No, Zach. Please don’t dothis.
Beside me, O’Neal whispered something and elbowed me in the ribs. How was he doing this? The man who could barely leave his house on hisown.
Someone poked my hip on the other side. I looked down to catch Jaime Girón’s face and dipped to hear what he had to say—yeah, and also tohide.
“Yes,Jaime?”
“You like that man, MissVeronica?”
I couldn’t answer. The words were too big, too strong to fit in my mouth. I noddedinstead.
“You gonna sayyes?”
I finally managed to whisper. “ShouldI?”
He nodded earnestly, and leaned into my side and I wanted to hug himhard.
I stood and spoke aloud. “What about the school lunch debt from this year?” If I’d thought people were shocked earlier, now they tittered and pointed and overall had a cow, but frankly, I didn’t care. I had eyes only for that man up there. “Did you cover that,too?”
Zach stood there grinning like a four-year-old. “Yes, ma’am. Set up a yearly lunch scholarship fund moving forward,too.”
I bent my head to catch Jaime’s eye. “You think I should doit?”
At his nod, I lifted my head and answered. “Dinner.” I said, loud and smiling, and, God, stupidly happy. “Friday.”
“You’re on,” he responded as the crowd erupted aroundus.
Zach
Maybe a date wasn’tthe best idea in the world—especially since word had apparently gotten around town and basically everybody spent the entire time eavesdropping onus.
Then again, who cared? I was pretty sure I’d never been so happy in my life and it would take more than a couple onlookers to destroy that. Hell, I’d have taken her out in front of that whole school and it would have been worthit.
“You didn’t have to do all this, you know.” Veronica was being very formal. I couldn’t tell if it was for the listeners, or because she just felt that way toward me.Please let it be theformer.
“Yes, Idid.”
“But the illegalactivity—”
“I’m done with that. All of it. I’m a philanthropist now.” I pushed out a shaky breath; even after an hour and a cocktail, I was amess.
“You okay? We can go to your place if youwant.”
“No.” I put a hand on the table and slid it across, palm up. “I’ve spent the last three and a half months working toward thisnight.
“Youhave?”
“Every day, I went out. Walked farther. Down my drive, then the street.” I tilted my head toward where Daisy sat on the floor. “Got this littlelady.”
“She’s a gorgeousdog.”
I leaned in. “Isshe?”
I could hear the smile in Veronica’s voice. “Yeah. she’s almost entirely black, with these brown patches that look a little worn and soft…like the velveteen rabbit orsomething.”
God, I loved this woman. The way she saw things, the way she felt them, her emotions so caught up in her senses that it was like she lived life deeper than everyoneelse.
When she slid her hand into mine, hope swelled inside me, thick and warm as ablanket.
