Page 27 of The Romantic Agenda
“Yeah. He’s asleep so nowisthe perfect time. I just thought we would make it together.” Summer glances at Malcolm. “Well, Joy would make it and I’d keep her company.”
Not wanting to have another eye battle with Malcolm, Joy sighs theatrically. “Go. Do your outdoorsy thing. Betty Crocker worked alone and so do I.”
Betty Crocker isn’t even a real person. Not that they know that.
“Now I really can’t leave.” Summer pouts.
“You really can.” Joy queues up her baking playlist. “Now. Get out.”
Malcolm walks around the counter and kisses Joy’s temple before he goes. “Come on, Summer.” He wraps an arm around her shoulder.
The key to making a good cake is to sing to it. Just like plants, cakes appreciate positive encouragement. It’s not long before Joy loses herself again—just her, the music, and the cake batter. Nearly forty minutes pass before she finishes weighing the lastpan, making sure it has the perfect amount of batter, so each layer comes out even. She slides the cakes into the preheated oven, making sure again they’re the perfect distance apart. She closes the door, turns around, and almost jumps out of her skin.
“Fox!” she shouts. “Don’t do that! You can’t just sneak up on people in a kitchen full of knives. Make a noise or something!”
He’s standing near the island and turns her music down before saying, “You were going to stab me?”
“I was going to defend myself,” she says. “I’ve never been here before. There could be serial killers running around for all I know. That’s how it happens. That’s how they get you. Take the strangers out and no one will notice they’re missing until it’s too late.”
“You watch a lot of horror movies?”
Yes.“Maybe. You think that boat showed up today out of the kindness of their nosy hearts? They’re planning something, and I don’t think it’s some innocent party.”
“Hmm.” He sits on one of the gray stools in front of her. “We need to talk.”
“Maybe.” Joy creates a pile of her dirty dishes and walks them to the sink. “I’m still deciding if I believe you or not.”
“Because I don’t have proof?” Fox scoffs. “What would I gain from lying to you?”
“You tell me. You’re the potential lying liar.”
“Can you at least admit that it’s strange we’re both here? I had no idea you were coming. Malcolm asked Summer, then she asked me, and I couldn’t figure out why until I saw you today. She even said, ‘Maybe you can spend time with her while I’m with Malcolm.’ ”
A wildfire begins to rage in the back of Joy’s brain.Stay cool. Stay calm. It’s not his fault.She turns on the tap and quickly washeseverything, setting the clean dishes onto the drying rack. After wiping her hands, she leans against the sink, watching Fox from across the room.Stay cool. Stay calm. It’s not his fault.“Malcolm said she invited you because it’s your birthday and you two had plans.”
“We did, but she could have canceled them.”
Joy nods, biting her lip. “He asked me to keep you company so he could spend time alone with Summer without you getting in the way. I didn’t think anything of it. I don’t think he did either.”
“I guess we can agree to disagree on that. Doesn’t change that somethingishappening around us. And that something is trying to push us together.”
“What’s your story, then? No fair you’ve got my number and you haven’t given me yours.”
“I don’t have a number.”
“Lying liar.”
“Only that time.” Fox’s amused half-grin barely lasts two seconds and it stuns the shit out of Joy. She flinches from the force of it, eyebrows leaping without her consent. It’s undoubtedly sexist to ask someone to smile, butoof. Finding out what kind of jokes he likes magically shoots to the top of her to-do list. “Summer and I used to date. We decided we’d be better off as friends.”
“ ‘We’? Or she?” Joy asks, knowing she won’t get an answer. And she doesn’t. “I get it.”
“You do?”
“Two strangers, both alike in dignity, and in love with our best friends who are interested in each other.” Joy takes the seat on his left. There’s no harm in being honest with him. “Not to bare my soul a smooth four hours after meeting you, but this is old hat for me. His partners come and I’m still here when they go.”
“Here waiting?”
“Not exactly. Things... changed for me this past year. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being friends with someone you may or may not be in love with as long as you don’t expect anything in return. My love for Malcolm isn’t conditional. I just haven’t figured out a way to be honest with him about things yet.”
