“I wasn’t popular in middle school or high school. People called me egghead, humorless, ugly—you name it,” she went on.
Hard to believe. “No way,” he said, frowning.
“It’s true. I had a lot on my shoulders with taking care of my sister, cleaning house and staying on top of my homework, and I guess I was an easy person to make fun of.”
She paused to sip water, and he imagined her as a young girl being saddled with responsibilities no kid ought to be carrying. He understood—he and especially his sister had been in a similar position.
Vi continued. “Things changed some when I went to college. My junior year, I met this guy, Devin. He worked on the grounds crew and wasn’t a student. He was good-looking and sweet and built, and he was interested in me. Not one of the other prettier girls he could’ve chosen, me. I was surprised and flattered. We started seeing a lot of each other.”
She paused and stabbed a bite of cake, but set the fork back down. “This is boring, huh?”
Wanting to hear the rest of the story, Blake shook his head. “Not at all. Please, go on.”
“I fell for him hard. Things were good for a while, but then he changed. He borrowed money from me several times. I didn’t have much to spare, but he was in a bind so I helped out.” Her face clouded. “Cutting to the bottom line, I saw him kissing another girl. When I confronted him, he didn’t apologize or try to defend himself, just headed for the door. I asked him to pay me back the money I loaned him. He didn’t. After that, we avoided each other.”
“So he borrows money and doesn’t pay you back, and cheats on you, too?” Blake wanted to punch the guy. His hands curled into fists. “Sounds like a real ass.”
“Times ten. He ripped my heart in half.” She fiddled with a leftover fry. “Ever since, I’ve steered clear of getting involved with certain men.”
“Such as?”
“I don’t want to talk about that. Let’s dig into the cake, okay?” She finally tasted what she’d forked. “This is delicious.” After a moment, she added, “Anyway, last night triggered me.”
The bite Blake had popped into his mouth lost its flavor. He was astounded. Did she think he was like that grounds crew jerk? “Comparing me with a liar and a cheat is insulting. In the first place, I’d never borrow money from you. Even if I did, I’d pay you right back. For the record, I don’t cheat or flit from woman to woman. That’s not who I am. Sure I date, but if we’re not a good match and things don’t work out after a few dates, we go our separate ways. I don’t jump into bed with everyone I go out with, either.” He met her gaze straight on so she’d know he meant it.
“Daisy thought you were a good match. She proposed to you.”
Should’ve explained that earlier. “During the six or so weeks we dated, I never led her on. I kissed her goodnight the first few times we went out, but there was no chemistry. I was ready to call it quits and was going to tell her over dinner the same night she proposed in the parking lot. She wanted a man to take care of her and thought I fit the bill. It shocked me. We never talked about anything close to marriage, let alone dating each other exclusively. That’s God’s honest truth.”
“I never imagined… Thanks for setting me straight.”
The apology helped. “What happened to Devin?”
“I haven’t kept track, but Carmie has. According to her, he lives here in town, has been divorced three times and works as a day laborer at some roofing company around here. I rarely think about him.”
“But you did last night.” Man, that bothered him.
She grimaced and nodded. “Now you know.”
But he didn’t, not really, and was deeply offended. Too much so to hang around with her and talk anymore. He stood, pulledhis wallet out of his pocket and laid a couple of bills on the table. “Time for me to go.”
Vi drove home in turmoil.It was obvious her story had upset Blake. She hadn’t liked talking about it, but now it was out in the open. All of it except for the humiliating way she’d begged him to stay. Only Carmie knew about that. Vi wanted nothing more than to move on and think about other things. Like Rose coming home tonight and work Monday and Gran and Malcom, but her mind refused to cooperate.
She hated how she and Blake had parted ways, with him all tense and her feeling icky as she always did when she thought about the past. She was about halfway home when her Bluetooth signaled a call from Rose. “Hey, you,” she said, happy to have something to take her mind off him. “What time do you get home tonight?”
“I just landed. Peter said he’d pick me up, but he’s at a medical conference in San Francisco to give a talk about a surgery of some kind. He was supposed to arrive about the same time as me, but he texted seconds before my flight took off and let me know he won’t be home till tomorrow night.”
Vi couldn’t tell if that was good or bad. “So you’re going home to an empty house.”
“Once I get there. It’s a three-hour drive from SeaTac airport home, but at least I won’t be the one driving. The person behind the wheel will make good money. After a week apart, I was looking forward to seeing Peter. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised. This happens a lot at medical conferences.”
Having never been to one, Vi had no idea about that kind of thing. “That’s a shame.”
“As you always used to say about stuff we couldn’t change, it is what it is, right? I’ll pour myself a glass of wine, take a nice, long soak in the tub and catch up on one of the shows I missed while I was gone.”
“Were you sorry to leave the spa?”
“Yes, and I’ve already decided to go back again next year. Have you thought anymore about joining me?”
