Page 8 of Love in Tandem
“Sorry,” Rick said, soon as Zach answered. “We’re just finishing up at Mucho Mucho. I swear this baby is going to come out wearing a sombrero. All Kate’s wanted for the past three weeks is Nita’s salsa. She literally drank it straight out of a to-go cup two nights ago. It was revolting. And by revolting, I of course mean the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.” Rick’s voice grew louder as he was obviously including his pregnant wife in on the conversation. “It’s Zach,” he stage-whispered.
“Hi, Zach,” Kate said.
“Hi, Zach,” a teeny, high-pitched voice echoed.
“Did you hear Ryleigh?” Rick said, the adoration for his little girl evident.
“I did. Tell them both hi for me.” Zach dropped the squeegee into the bucket of cleaning fluid and climbed into his Jeep. Last time he’d seen Ryleigh, she’d been a drooly baby who liked to coo. Based on the chatter he heard in the background, her vocabulary skills had come a long way since then.
“So hey, man,” Rick said. “What’s going on? I thought you were working some sort of gig in New Zealand, acting as a personal travel guide for a group of ritzy Lord of the Rings fanatics or something.” The lively music disappeared, and Zach guessed they had walked outside the restaurant and were getting into their minivan.
“Yeah, that didn’t exactly pan out like I’d hoped. I sort of got fired less than two minutes after I got hired.”
Rick groaned. “Please don’t tell me it had anything to do with a girl.”
“Why would you automatically think it had something to do with a girl?”
“Because I remember all too well how girls get around you. They take one look at your man bun and mountain-climbing physique and go googly-eyed.”
Zach squinted against the sun, ignoring the two college-aged girls who had smiled at him earlier on their way into the gas station and were now crossing back to their car, waving and giggling with packages of Funyuns and Swedish Fish in their hands.
So maybe Rick had a point. And maybe part of the reason he got fired did have something to do with a girl. But not the way Rick imagined. Zach hadn’t even so much as looked at a girl since Shannon.
Unfortunately the man who’d hired Zach to take his family backpacking through New Zealand had a teenage daughter who’d done plenty of looking when she was introduced to Zach in their living room. The moment she’d sidled up to Zach, fluttered her lashes, and inquired about the sleeping arrangements during the trip, her father had escorted Zach to the door.
Zach shoved his key into the lock cylinder, half hoping his Jeep wouldn’t start just so he’d have an excuse not to make it back to Illinois. Ornery thing started up first try. “For the record, I cut off my beautiful locks a year ago right after Shannon dumped me.”
Rick gasped. “Like Keri Russell in Felicity?”
“Yes. Maybe. Who?”
“Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about.”
“Don’t act like it’s normal for any man to know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t act like it’s normal for any man to refer to his hair as ‘beautiful locks.’”
“You’re only saying that ’cuz you’re bald. The point is, I’m tired of googly-eyes. I don’t want googly-eyes. Googly-eyes cost me big. Not only did I lose out on a big chunk of cash this summer, I lost out on a valid excuse to miss my brother’s stupid wedding.”
“Forgot that was this weekend. And for the record, I’m pretty sure your mom wouldn’t have considered anything other than death a valid excuse to miss your brother’s stupid wedding. Didn’t you agree to be the best man?”
“Only to prove to everybody how supportive I am of this stupid wedding. Hey, don’t you usually do some sort of canoe trip with the youth group about this time?”
“Dude, you can’t miss your brother’s wedding.”
“What time do we leave?”
Rick laughed. “It’s actually not until Monday. It’s only a day trip, so we’re leaving at the butt crack of dawn. But I’m sure you’ve got things going on all weekend with the wedding that you are absolutely not missing.”
Zach ran a hand over his short beard. “I’ve got the rehearsal dinner tomorrow tonight, the wedding Saturday, but nothing past Sunday.” Other than a family brunch he’d love to avoid. “C’mon, man. I love canoe trips. Plus you know the butt crack of dawn is my thing.”
“If ever you had a thing, it certainly is that. Well, I mean, if you’re sure then.”
“As sure as a heart attack.”
“Don’t think the expression works like that, but I’ll take it. The good Lord knows I can always use an extra set of eyes when it comes to teenagers. Usually Sophia Carter tags along, but she’s got a work conflict. I’m about to the point of begging Charlotte, if that tells you something.”
Zach gripped the steering wheel and stared out the front window. “Charlotte? As in . . .” He almost said Ben’s Charlotte. But she wasn’t Ben’s Charlotte anymore, was she? Hadn’t been for two years. Not since his brother had called off the wedding. “So she’s still around, is she?”
