Page 6 of Just One Chance
“You’re oversimplifying things.”
“You’re overcomplicating things,” Lucy shot back.
“I’m not. Besides, the first time we met, I . . .” He sighed, not sure how to explain the embarrassment he’d endured when Avery had caught him trying to cover his windows with plywood. For a hurricane that had ended up turning back out to sea anyway. “Let’s just say I didn’t make the best first impression.”
Lucy leaned forward in her chair, pushing the pizza box out of the way. Her phone buzzed and she gave it a brief glance before turning her attention back to him.
“Do you need to get that?” David asked, hoping she really,reallyneeded to get it. The look on her face said he wasn’t going to like the direction their conversation was headed.
“It’s not urgent,” she said, with a shake of her head. “Just test results. I’ll look at them in a minute. First, tell me about this bad first impression.”
David fidgeted with the stethoscope hanging around his neck. “It was nothing. I just . . . it doesn’t matter. She’s out of my league.”
Lucy stood up and tossed the last of her pizza into the trash. “You sell yourself short, David. You always have. Just get over yourself and tell me what she’s like.”
David had often admired Lucy’s dogged determination, but he’d never been on the receiving end of it before. She was relentless. “She’s from here. Born and raised. She works at the aquarium. Her father built my house. That’s literally all I know.”
“Is she seeing anyone?”
David shifted. “We spoke for less than ten minutes. How should I know?”
Lucy chewed her lip. “The aquarium, huh? That’s cool.”
“She said she’s the education coordinator there. Actually, she told me she’d give me a free tour if I stopped by some time.”
Lucy’s face lit up. “Why didn’t you say that in the first place? That’s perfect!”
“Stop. I see what you’re doing here, Lucy. It’s not perfect anything. She was just being neighborly.”
“Being neighborly is telling you that trash day is on Mondays or pointing out the place to buy the best coffee. She did not offer a free tour of the aquarium because she was trying to be neighborly. She wants to get to know you.”
“It didn’t feel—”
“Can you just trust me on this?” Lucy said. “I’m a woman, remember? I know how our brains work.”
David sat, blinking. He hadn’t considered even for a minute that Avery had actually meant for him to come to the aquarium. But then, David didn’t have a lot of experience interpreting a woman’s motives.
“What if you’re wrong?”
“So what if I am? At the very least it could provide an opportunity for you to get to know her a little better. And from the blush I saw creeping up your face, I think youwantto get to know her a little better.”
“But, I . . .” David hesitated. “I still don’t think you understand. Avery is . . .”
“Not out of your league, David.” Lucy folded her arms across her chest. Clearly she was done debating. But she’d never actuallyseenAvery. She couldn’t know what David was up against. “What time is your shift over?” She stood and pushed her chair back in, slipping her phone into her coat pocket. “You’re definitely going to the aquarium to see Avery, but I think we need to do a little tweaking first.”
“Tweaking? To what?” David ran a hand across his face. He had a feeling he was not going to like whatever it was Lucy had planned.
“Stop asking questions. Six? Seven? When are you done?”
David sighed, recognizing the inevitability of his fate. When Lucy set her mind to something, there was no arguing with her. “I’m here until six.”
Lucy looked at her watch again. “I should be finished up by then. Let’s plan on leaving together.”
“You’re not going to tell me anything else, are you?” David leveled a stare at his friend.
Her phone pinged again and she grinned. “Duty calls, David. I really have to go.” She pushed out of the doctor’s lounge, then yelled over her shoulder, “See you at six!”
***
