Page 43 of An Unexpected Match

If she felt this way after three weeks, what would she feel like in three years when her time was up?

Probably head over heels in love with the man.

The thought came out of the blue and shocked her.

“Excuse me, I need to, um, use the ladies.”

Arden shoved her chair back and stood, wanting to run from the restaurant. To run for her life.

But she knew she couldn’t do that. Still, she needed a minute to herself.

She walked swiftly through the dining crowd and found the restrooms. Grateful for a few minutes alone, she stood near the sink, searching her features for a clue about what to do.

She couldn’t be falling in love with Brendan. There was no future in that.

“He’s still in love with Lannie,” she said slowly.

Arden couldn’t afford to fall in love. Not with anyone who wanted more than she could give.

“Maybe he doesn’t,” she said hopefully to her reflection.

Two teenage girls came giggling into the room. Arden turned on the water and began washing her hands. She couldn’t stay hidden in here all night.

“I’ll go out and act normally. Once we get home, I’ll have some serious thinking to do. Can I stay? Or had I best get out now, while the going is good?” she murmured beneath her breath.

She rather thought it was too late. Leaving wouldn’t erase his image from her mind. Leaving wouldn’t change the feelings which exploded inside her whenever she thought about him. And leaving certainly wouldn’t enable her to follow through on her plans to graduate before she was twenty-eight.

As she walked slowly back to the table, dodging rambunctious children, she thought about the dozens of sketches she’d drawn of Brendan since she’d met him. Maybe just living in the proximity of any virile man would have her concocting fantasies, no matter who he was.

Yet one look at him sitting at the table laughing with his two little girls, and she wanted to hurry. She didn’t want to miss a second of time she could spend with him. And her hands itched to sketch the family as they talked and laughed, the remains of the pizza scattered on the table.

He looked up as she joined them, his eyes concerned.

“Is everything all right?”

She nodded with a bright smile. She'd make it through this and one day look back on it with nostalgia. There was nothing to say. She couldn’t keep in touch with the girls once she left. See them every so often.

Keep track of what their father was doing.

She sat down and reached for her soda.

“Did you have enough to eat?” Brendan asked.

“Yes, it was delicious. I see there isn’t enough to take home. I suspected as much. You seemed to like it a lot.”

He nodded, his eyes still assessing. “We haven’t been out for pizza in a long time. Sometimes Ella would order in.”

She looked at the girls, afraid to look at Brendan now that she was so aware of her feelings for him.

“Do you have plans for the weekend?” he asked after a moment.

“I might go to the beach tomorrow,” she said slowly.

“I want to go. You said you’d take us. Can we go, too?” Hailey said, picking up instantly on the word beach.

“Tomorrow is Arden’s day off. She doesn’t take care of you on her day off,” Brendan said.

“Why don’t you all come? We could take a picnic lunch and rent an umbrella and make a day of it. I’m sure the girls would love to play in the water and make sand castles,” Arden suggested.

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