“Assistant manager, huh?” Sydney said, an impressed look on her face.
“That’s wonderful, honey,” Lucy’s mom added. “Impressive too, since you’ve only worked there a few weeks.”
Lucy smiled. “Yep.” She took a sip of her water. They were waiting for their lunch to be served, and her sister would head back to Santa Rosa after they ate. “It works out perfectly, since it would be a pain to work two part-time jobs.”
Her mom’s expression looked sympathetic, and Lucy brushed it off. She had disappointed her parents by not sticking with college. She continued to be in the proverbial poor house, insisting on living in her own apartment and working to support herself. She wasn’t going to be one of those women living off her parents.
“I’m so happy for you,” Sydney continued, smoothing back her already-smooth gold-blonde hair.
Lucy knew her sister really was happy for her. Sydney’s sincerity was another thing to add to her perfect list. Her sister wore a flirty, red-and-white sundress; her mother wore a linen pantsuit. Lucy felt dowdy in her ancient jeans and a well-washed, V-neck shirt.
“Is your boss nice?” her mom asked.
“I sort of have two bosses,” Lucy said. “Mr. Parks is the original owner, but now his son owns the shop—although they both still work there. The son is trying to get his dad to retire.” She shrugged. “They’re both nice men.”
“How old is the son?” Sydney asked.
Oh no. Lucy shouldn’t have been surprised. Ever since Sydney got engaged to Rian, it was like she’d turned into a matchmaker. “Um . . .” She stalled. “Twenty-seven, I think.”
“Married?”
“No.” Now they were on to the twenty questions part. Lucy decided to pre-empt things. “He’s single, has one sister, is hard-working, is close to his family, and his mom died of cancer a few years ago. The bookstore is pretty much his life. He’s funny, good-looking, runs, and, no . . . I’m not going to date him.”
Sydney laughed, but their mom looked confused.
“You’re in love with your boss?” her mom asked.
Lucy groaned and covered her face. Sydney laughed some more.
“No, Mom,” Lucy said. “I’m a professional, all right? An assistant manager.”
Her mom cast Sydney a questioning look, and Sydney just kept smiling.
“How’s Rian? And how are all the wedding plans going?” Lucy asked Sydney, desperate to change the subject.
Lucy expected a glowing report on how wonderful and amazing Rian was and how the wedding was going to be fantastic with all the perfect little touches. Instead, Sydney’s smile fell.
“Good,” she said, although her voice was hesitant. “We’ve both been so busy lately that we actually have to schedule time to see each other. This weekend has been a sore spot for Rian because I’m here with you guys instead of with him.”
Lucy was speechless. This was the first wrinkle she’d ever heard of, or at least knew of, in her sister’s amazing and perfect relationship with Rian. “Well, you’ll get married soon, and then you can spend all of your nights together.”
“Lucy!” her mom said, as if she’d said something completely shocking.
“It’s true.” Lucy defended her comment. “Plus, we’re all adult women here, right?”
Sydney laughed, but the light was no longer in her eyes. “We are all adult women here. I can’t argue with that. I can’t believe my little sister is an assistant manager. When do I get to come to the store?”
“Any time.” Lucy rattled off the hours.
A mischievous gleam sparked in Sydney’s eyes. “I’d love to meet your boss.”
Lucy knew that her sister was teasing, but the comment worried her. What if Sydney and Rian weren’t the perfect couple after all? What if they broke up? What if Sydney visited the bookstore and caught Adam’s eye? What if . . . Lucy was suddenly feeling very protective of her job and her boss.
“Too bad you have to get back to Santa Rosa and Rian today,” Lucy said.
Sydney lifted her brows; she had gotten the hint. The bookstore and all things about it were Lucy’s territory.
If their mom hadn’t been there, Lucy might have been tempted to tell Sydney more about Adam, but the temptation had quickly faded when Lucy saw Sydney as possible competition.
The waitress brought their food, and Lucy dug into her Chinese chicken salad. Her mom talked about a golf trip she and Dad were planning. The conversation then turned to her little brother, who was getting ready to start his second year in his master’s program.
Lucy let the conversation between her sister and mom buzz around her as she ate. She wondered if Adam knew how much the full-time job meant to her. Not only did it provide a way to keep up on her rent until she found another roommate, but it gave her confidence as well as a purpose. For the first time since she realized she’d have to drop out of college, she felt like perhaps things would turn out fine after all. Because if she hadn’t hit all those dead ends and made so many U-turns, she wouldn’t be where she was today.
When lunch ended, their mom paid—it was no use arguing with her—and they all walked outside together. In the parking lot, Lucy gave her sister a hug.
“I’m proud of you, Sis,” Sydney said then drew back. “And I can’t wait to meet Adam someday.”
Lucy didn’t miss the glint in her sister’s eyes. Somehow, Sydney knew that Lucy had the tiniest of crushes on Adam—something Lucy hadn’t fully admitted to herself. It wasn’t like anything would ever come of it anyway. Adam was her boss. And yes, he’d given her a great job, but amazing things didn’t happen to Lucy. Not like they did for other people.
“Drive safely,” Lucy said, purposely avoiding any more talk about Adam. Her mom’s gaze was already too alert. Lucy walked to her car and climbed in. The bookstore was closed today and she had tomorrow off, though she wished she didn’t. After talking so much about Adam, she kind of wanted to see him again. Soon.
With a sigh, she started her car. Two days sounded like a long time not to see Adam. She wondered what he did all day on Sundays. Did he hang out at the store? Did he do stuff with friends? Go to his dad’s house? Maybe he golfed or did other things she didn’t know about. Maybe he was on a date right this very moment.
By the time Lucy arrived at her apartment, she’d dreamed up an entire life for Adam—a life that included a group of friends, several girls who were half in love with him, and a night life that would rival that of any Seattle socialite.
She spent the next couple of hours organizing her books in her bookcases, then she created another ad on a renters’ website. Only three people had called her all week about her previous ad. One was an older man, the other was a girl who sounded like she was stoned, the third wanted the first month free.
She was back to the drawing board. At least she’d be making more money now, but a roommate would be a huge financial help. She’d never thought she’d be this age with no boyfriend, no husband, no college degree . . . Life had a habit of changing its mind on her. As she shut down her laptop, she looked outside. It was getting cloudy.
Looked like rain. She changed into her yoga pants and curled up on the couch to read an Adriana Trigiani novel. Moments later, her cell phone buzzed with a text, but she wasn’t in a hurry to check it. She assumed it was her mom, fishing for more information. Lucy had no doubt that her mom and sister talked about her before Sydney drove back to Santa Rosa.
Lucy continued to read but was interrupted again by a second text on her phone. She sighed and reached for it. The text was from her mom. It was great to see you, sweetie. Can’t wait to hear more about your job.
Lucy texted back: Thanks for lunch. We’ll talk soon. Then she noticed that the first text wasn’t from her mom. She didn’t recognize the number, but her heart skipped a beat as she read through the message.
It was from . . . Adam.
Have you ever been to the Food Truck Fest in Tacoma? Today’s the final night. –A
Was thi
s an invitation? A conversation starter? Was this a family thing he was inviting her to?
With her pulse drumming, she wrote back, Is this Adam?
Yeah, sorry. I should have made that clear.
Lucy sat up more fully on the couch. I haven’t been to the Fest, but I’ve heard about it. There. Now let him do the clarifying.
Do you want to go with Dad and me?
Ah, there it was. His dad was coming. She’d be the third party. Her chest deflated, but all things considered, she might still have a good time. Or she could stay by herself in her apartment and read.
Is it raining in Tacoma?
A minute went by before he answered. Bring a jacket.
Lucy laughed. Ok. Should I meet you at the store?
We’ll pick you up. Does 4:00 work? What’s your address?
If he had her cell phone from her resume, he certainly had her address. But she played along and texted it to him. Then she realized it was almost three. She had less than an hour to get ready.
She scrambled off the couch, and even though it was probably raining in Tacoma, she jumped in the shower. Apparently, she didn’t care too much about her appearance when she was simply meeting her mom and sister for lunch, but Adam was another story. As she shampooed her hair, she told herself not to let her expectations get too high. Despite Sydney’s implications that Lucy liked Adam, Lucy had to be realistic. Yes, they got along great. Yes, he’d given her a major promotion and pretty much saved her financially. And yes, they were flirty with each other . . . but she knew very little about Adam’s dating past. Maybe he had a girlfriend he hadn’t admitted to, or maybe he was interested in someone. Maybe he had some terrible habits that would be disastrous to a relationship, like never changing his socks.
Even with all those possibilities, she cared about how she looked around him. Maybe it was because he saw her differently than her family did. With her family, it was practically her role to be aimless. With Adam, she was his assistant manager.
After she’d gotten out of the shower and dried off, she stood in front of her pathetic closet, wishing she had the sense of style that her sister did. Or even part of her sister’s budget. Lucy did have a couple of sundresses, but they would be too bare if it was raining. She could always wear the Alice in Wonderland dress. Lucy laughed to herself.
Anything but her standard jeans. Yet she really had no choice. Then she remembered the pale green capris she had in her dresser. She hadn’t worn them in a long time, and she hoped they still fit. She pulled them out and tried them on. Surprisingly, they fit fine, so she took them off and ironed them.
She also ironed a white blouse she rarely wore because it wrinkled so easily. Finally, she grabbed a jacket that she hoped she wouldn’t need. It would only wrinkle the shirt, and the shirt would look horrible if she took the jacket off later.
From her apartment window, Lucy had a good view of the parking lot, so she’d be able to see when Adam and his dad showed up. She was standing at the window when Adam’s truck pulled into the parking lot. She was surprised they hadn’t brought Mr. Parks’s car, since it would probably be more roomy.
Lucy stepped back from the window so she’d be out of sight in case Adam looked up when he climbed out of the truck. He looked up at the building then down at his phone, as if checking the address. As he entered the building, Lucy closed the window blinds then waited for him to knock.
When Lucy opened the door and smiled at Adam, he had the strangest urge to greet her with a hug. But she was his employee, and just because they’d had some heart-to-hearts didn’t mean they were best friends. Besides, Adam didn’t think friendship was why he wanted to hug her.
Lucy was wearing a white blouse and fitted capris that looked great on her. Her hair was down, similar to the way she wore it for her Alice in Wonderland look, but without the headband. He couldn’t decide which way he liked it better. She held a jacket in her hand, and some sort of purse or bag was slung over her shoulder.
He shoved his hands in his pockets before he gave in to his impulse to hug her. “Found you.”
Lucy laughed. “Was my place hard to find?”
He flashed her a smile. “Not really. I’m good at following directions. Hey, my dad backed out. Apparently, he received a phone call from a certain lady who was having a BBQ at her house.”
“So he bailed on the Food Truck Fest?” Lucy asked.
“I hope you don’t mind if it’s just us.” He wasn’t exactly worried, but he didn’t want her to think this had been his plan from the beginning. That would make it sound too much like a . . . date.
She didn’t look disappointed, though. He took that as a good sign.
“That’s fine; more food for us.”
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I thought,” he said.
She stepped out into the hall and locked the door behind her.
“I don’t get the tour?” he teased as they walked down the stairs together.
Lucy glanced over at him, amusement in her brown eyes. “Just know that it’s much better than your storage room. Although I can’t compete with the bookstore portion. I have only three bookcases.”
“That’s too bad,” he said.
Her cheeks dimpled.
He led her to the truck and opened the passenger door for her. When she climbed in, he caught the soft scent of vanilla. Of course. After he shut her door and walked around to the driver’s side, he tried to breathe in a few gulps of air to clear his senses. But once he climbed into the cab of his truck, her scent had already infiltrated the confined space.
Exhaling slowly, he started the truck. “Ready?” he asked, when in truth he was asking himself that question. Maybe he should have cancelled after his dad backed out. Spending this much time with Lucy when not surrounded by the protection of work tasks and bookcases would not be easy on his growing attraction to her.
“How was your lunch today with your mom and sister?” he asked.
“You have a good memory,” Lucy said.
“You told me, what, yesterday?” he said. “Surely I should be able to remember something longer than that.”
She laughed and crossed her legs.
Adam pretended not to notice.
“It was typical,” she said. “Sydney is killing it with her job. They’ve had a record-breaking quarter in software sales. And my mom joined a ladies’ golf club. She’s really getting into golf with my dad now that he’s retired.”
“That’s cool. Do you golf?” Adam asked.
“Um, no, do you?”
“Passably.”
Lucy shook her head. “You’re probably good at everything.”
“Not everything.”
She laughed. “They were impressed with my job promotion, so I have you to thank for that.”
He looked over at her as they stopped at a traffic light. “I should be thanking you. Because of you, my dad will feel comfortable retiring. He really likes you.”
Lucy’s cheeks pinked. “I’m glad. I like your dad, too. He’s a great man.”
Adam nodded. The fact that Lucy liked his dad made Adam happier than he should admit. With the light change, he stepped on the gas pedal. They merged onto the I-5 freeway and headed toward Tacoma.
While they drove, he told her some stories about his college days, and she told him about some of her past jobs—all of which ended in pretty spectacular disasters.
“So, no burning candles at the bookstore?” he asked after she told him about getting fired for burning a candy-cane-scented candle at a used record shop.
“If I’d burned a different scent, I might still be working there,” Lucy said. “It was the Christmas scent my boss was furious about. Apparently, he’s not only atheist but agnostic. Anything having to do with religion or Christmas made him angry.”
Adam shook his head. They’d reached Wright Park, and he maneuvered to park between two small cars. “I feel sorry for a person who has to live his life angry.”
“Me too,” Lucy said s
imply. “Even if you don’t believe in God, you should still be able to accept other people’s differences.”
Adam popped open his door. “Agreed. It looks like the rain is going to hold off.” Although it was overcast, the clouds weren’t threatening. “We can leave the jackets in the truck, then I’ll grab them if it starts to rain.”
“Okay,” she said.
He didn’t know if Lucy would wait for him to come around the front of the truck and open her door for her. But when she did, he suddenly had hope that maybe she . . . was thinking of this as a date? He shouldn’t get his hopes up. But truthfully, if it came to an either-or situation, he wanted her to work at the bookstore, even if it meant not ever telling her that he was very interested in dating her.
They walked to the booth that marked the entrance of the fair. The admission was free, but they were handed a flyer that contained a list of food truck vendors and the scheduled times various bands and musicians were performing.
“This place is hopping,” Lucy said.
Music played from an improvised stage in the center of the park—they must be between band performances. One side of the park had a bunch of kids’ games set up, including a bouncy house and inflated slide, and families had congregated around them. At the opposite end of the park a row of vendor tables displayed everything from handmade jewelry to wood carvings and clothing.
The food trucks were situated in a wide circle around the stage, and the smells coming from them made Adam realize how hungry he was. “Where do you want to go first?”
Lucy shrugged, then smiled up at him. “The food?”
He grinned. “I’m starving.”
“I’m pretty hungry too,” she said. “I don’t usually eat my fill when I go out to lunch with my mom and sister. They eat like birds.”
Adam nudged her with his arm. “I’ll never understand women and their eating habits. If a woman doesn’t eat when I take her on a date, I immediately dump her.”
“Oh, really?” Lucy laughed. “I doubt that.”
“Well, maybe I don’t dump her right away. I might give her another chance or two.”
Falling for Lucy Page 5
