Okay.
Ruth turned to face the mirror and looked at the dress she was holding up to her body.
It was, indeed, dark.
"It's comfortable."
"Uhhh... comfortable is nice. I think?"
Ruth looked at the bed where Katie was halfway through another cookie. "You think? Question mark?"
"I..." she pushed the rest of the cookie into her mouth, rounding out her slim cheek. "... don't want to sound... uh, mean, but... when was your last date?"
Ruth felt her cheeks heat again but with shame this time. "A couple of years ago. I tried online dating and went out with my'perfect match.'" She shook her head. "But the picture he used turned out to be his brother's picture from a decade before. His job wasn't even close to what he'd put online. And then he left halfway through and I had to pay the restaurant. I was twenty-nine then."
She watched as Katie did the mental math. "Okay, well," she dropped her hands onto her knees, "I can guarantee that my dad won't make you pay for dinner. I know he's just as nervous as you are."
That stopped Ruth in her tracks halfway to the closet.
She turned and looked at Katie. "He... he's nervous?"
Katie nodded, her eyes alight with glee. "He emptied out his whole closet to find an outfit and in the end, I had to take him shopping for a shirt that didn't look like he was coming straight from the office." She groaned. "It was like pulling nails out with your fingers."
Ruth wasn't sure she'd ever heard that idiom in that particular way.
"Pulling nails out with your fingers?"
Katie nodded. "It sounds terrible, doesn't it?"
Ruth nodded but didn't say anything at the moment. The mental image of bloody torture were beyond her normal comfort level. "I'd say so... when did you hear about that?"
Katie shrugged. "Somewhere. When I went down to one of dad's construction sites, I tried to imagine using my fingers to pull the nails out of the wood." She shuddered. "That's like some kind of horror story!"
Ah... there it was. Not the same thought, but still gross! That would tear someone's nails.
"I'll have to remember to compliment him on the shirt."
Katie nodded. "Positive reinforcement. That's good. Maybe he'll dress hotter now."
Ruth's eyes widened at that idea. She thought he was pretty hot already, but she was not about to say that to Nick's teen daughter.
Was she?
"Katie?"
"Hmm?" Katie looked up at her with a wide-eyed curiosity.
"Do you have classes at school for biology?"
Katie frowned. "Biology? Like earth sciences?"
"Biology is like the study of living organisms."
"Organisms." Katie giggled. "Well, we have general science stuff. Why?"
Ruth bit into the inside of her cheek unsure if she should ask the question and if so... how?
"I was just wondering if you... if you ever need supplies for... you know... your-"
