Page 19 of The Falcon and the Foe

“Are you enjoying my misery?”

She squeezed her thumb and forefinger close. “Just a little bit.”

He had taken up too much space in my head. It was time to evict. “He’ll see that being a scout leader is real work, and he won’t be up to it. He’ll quit soon enough.”

“Because heaven forbid you actually have to collaborate with someone who doesn’t think the same way as you.”

Sisterly shots fired. I lurched back from the impact. Before I could rebut her claim—because I could be a very collaborative person when working with the right people—Monica waved at a man by the register.

He wore a button-down white shirt with rolled-up sleeves and a tie. His balding hair was close-cropped, and wiry glasses sat atop his nose.

“Hey, Brent. What a coincidence running into you here,” Monica said with a playful tone that set off alarms in my head. “We just ordered. Why don’t you join us?”

She scooted over so he could join the booth. His mouth pulled into a nervous, awkward smile.

This was a setup.

Nay, a dating ambush.

I smiled back at Brent, then shot Monica the look of death. I wasn’t above giving my adult sister a noogie.

“Brent, this is my brother Russ.”

“Nice to meet you.” I slapped on a polite face because this wasn’t Brent’s fault. He was a poor clay pigeon thrown into the air. I handed him a menu.

“What’s good here?” Brent asked, flipping through.

“Everything,” Monica said with enough enthusiasm for the three of us. “Don’t be afraid to try something new.”

Her eyes met mine.

“The turkey sandwich is good,” I said, trying to be a good sport.

“My doctor says I should lay off the processed meats because of my cholesterol, but what the heck!”

What a risk-taker. Evil Kneivel, watch out.

The waiter came by and took his order. He said he could bring out all three entrees together. I sighed.

“So Brent sold us flood insurance recently,” Monica said. “With all the rain we had last spring, you can never be too careful.”

“Climate change. Terrible for the environment, but a boon for the insurance industry!” he beamed.

“Brent loves the outdoors. He hikes and bikes, all that good stuff that you love, Russ.”

“Wonderful.” He’d probably make a better scout leader than Cal.

Gah, get out of my head!

“I’m training for a Bike Across New York race to raise money for pediatric cancer research. What we do is two days of biking from the eastern to the western side of the state. I’ve done it the past three years.”

“What a great cause! And so active!” Monica was practically showing him off like he was a new car onThe Price is Right.

“There are points in the trail where volunteers hold out Twizzlers, and you grab them while riding.” Brent let out a chuckle.

Did Cal even know how to ride a bike? What the hell would he do when we were on the first weekend camping trip? There was no way he could handle roughing it for a weekend, that was for sure.

I blinked and found Brent and Monica staring at me, observing this mental conversation I was having with myself.

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