Tanner shrugged. “Well, I don’t see him offering to go visit your almost father-in-law with you. Classic best friend duty if you ask me.” He shook his head like he thought Rob was the most ridiculous person he’d ever met.
Which was funny. Because they were both ridiculous. It was probably why they didn’t get along.
I wanted to just drop the Mr. Pruitt thing. But it was still weighing on me. I needed to talk to James about Poppy’s threat. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t talk to Tanner about my plans. “I actually have a better idea than going to see him. I’ve been trying to dig up dirt on his business dealings. If I could just have some leverage…”
“Consider it done,” Tanner said. He slid off his stool and pulled on his coat. “All you had to do was ask.”
Wait, what?
“I’ll call you with the details.” He turned to walk away.
Where was he going? What details? “Tanner!” I called after him.
But he was already gone.
Chapter 15
Saturday
Those big blue eyes. I could drown in those eyes. But no matter what I did today, I couldn’t capture the color. The size, the shape, the love they held…everything else was right. But not the color. It wasn’t quite her. I was usually good at painting Brooklyn’s eyes. But it was like the memory of her was drifting away.
I swirled more green into the paint and tried again. No, that isn’t right either. I closed my eyes and tried to remember. I pictured her laughing, the cool autumn breeze blowing a strand of hair into her face. I reached out to brush it away and the back of my hand collided with wet paint.
My eyes flew open. Crap. I grabbed a paper towel off the roll and wiped off my hand as I stared at the smeared paint. It looked like some kind of abstract portrait of Brooklyn crying. My fingers paused on the paper towel. How many times had I made her cry versus smile? Was it weighted in the wrong direction? Because this picture looked more like her than my others now. Brooklyn crying. I tried to swallow down the lump in my throat.
I just wanted to go back and do everything differently. I wanted to meet her when I wasn’t a dumb kid. I wanted another chance. Just one more freaking chance.
My cell phone buzzed, pulling my attention away from the canvas. I grabbed my phone with my hand that wasn’t covered in paint. There was a text from Penny wishing me luck on my date.
My date? I looked at the time. Shit! I’d completely forgotten about the stupid blind date.
I hurried out of the room and closed the door behind me. I tried to scrub the stupid paint off my hand but it wouldn’t come off. Shit, shit, shit. I didn’t have time for this. I was going to be late. Being late for any kind of meeting was rude. And it seemed especially rude for a date. Not that I cared about making a good impression. I was only doing this so I could keep hanging out with Penny.
Another text came through from Penny: “I really think you’re going to like her. Okay, I’ll leave you to it. Good luck!”
I looked at the time again. I only had 15 minutes to get across town. Which wasn’t possible. I didn’t bother responding to Penny as I changed into a pair of dress pants and a white button-down. I was out the door in a matter of minutes, without having bothered to shower or get the rest of the paint off the back of my hand.
***
I had no idea what my date looked like. I didn’t even know her name. But I still found myself looking around the restaurant instead of going to the hostess stand. There was a brunette in the far corner that was alone…nope. A man had just joined her with a kiss. If that was my date, we weren’t off to a great start.
My eyes kept scanning the restaurant. Everyone was paired off. It was like flourishing couples came here in droves. There were candles on each white-tableclothed table, giving the restaurant a romantic glow. Why had Penny chosen such an intimate restaurant for a first date? Or maybe my blind date had chosen it.
Either way, I didn’t see anyone else seated alone. Wait. I leaned forward to see a girl with mousey brown hair reading at a table. That had to be her. Penny loved