Audrey didn’t say anything, she just followed him into the kitchen. She took one of the stools at the bar and stared at the shelves against the opposite wall.
“What are those?” she asked when he brought a glass of wine to her.
“Those are my Raiders helmets,” he said. “They actually belong in my game room but it’s not ready yet, so I display them up here.”
“I see,” she said before she took a huge sip of her wine.
Rune frowned. “Why? Is there something wrong with them?”
“Just not what I expected,” she said, drinking more wine.
He wanted to ask her what she meant, but the timer he’d set started to chime.
“Hold that thought,” he said, going over to the stove.
He turned off the timer, grabbed a hot pad, and pulled the potatoes out of the oven. He put the sheet pan on a couple of trivets on the counter. Rune turned the heat off under the chicken and lifted the lid.
A fragrant cloud of steam billowed from the pan, and he smiled. He looked over at Audrey and found her with her phone to her ear.
“Is something wrong?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she said, her tone apologetic. “My friend just texted me a 9-1-1. I’m calling her to see what’s wrong.”
He could hear the line ringing on the other end and a female voice answer, “Audrey, is that you?”
“Yes, it’s me. What’s wrong?”
“I need you to come pick me up. My car broke down and the tow truck can’t get here for at least an hour, and I have a really important dinner meeting to get to. I know you have a date tonight, but there’s no one else I can call.”
“Of course,” Audrey said. “I’ll be right there.” She got to her feet and picked up her bag. She hung up and tucked her phone back into her purse.
“I’m very sorry, Rune. I’ve got to go help my friend.”
“Of course,” he said, hiding his disappointment. “Do you want me to come with you?”
“No, no, that’s not necessary,” she said.
He followed her to the front door and walked her to her car. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said.
“Okay,” she said. Then, without even a good-bye kiss, she climbed into her car, backed out of the driveway, and drove off.
Rune frowned. He was both frustrated and confused.
She’d seemed genuinely happy to see him when she came in, but then she couldn’t seem to wait to leave. Something didn’t sit right with him, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. She’d even seemed really interested in his decorating scheme, which he hadn’t expected. The few women he’d invited over hadn’t seemed to care.
Rune stood in the driveway for a few moments before he went back inside and picked up her wineglass. It was empty. He set it in the sink and grabbed his own glass and the wine bottle, carrying them both out on his front porch.
His neighbor, Clay, was walking out to his mailbox and saw him, lifting a hand in a wave.
“Hey, Clay,” he said, waving back.
The troll crossed his driveway and came up on his porch. “Evenin’, Rune,” he rumbled in a deep voice. “Was that Audrey I saw tearing out of here in her car?”
“Yeah,” Rune answered with a sigh before he drained his wineglass. “There go my hopes for a special night.”
Clay grunted and sat down in one of the rocking chairs on Rune’s porch. Rocking chairs that he’d made.
“Emergency?” he asked.
