Jordy heads off to the food court’s trash receptacles while Spencer and I make our way toward the exit. Jordy ate at a sloth’s pace again, so by the time she was finished, we were all deep in conversation and time flew by without any of us seeming to notice.
As we sat together at that small table, I tried hard not to stare at Spencer. Even though he’s dressed more casually today, in dark jeans and a forest green pullover, he still looks more put together than almost anyone I know. Put togetherandridiculously handsome. It was an effort to keep my grin reined in when it wanted to burst free every time I glanced in Spencer’s direction or he opened his mouth to speak.
What are the odds we’d see each other again this soon? When he spotted us in the food court, he could have kept walking, and I might not even have noticed him. I’m trying not to overthink what that means, knowing it might not mean anything at all other than Spencer is polite.
“Keys,” Jordy says, appearing beside me and holding her hand out.
“Did you get a driver’s license and forget to mention it?”
She rolls her eyes. “I don’t want todrive, I just want to go sit in the car and give you two a minute to say goodbye.”
“Oh.” Heat creeps up my neck and into my cheeks. I can’t bring myself to look at Spencer for his reaction.
“Keys?” Jordy says again, wiggling her fingers.
I dig them out of my purse and hand them over without a word. Jordy pockets them before holding out her fist to bump with Spencer again. It’s no less funny than it was the first time.
“Thanks for the ice cream,” she says. “You should come by the center sometime and let Hollie put you to work. I can supervise and then we can all have tea and crumpets or whatever in her office.”
Spencer chuckles softly. “I’d like that.”
Jordy darts ahead of us and disappears. Spencer and I continue our meandering pace toward the exit.
“You don’t have any parcels?” he asks. “You said earlier you were shopping.”
“They’re already in the car.”
“Ahh.”
Silence falls between us as we approach the doors. Without our teenage girl buffer, neither of us seem to know what to say. We never had trouble coming up with things to talk about when we were chatting on LoveLinks. I suppose the difference then was that we were purposely getting to know each other and now we’re…well, I’m not sure what we are.
I’m scrambling for something—anything—to say when Spencer says, “Jordy said you were shopping for the center? Is that something you do often? I just realized I’m not exactly sure what you do at Belle Vie.”
A tiny fraction of tension eases from my shoulders. This is good. I can talk about work. In fact, Ilovetalking about work.
“My job is technically Executive Manager, but I end up doing bits and pieces of everything. Some people think it’s strange when I tell them that, but it’s fun for me because every day brings something different. Some days I’m doing event coordination and fundraising, while other days I might be stocking shelves, handling deliveries, sorting through donations, working with suppliers and corporate donors, or assembling food boxes for delivery.
“This year I’m heading the Holiday Sharing Program. Families in need fill out a survey letting us know a bit about their family, what their plans for the holidays are, if there are children in the household, stuff like that. Based on their answers, we put together a hamper that includes a special holiday dinner, some general food staples, and a few fun extras to make it feel special, like Christmas crackers, fancy napkins, that sort of thing. Each child enrolled in the program gets age-appropriate gifts; some of them are donated by people in the community, and some are bought with donations specifically allocated to the program.”
“That’s incredible,” Spencer says. “It sounds like quite the undertaking.”
“It is. Every year, more and more families sign up. It breaks my heart to know there are so many struggling families in the community, but at the same time, it’s heartening to see the number of people donating and volunteering. Sometimes it feels like it’s never enough, but we do our best.”
We’ve reached my car now. Jordy is in the passenger seat, listening to music. She turns the volume up when she spots us, shooting me a mischievous grin through the window.
“Where are you parked?” I ask Spencer, only now noticing my car is one of a few left in this section of the lot.
Spencer shifts on his feet and jams his hands in his coat pockets. “Oh, I…I’m parked on the other side of the mall.”
I sputter out a laugh. “The other side of the mall? Why didn’t you say anything?”
He lifts his shoulders, shifting around some more. His cheeks are turning the slightest bit pink, and I have a feeling it’s not only from the nip in the air. “I wasn’t ready to say goodbye quite yet.”
That wasn’t the response I was expecting. I thought maybe he’d say something about it being dark out and he wanted to make sure I got to my car safely, even though the parking lot is well lit and Jordy came out on her own before us. I’m not sure how to take his admission, especially considering the way we left things yesterday at the diner.
“I suppose I should make my way around the mall,” he says.
“I could drive you.”
