Cursive - By Phoebe Lane Page 0,5

out."

"That would be a no. And please, stop walking on eggshells around me. If what you really want to say is that it's time for me to move on and start dating, then say it."

"All right. It."

Aislynn rolled her eyes at her and focused on sipping her wine. "I'm not ready to date. It's not even on my radar. I need to concentrate on the novel and my traveling. That's all I want to deal with right now."

"Sex?" Ellie asked with a wicked smile.

"I don't do the casual thing. You know that."

"It's been almost a year since Christopher…"

At just the mention of his name, Aislynn had a flashback of what she had felt earlier at the hotel and quickly decided there was no way she was bringing it up to Ellie.

"I know. But I don't think time is what I need to help me move on. I just need to make peace with what happened with him, and I'm not sure what the catalyst for that change will be."

"Okay, well, on a lighter note—I just got a date, and you're coming with me. Hope you don't mind," Ellie said as she bit into one of the appetizers that had been sent to their table.

"Wait, what? With who?" Aislynn asked.

"Evan Langley."

"How the hell did you get a date with Evan? I was in the bathroom for like three minutes and you got a date already?" Ellie beamed. "Damn, lady! I truly admire your boldness. My idea of flirting is looking at a guy from across the room and hoping he's braver than me."

"He's taking us to the baseball park. He has four tickets for the Rangers/Padres game tomorrow. I had to get you invited."

"Rangers? I'm in!" Aislynn said. "Wait. Four tickets? He's coming with Jace, isn't he?"

"I would bet my butt on it, Pretty Woman. Cheers."

"We're going to the game with Ellie McDaniel and her friend Aislynn," Evan said to Jace while going through some financial statements in the back office of the restaurant.

"Argh. Is this like a date thing?" he asked, throwing a file down on the desk.

"It is for me. Not for you, I don't think. Why, are you interested?"

"I don't think she’s my type," Jace said, keeping his eyes on the invoice he was revising.

"Good, 'cause your type lately has been 'one-date' women. I don't get that vibe from Aislynn."

"How would you know what kind of woman she is?" Jace asked.

"I just get a feeling about people, and I get a good feeling about her. I also get a great feeling about her friend Ellie," Evan said with a smile.

"I swear to God, if you say you got a feeling that this is the woman you're going to marry, I will beat you over the head with this bottle of scotch."

"Fuck you! I'm not a girl," Evan said, taking a drink. "But be careful with what you say about the future mother of my children."

"Oh, hell."

"Hey, Mom."

"I'm so glad you finally decided to call, Aislynn," Pam O’Neill said with an unconcealed hint of sarcasm.

"I know. I'm sorry. I've been really busy lately," Aislynn said, already feeling exasperated.

Why do I keep doing this to myself?

"Busy? Doing what? And where in the world are you living these days?"

"I told you last week that I'm in San Diego," Aislynn said not even trying to hide her frustration.

"I know, but you keep moving around. How am I supposed to keep track?" Pam said and then paused, presumably waiting for a response that Aislynn refused to give. Yes, they shared the stubbornness gene. "So, how are things?"

"Everything’s fine. Ellie is in town this week," Aislynn told her, trying to move the focus off her. She got plenty of attention from her mother, but it was usually the negative kind. She hated the fact that at the age of twenty-nine, she still craved the acceptance she should have gotten from her as a child.

"Oh, send my love to her," Pam said.

"I sure will, Mom. How's everyone doing there?"

"We're all well. Marc and I have the house packed and ready for the movers to come next week. He’s so excited about this promotion that he’s not even complaining about having to move."

Marc O’Neill was Pam's second husband. Aislynn never thought of him as a stepfather, as he had only been married to her mom a couple of years. He was nice and all, but neither one of them had ever really invested time or effort into developing their relationship. "By the way, I found some