Betwixt Two Hearts (Crossroads Collection)

by Amanda Tru

  “Sure, but—”

  “Be right back.” Selby dashed across the room before Camille had even made it out the door.

  “I tried…” Heath groaned and faceplanted into the table. “I just realized something.”

  This would not be good. “What’s that?”

  “I talk to the animals that way. Tell them what their fellow critters do when they’re nervous or happy.”

  You just made this a million times harder. A glance back at Kevin showed the guy concerned but uncertain. Selby grabbed Heath’s hand and dragged him to their table. “I want you to meet Kevin. Kevin, this is my brother, Heath.”

  Heath shook hands and winced. “You saw that?”

  “Not much of it, but I got the gist. Sorry, man.”

  “Kevin said he’d take me home if you want to go.” The look on Heath’s face. She snickered. “And I know how to use public transportation if I feel even the tiniest bit uneasy.”

  “Not good enough. Text me. I’ll get you an Uber.”

  “I officially like you.”

  Selby and Heath stared at Kevin. Selby found her voice first. “Why?”

  “Doesn’t trust the strange guy. I like it. And I’ll be happy to get the Uber.”

  “Rather not, but thanks.” Heath just looked at Kevin.

  Kevin nodded. “I get it. That’s fine.”

  “Okay…” Selby folded her arms over her chest and eyed both guys. “This testosterone match is now over. The estrogen wins.” She turned to Heath. “Go away. I love you, but go. Drown your sorrows in some mint chocolate chip.” To Kevin, she added, “If you’re going to side with him about these things, it will put a damper on our relationship.”

  Kevin promptly sat down, leaned back in his chair and thumbed his nose at Heath. “Sorry, man. Gorgeous girl with a killer sense of humor trumps brother. Every time.”

  And so begins one successful date….

  “See you later, kid.” And with that, Heath turned away.

  She watched him leave with a heavy heart. “He’s so amazing, but at this rate, no woman is ever going to get a chance to see it.”

  Kevin took a swig of hot chocolate as if it had been a frothy glass of beer and wiped his lip with the back of his hand. “Let’s do something about it, then. We’re ‘burnin’ daylight.’”

  “John Wayne, but I don’t remember which one. And there’s just one problem with that.”

  He gave her a half-quirked eyebrow as a question.

  “It’s nighttime.”

  Dressed and ready for work and oatmeal “cooking” before him, Heath scrolled through emails, messages, text notifications, and just about anything else to avoid opening the Betwixt app. The message had popped up when he awoke. “You have one new message from Camille.”

  Instead of reading it, he went back to a text message from his best friend, Dan.

  Dan: Home tomorrow. What’s up with the dates? Any better with Selby’s crazy idea?

  That was an easy response.

  Heath: No.

  He couldn’t leave it there, so Heath shot back a bit more.

  Heath: Just about to read a message from last night’s date. I think it’s going to be brutal.

  Silly as it might be, once he’d said he was going to read, he had to read. Heath clicked open the app and tapped the “View my message” button. One swipe of his thumb showed the whole message. Knowing it would be bad didn’t buffer the punch to his gut.

  I just thought you should see the review I left. Maybe it’ll help you interact better some other woman. Meanwhile, don’t contact me again. I am not interested.

  The review followed.

  Worst date of my life. It lasted about ten minutes maximum. I’m sure Heath is a nice guy, but if he thinks I care that barn owls are more monogamous than humans, he’s got another THINK coming. He’s got the social skills of a monkey, but don’t ask him about them. He could probably bore you with stupid information about them for hours, too.

  Then again, it could be worse. She did say he was probably nice. “I’ll take that, I guess.” He didn’t know if Brittney had left a review yet, but since they didn’t get to see reviews, he’d never know.

  He clicked on the next notification and there it was. A message from his next match. Mary. Before Selby came out and stopped him, Heath zipped Mary a message.

  Heath: Please see the attached copy of a review posted this morning. It is not an unfair review. I did get nervous and babbled about random facts. It is a nervous habit and an occupational hazard.

  That’s all he could do. If she agreed, he’d go. He’d promised to try. I’ll keep that promise, and I’ll do my best, but I don’t have to want to.

  Selby stumbled out with hair floating around her head in a static ball that looked a little too much like an electrical experiment gone wrong. “Hey… can you give me a ride to school if I’m ready when you are? I want to do some studying in my spot before class.”

  “Does Kevin know your secret place?”

  “Nope.”

  “That is strangely reassuring and just a little heartbreaking at the same time.” An absent kiss on his head. She was worried about something. “You okay, kid?”

  Not until she’d spread cream cheese on a bagel and popped it in the microwave for seventeen seconds—she’d experimented second by second until she got it right, of course—and settled into her chair beside him did Selby answer. “Saw your message to Mary.”

  Why did I tell her she could read it all anytime she wanted?

  “You said you’d try.”

  Ouch. “Look, kid. I’m giving it everything I have. I did better with Whitney, remember? I’m just not going to take advantage of someone, either. She needs to know.”

  “I suppose…” She’d taken a third bite of her bagel before she reached into her robe, pulled out her phone and tapped the screen. “Read that.”

  The message—from Kevin, of course—had been left in half movie quotes. “Are these all quotes and I just missed half or…?”

  “About half, I think.” She plopped both elbows on the table and rested her chin in her hands. “What do you think? Should I do a real date? What about school? I can’t get distracted.”

  That he laughed at. “You already are. At least this guy is a tutor. If you need help…”

  “Very funny. I don’t know… I like him…”

  Something niggled in his mind, and it took Heath several seconds to pinpoint what. “Do you like him because he knows as many movies as you do or because he looks like Johanny?”

  “Both… and more. I mostly like him because I like his humor. That’s why his movie quotes are so great. He knows how to use them. You know?”

  “Then get to know him better. Humor is a start,” Heath admitted. “It’s just not enough to put a foundation on.”

  His phone dinged before she could respond. A heart. He tapped, and a message from Mary appeared.

  Mary: I’ll admit that review does bother me a little. If you’d be willing to meet in person in a public place, I think that would be best. Tomorrow night at Starbucks on Lincoln?

  Two dates—just two on Selby’s new plan, and he was done. Only the fact that he’d promised made him send back a simple agreement with an assurance that he looked forward to meeting her. “I have a date with Mary tomorrow.”

  “She didn’t back out? Yay!” The bagel dropped to the plate as Selby jumped up to hug him. “I’m going to go get dressed. I’ll buy us Starbucks on the way.”

  “Thanks, but no. Having that tomorrow night.”

  “Want Kevin and me to come?”

  The words came out so naturally… as if they’d been a couple for years. How do you do that?

  He hadn’t spoken aloud. Heath knew it. Still, Selby turned to meet his gaze. She held it for several seconds and sighed. “You put so much of yourself into these things. It’s because you care so much that you do this—make it more important than it needs to be. That’s why you get so nervous.” She hugged him once mor
e, and as she squeezed him tight, she whispered, “That’s why the girl who is willing to get to see the guy behind the dung beetles, chimps, bladders, and barn owls… that girl is going to be the most blessed woman on the planet.”

  The Fairbury radio station gave out prizes every day of the week—some gifts from local businesses, others came from places that were pretty pricey. Things like Rockland Symphony tickets and overnights in New Cheltenham right along with dinners at Marcello’s and The Coventry. Usually, you knew before you called in, but that fourth week of January, they had “grab bag” week.

  As usual, Jordan tuned in, ready to try to win. Twice she’d succeeded, giving one of her clients a spa treatment at the salon and another a month’s worth of yoga classes. Monday’s sur-prize had been a dinner theater, which buoyed her hopes for fun Valentine’s ideas for her married clients who just didn’t get out without inducement.”

  “Hey, hey, hey! It’s time for the daily giveaway. Today’s is a great one. We had to work to secure this one. So, get your calls in. Today’s lucky number is fourteen.”

  She’d tapped the call button on “great one.”

  A voice on the other end asked her to hold. I won. Yaaassss!

  Sure enough, in seconds, Drew Anderson came on the line. “Hey, welcome to The Morning Brew. Who’s our lucky winner?”

  “Hey, Drew. It’s Jordan Aylward. What’ve you got for one of my clients today.”

  He picked up on her attempted deflection. “Wow! We’ve got a treat today folks. Jordan Aylward has won a few times now. She takes the prizes and gives them to Fairbury’s senior citizens. Well, today’s a fun one. I don’t know who you have in mind, but you’ve just won two tickets to the Whitgate Valentine’s Ball!”

  Jordan fumbled with an appropriately grateful response as she scrambled through every name she could think of. Not one of her clients would want to go to that ball. Oh, great. Now what? Can you scalp ball tickets? Is that a thing?

  “—think we should try to talk Jordan into keeping these herself. After all, she should get something for all the hard work she does. And she calls in every day, folks. Every one. Let’s get a few people on the line and see what they think. Jordan, you give Marie your contact information again for our records and congratulations.”

  Marie didn’t need her info. By the time the call had been transferred, Marie had it all set up. “Just stop in for your tickets anytime, and Drew’s right. Keep these for yourself.”

  The radio kept humming with callers agreeing with Drew… all the way to Verna McKay’s house. Verna had heard, too. “He’s right, you know. You should take your young man and go.”

  “I’d do it, too. If I had a ‘young man.’ I don’t.”

  “Well, then there’s something wrong with the idiots in this town.” The woman shuffled back toward her recliner where she’d sit all day if Jordan let her. “I never did see why God made such interesting creatures as men have so little sense.”

  You and me both. Agreeing aloud would likely start an avalanche of unsavory comments about men in general. I can’t help but wonder why you want me to have a “young man’ if you think they’re so useless.

  “If we didn’t need them, I’d say let them die off and call it an improvement.”

  Just as Verna reached for the remote, Jordan pounced. “You promised you’d show me how to make that cobbler.” She held up the tote bag of ingredients. “I brought everything you said.”

  “I’ll just rest a spell first.”

  “No way.” Jordan moved in to steer Verna toward the kitchen. “I know you. You’ll pretend to sleep all afternoon, and I’ll never learn how to bake my way into any guy’s heart.”

  No one had told her that manipulation would become one of the top skills she’d need as a caregiver. Second only to it: negotiation. “I’ll even make you one of my fried roast beef sandwiches.”

  “You drive a hard but tasty bargain.”

  I do at that…

  She’d just measured out the two and a half cups of flour Verna demanded when the old gal asked, “So… how’s old Arnie, anyway?”

  You have got to be kidding me.

  The call came in just as Heath had shut down for the day. He had an hour to get something to eat and make it to Starbucks for the date, and now Ann wanted to see him, which unnerved him more than he cared to admit. There’s something wrong with not knowing why your boss wants to see you—personal or work. Especially when the personal isn’t… well, personal.

  A new guy sat in the assistant’s chair. “Hi… I’m Heath…”

  “Karras, of course. Ann is waiting for you.”

  “And you are?”

  “Oh, sorry. Michael. I’ll be taking over. Sarah left for a job in Chicago.”

  “Lincoln Park?”

  Michael shook his head. “Candy company. That’s all I know.” He gestured to the door. “Ann’s waiting, and she has a six o’clock appointment downtown, so you might want to hurry.”

  It was almost six o’clock now. He’d do better than that. Heath stepped into the office to find Ann pulling on her coat. At the sight of him, she dropped into her chair. “Okay, we need to make this fast. First—”

  “Why don’t you tell me on the way to your car?”

  Relief flooded her features. “Promoting you was the best idea ever. Okay, let’s go.”

  Two okays in a row. Interesting…

  “First, we need to deal with the Valentine fundraiser. Almost everything is in motion, thank go—oodness, but I need you to have your assistant follow up on everything I send over tonight. We also need more ticket sales. Only sixty percent are sold. With three weeks to go, that’s not enough. We need eighty percent by next Friday at the latest. Without eighty percent, we lose money.”

  He didn’t miss the switch to goodness and decided he’d do what he could to show his appreciation. Then the numbers hit him. “Wait, we have to sell eighty percent of tickets at a hundred dollars a ticket just to break even?”

  “It’s an expensive event.”

  “So, all that money for what, four thousand dollars?”

  Ann dismissed his dismay. “We’ll make so much more in donations and the auctions. But we need to meet that budget or the board won’t let us do another one. Also, I’d like to get costs down to sixty percent next year. That’ll be one of the best ways to show the board that you’re the man for us.”

  They’d made it to the employee parking garage before Ann added, “Oh, and you know that red panda we had a shot at?”

  His heart pounded at something he heard in her tone. “Yes…”

  “I’ve got the approval to use this year’s fundraising on it. So, let’s get this thing rolling.”

  “Wow. Okay.”

  She stopped in the middle of the structure and stared at him. “You’ll learn this about me, Heath. I fight for my people. I get them what they need and what they want. But I also expect them to give me everything they’ve got in return.”

  “I will. Definitely. Can I give a couple of tickets away?”

  “Sure. There are a few good Rockland area blogs and radio stations—TV. Hey… radio. Jordan has won tickets a few times from the Fairbury station. Maybe that’s a good place to do it.” As if she hadn’t stopped, Ann began her brisk walk to her car. “Oh, and do you have a date yet?”

  “No… but if my sister gets her way, this app might have someone willing to suffer through a night with me. Hey… it’s at a zoo. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if I went off on a factoid tangent.”

  “App…?”

  He hadn’t told her? Heath thought he had. “It’s this thing my sister set up. Some website to match compatible people. I promised I’d do it if I didn’t find someone, and after Jordan left that night, well… I couldn’t back out.”

  “How many dates?”

  “My third is tonight.”

  She reached her car, tossed the laptop case in the back, threw her purse in the passenger seat, and slid in behind the wheel. Her window rolled dow
n, even as she pulled the door shut. “What’s the app? I’d hate to find out you’ve been had.”

  “It’s legitimate. And they’re setting me up with not-too-compatibles at first. Something Selby arranged. She’s got an in through a friend of a friend.”

  “App…”

  He swallowed hard. “Betwixt-2—like the number two—hearts-dot-com.”

  “I’ll check it out. When are you contacting Jordan again?”

  You’re nervous! You want Jordan to like me. Creepy or cool…?

  “I don’t have all day, Heath. I’m late. And we need this donor at the gala.”

  “Sorry. Tomorrow night. They’re doing a good series on Romans at Brunswick, so I think I’ll go there and then head over to Fairbury to watch and see if she takes the bait again.”

  “More coffee?”

  He swallowed. Did you tell your secret admiree’s mom what you had planned? Ann’s drumming fingers answered. You do if she’s your boss. Heath cleared his throat. “Well, I was going to go with pie at The Diner. Do you know her favorite?”

  “She loves the cherry pie there.” Ann’s agitated expression softened. “You’re a nice man, Heath. I hope you get past this. For both your sakes.”

  “You think she’ll like me when I’m not in zoology mode?”

  “I think. Night, Heath.”

  To his disgust, Heath stood there, hands in his pockets, shivering for much too long. Despite the cold attacking his body, the rest of him felt just fine… just fine.

  Perspiration beaded on his forehead, his upper lip, and in places he hoped wouldn’t show. Heath mopped his face with a napkin from a dispenser and relaxed again as the woman who looked like a supermodel version of Mary’s profile picture stepped into Starbucks and made a beeline for a man who looked like the personification of a Ken doll up near the counter.

  A cold blast caught him by surprise. He turned, and there she was—the sweet, wholesome version of Barbie with a chestnut dye job. Much more his speed.

  And it only made everything worse.

  He rose, stuck out his hand to shake hers, and found himself enveloped in a weak but sweet hug. “So nice to meet you.”