The direct route to the restaurant required passing the vet’s office. To keep her goal of distraction, she took the long way that stopped her at three traffic lights. Although she’d left with time to spare, she drove into Ayli Pizza ten minutes after the decided time. She spotted Aaron waiting on a bench outside, staring at his phone.
She approached him from the side. “Sorry, I’m late.”
When he looked up and saw her, a smile transformed his face. He stood and slipped his phone in his pocket. “No problem. You gave the lunch rush time to die down.”
“You said you work near here?”
“At the Dell-Foster Insurance Building. I’m a claims adjuster.”
She caught herself staring at him. “That’s not what I expected.”
His lips curled to a smirk. “How so?”
“You don’t strike me as the sort to sit behind a desk all day.”
He chuckled as he held the door open. “I’m not, but I’m not at a desk as much as people assume. Most of my job is hands on.”
“I’d go crazy sitting all day. Administrative tasks are my weakness.” She passed through the opening and waited for him. “Fortunately, I have an amazing assistant who covers me on that end.”
“What do you do?”
“I’m the director at Hope House, which means I do a bit of everything. One day I’m preparing a resident for a job interview, and the next I’m cleaning a bathroom. There’s never a dull moment.”
“How long have you been there?” He stepped up to the counter and stood behind the one customer ahead of them.
“Three years.” A wave of homesickness swept over her. “I almost didn’t take the job because I didn’t want to leave my friends and family, but I’ve never regretted it. My job is demanding but fulfilling in ways I never expected.”
“You’re not from here?”
She shook her head. “California, born and raised. I grew up in a small town in the Mojave Desert.”
“I thought I detected an accent.” The curiosity in his eyes grew. “How’d you end up all the way out here?”
“Long story.”
“We’ve got time.”
The worker behind the counter cleared her throat. “Crust type?”
“Parmesan herb,” she answered, then glanced at Aaron. “I’ll tell you after we order.”
She moved down the line, ordering her pizza with garlic sauce, shredded provolone, mushrooms, bell pepper, and onion. Once Aaron had his created with loads of meat, they took a metal marker with17on it, filled their cups, and found a table.
The modern circular chairs didn’t earn any points for comfort, but they were lightweight and moved easily under her when she slid forward to close the gap between her and the table. “I love the smell of pizza parlors.”
“Me too.” He removed the paper cover from his straw. “The church I grew up in had one next door. Every Sunday, we’d walk out of service and smell the fresh dough baking and sauce simmering.”
“Did you eat there often?”
“If my brothers and I were good, then my parents would take us for lunch the last Sunday of every month.” His lips twitched. “But of course, being boys, we only made it every other month, even then, it was grace on my parents’ part.”
“A precocious crew?”
“You could say that. There are four of us, born less than five years apart. It didn’t take much to get us wound up. I have one sister, too, but she never caused trouble.”
She couldn’t hold back a smile. “My brother and I were the same way, except our younger sister was a goody-two-shoes as a child and never let us get away with anything. She constantly told on us for the least infraction.”
“That stinks, but I bet it kept you out of lots of trouble.” His head swayed in a deliberate back and forth motion. “Sometimes I wonder how my brothers and I made it to adulthood. I’m sure my parents’ prayers had much to do with it.”
