and looked at it, but there hadn’t been an answer since they’d talked earlier that day.

Brittney frowned. “Have you asked him what he’s waiting for?”

“She can’t do that,” Ember protested. “It will show how nervous she is.”

“I’m not nervous,” Kate said.

“Liar,” Marta said, pointing at Kate’s fork.

Kate looked down and realized she was now tapping her fork against her knife. She grimaced and put the fork down, annoyed that her hands continued to betray her nervousness. Then she leaned forward and lowered her voice.

“We talk every day, now,” she said. “And I see him almost as often.”

Despite her concern, Kate smiled. Over the last two weeks they’d been together almost constantly. They weren’t dates, at least not in the context of the challenge, but they went out for lunch or breakfast whenever the opportunity allowed. Sometimes they just sat together watching a movie with Jackson and Shelby or the blondes.

But the tension was past the breaking point, and every time they were together she wanted to grab his neck and yank him into a kiss. She swallowed and forced the image from her mind, sipping her water in an effort to cool the heat in her belly.

“You saw him yesterday,” she said. “When he came over for Brittney’s dinner night.”

“He hasn’t mentioned your date at all?” Brittney asked.

Kate shook her head. “He hasn’t said a word about tomorrow night.”

“He didn’t forget,” Brittney said. “Did he?” She glanced at Ember.

Ember folded her arms, her expression like a grizzled detective. “No. He’s up to something.”

Kate frowned, her eyebrows pulling together as she glared at her roommates with suspicious eyes. “Are you hiding something? You did invite me to dinner.”

Brittney shook her head. “I don’t know anything.”

Ember scowled. “I wish I could say I knew, but I haven’t heard anything.”

They all looked to Marta, who shrugged. “I don’t know anything, either. And I didn’t invite you to dinner. My mom said we should come and eat . . .”

They all stared at her, the truth settling in. In that moment Marta’s mother bustled up to the table and placed four rolls of silverware on the table. Then she pulled out a pad and paper and looked to them.

“You ready to order, girls . . .?” Her voice faded when all eyes settled on her

“Mother?” Marta asked. “Did Reed enlist you to get us here?”

“Of course not, dear.” She waved her hand dismissively. “I’ll come back when you know what you want.”

“Mother.”

She tried to protest but Marta stood, trapping her mother between the tables. The woman’s eyes flicked between Marta, Ember, and Brittney, and then settled on Kate, who raised an eyebrow. She grunted and waved her pen at them like a sword.

“I only know that he wanted you here tonight,” she said.

“That’s all you know?” Ember demanded.

Kate hid a smile. Seeing the indomitable Ember lock eyes with the indomitable mother was amusing, and she wondered who would blink first. But it was Marta’s mother that scowled and jerked her head.

“He said he needed an hour to set up,” she replied.

“That’s why you took so long to get our bread,” Marta accused.

“You’re not going to leave, are you?” Maria asked anxiously. “He insisted I keep you here.”

“We’re going to leave,” Ember said, rising to her feet.

“No,” Kate said. “We’re not.” She smiled as they looked to her. “He wanted an hour? We’ll give him an hour. But not a minute more.”

“You don’t want to go spy on him?” Ember asked.

Kate jerked her head. “I want to see the invitation when it’s ready. If he waited this long, it had better be good. Let’s not spoil it, shall we?”

Marta nodded reluctantly and took a seat. Brittney seemed relieved. Ember grunted in irritation and sank onto the bench. Shaking her head, Kate picked up the menu and rattled off her order. Marta’s mother, clearly pleased, wrote their requests down and then departed. The moment she was gone Kate pulled out her phone.

“What are you doing?” Brittney asked.

“I said we’re not going to see him,” Kate said, a sly smile spreading on her features. “Doesn’t mean I can’t have a little fun.”

They laughed and leaned in, helping her craft the first message.

Any chance you can talk? I’m out with my roommates and they won’t stop talking about another guy they want to set me up with. I think I might go out with him tomorrow night. I mean, I don’t have any plans yet…

The response was slow in coming, and they speculated as to the cause until their food came. Kate left her phone on the table so all could see when he replied. Just as they began to eat, the phone buzzed and she picked it up.

Oh? Is he cute?

Marta giggled. “He’s on the lacrosse team.”

“And studying to be a doctor,” Brittney said. “We all love doctors.” Then her smiled faded. “I’m sorry, Kate, I forgot that’s what Jason is studying . . .”

Kate grinned and shook her head. “Jason is long gone,” she said, marveling that she meant it. When Brittney had said doctor she hadn’t even thought of Jason. It felt good to be truly over him.

“And say his dad is rich,” Ember said.

“Why?” Kate asked, pausing in typing.

“Because we all want to date a guy with money,” Ember reasoned. “We may not admit it, but money is attractive.”

Kate shrugged and did as requested, filling in the details for the mythical date. Then she took a bite of bread and waited. This time the response came much faster, but Ember snatched her phone off the table. She read it and scowled.

“What?” Kate asked, taking it back.

Maria caved. Didn’t she.

Ember swore under her breath. “How did he realize it so fast?”

“We tried to make him think Kate would go out with another guy,” Brittney said. “We pushed it too far.”

Ember swore again, but Marta laughed. “At least we know he’s asking Kate tonight. Now we can relax and wait.”

Kate grinned, her heart fluttering with anticipation. Reed was at her house, most likely setting up an invitation to ask her on a date. She’d wondered almost continuously since their last date if he would push their relationship to the next level, and the waiting had left her nervous and excited, the emotions rising to a fever pitch.

“Let’s sneak out,” she said.

“Really?” Ember asked.

Kate nodded. “I don’t want to wait anymore. I want to see what he’s up to.”

“Kate,” Brittney protested. “I’m hungry.”

“You can eat after,” Marta said, eyeing her mother. “We’re going to have to run. I wouldn’t put it past her to bar the door.”

“Tell us when your mother isn’t looking,” Kate said.

She grinned, her heart rate accelerating as she leaned towards Brittney, trying to keep her readiness subtle. Then Marta nodded and they piled out of the booth. They threaded through the tables and sprinted to the door, escaping just as Marta’s mother rotated and called out to them.

“Sorry,” Marta cast over her shoulder.

They tumbled through the door into the parking lot but came to a collective halt. On the lawn in front of the restaurant a large sign had been erected. Hastily dug into the ground, the posts supported a large sheet of plywood. Fireworks had been fastened to the plywood in a strange pattern, and reflected an odd assortment of spinners, screamers, and sparklers. Mortars were mounted on the top, the fuses threaded down to connect with the other fuses. Then Kate realized all the fuses were threaded together, weaving into a single point sticking out the bottom corner. The door opened behind them and they turned to find Marta’s mother, her expression smug.

“You did know more,” Marta accused.

“Half of parenting is manipulation,” she said with a smile.

“Did you even need an hour?”

“He said he needed ten minutes,” she replied. “I promised twenty.”

Kate pulled out her phone and realized they’d been inside the restaurant for exactly twenty-one minutes, long enough to sink the posts and mount the board of fireworks. As usual, Reed had planned every detail.

“Are you going to light it?” Marta’s mother asked.

“I don’t have a . . .”

Maria offered a lighter and Kate accepted it with a grateful nod. As Kate walked to the board, her roommates whipped out their phones and began to film. She stepped to the large arrow that pointed to the fuse, the lettering above indicating it needed to be lit. The sun had almost set and the night was dark, the timing obviously intentional.

She flicked the lighter and ignited the fuse, the fire licking upward and igniting a sparkler. It then caught and sparked its way onto the board, where it lit four sparklers, then six, and then she lost count. She retreated to her friends and held her breath.