She’s unearthed a pretty yellow summer dress patterned with small white and green flowers.
“I don’t know, Lu. It feels a bit…optimistic.”
“Well, heaven forbid you go on a first date with any optimism,” she throws back, working her way through the heaping pile of clothes covering her arm chair.
She manages to unearth a pretty green dress with a sweetheart collar and a little brown belt around the waist. I recognize it at once as the dress I was wearing the day I caught Tim cheating on me. This is it. I can’t get any further away from an optimistic clothing choice. “Give it here, I’ll wear it.”
Luanne hands me the dress then heads for the living room. As I slip into it, I hear them. The little alarm bells ding-ding-dinging in my head. Yes, alright, I’m using poor Ellery to get back at Tim and put distance between me and Sam James. That doesn’t mean it’s going to end badly. Oh, who am I kidding?
I pull my long dark hair into a somewhat haphazard ponytail and slip on some tan sling-back flats I forgot I owned. That’s the good thing about moving, I guess, rediscovering all of your old clothes. It’s practically like getting a whole new wardrobe. Walking out of the bedroom, I have to step around a kitchen chair which has been placed in the cramped space between the living room and the apartment’s back wall.
“What’s the chair for?” I ask.
Luanne, broom in one hand and comb and scissors in the other, emerges from the kitchen. “Jason’s coming over for a haircut. He’s been after me for another date but I told him I wouldn’t even consider it until he looked less like a caveman.”
“Jason, as in the Yeti that works in Sam’s shop?” I ask, turning my head toward the door as my psychic alarm bells go off in earnest.
“The one and only. Truth be told, I’m in it more for the practice than the date, but he’s not a bad guy. Maybe I’ll get him to take me to the Red Lobster. Something fancy like that.”
I jump at the sound of knocking and watch in slow motion as Luanne approaches the door and turns the knob. The alarm bells which had been sounding on maximum alert a moment ago fall silent as she opens the door. What I don’t understand is why they’ve chosen to abandon me at the same moment Sam James enters the apartment behind Jason’s enormous back.
Sam’s dressed in his usual uniform of black leather jacket, white fitted t-shirt, and jeans that make me want to caress his thighs in a very inappropriate manner. I have to remind myself of my strict no dimple licking policy and offer up a shaky smile as they fill the small room.
“Well, well, well, look who we have here. Ellie, right?” I assume Jason is smiling as he says this, but I can’t really tell under that tangle of a beard. He nudges Sam with an elbow and raises his eyebrows at me. Subtle as a bulldozer, this one.
“Hey, Ellie. How’ve you been?” Sam asks, his smile making me dizzy.
“Sam, hi…Yeah, I’m good, thanks,” I sputter, giving him an awkward little wave. I suddenly can’t figure out what to do with my hands. Should I put them behind my back? Find a pair of silk gloves? Shove them down the front of his pants?
“Are you here to get a haircut too?” I ask, pushing my hands into the pockets of my dress where they will hopefully stay out of trouble.
“Nah, I just thought I’d tag along, maybe see if we could find some time to conduct that research we’ve been talking about.”
Lord, this man is testing my strength. I look to Luanne for help but she’s ignoring me in favor of maneuvering Jason’s massive frame to the kitchen chair in the hallway. Luckily, she thinks better of it when the wood elicits a loud ‘crack’ before he’s even fully seated. Luanne pulls Jason up and redirects him to the sofa instead, the only piece of furniture in the apartment which can handle his size. When she finally catches my wild gaze, I can tell by the expression on her face that she’s not going to help me with this situation at all.
“Well, I’m afraid you’ve come all this way for nothing, Sam. Ellie here’s got herself a hot date tonight. Isn’t that right, girl?”
I half smile, half glare at Luanne, willing her to shut up. I told her