He couldn’t shower until the last possible second because his nervous sweats showed no sign of drying up. Noa had been ignoring his texts all day, and he hadn’t heard a thing from Olivia in twenty-six hours. So, hecalled her.
“Is everything okay?” Liv answered, voice alpha-like.
“Yeah.” He sat down hard on his daybed and had a staring contest with a squirrel on the hummingbird feeder. Greedy jerk.
“Are you sure? You never call anyone. What’s going on?”
He grunted and asked, “Did Noa talk to Fern?”
Clearly stifling a laugh, she confirmed Noa’s mission was a success. “She’s not replying?”
“Nope.”
“I bet she slept in and had to rush to the flower shop. You know how she is with alarms.”
“Did you talk to Janet yet? What did you learn about the sickness?”
Liv didn’t bother to stifle her chortle. “I’m meeting her for coffee tomorrow morning.”
“Dude, you couldn’t ask her on the phone? Text her about it?”
“No. I haven’t gone through it. What if it was the worst thing she’s ever experienced? I figured we should catch up in person before I broach the subject.”
“Fine. Thanks.”
“Is that all you need?”
“Yeah.”
He lowered his phone to hang up, but Liv continued talking. “One more thing...”
“What?” he snapped. “Sorry.”
Blatantly laughing at him, Olivia said, “Fern told Noa, ‘That’s the most romantic shit I’ve ever heard,’ after learning Ben and I are true mates. Bye!”
Elliott’s wide-open mouth morphed into a smile while his bear happily popped his jaw. After ten minutes shuffling around the kitchen, moving the table settings from spot to spot, he gave in and grabbed his phone. Hehadto text her to confirm she was still coming.
Elliott
Hey, dude. Still on for tonight?
Fern
Tonight?
Is four too early or should I wait until later?
Elliott
No, 4’s good
Fern
Kk. Just cleaning up the salon now, showering, and I’ll drive over
What should I wear?
Blinking at the screen, he typed “nothing,” then deleted it. “Something sexy—” Immediately deleted. “Whatever you want.” Bad idea, they were doing ceramics.
