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“Genevieve?” He pretends to think. “I know of her.”
“Then maybe you could introduce me. It’s always more of an ice breaker having you there.”
I shouldn’t be so satisfied with Dad’s obvious squirming. But then, he deserves to squirm a little bit for lying to me.
“Oh, honey, I’d love to, but—” His words get cut off as his phone rings on the phone stand on his dashboard. “Ah, sorry. I’ve got to take this.”
He swipes to answer the call, and Lisa’s voice blares through the speaker.
“Hey, Noah,” she says.
“Hey, Lisa. I’m heading into Town with Jules. You’re on speaker.”
He was quick to clarify that. Like he’s hiding something with his secretary.
A beat of silence passes, then Lisa greets me before addressing Dad again. “I’ve just got a few questions for you.”
“Go for it.”
“First, you’ve received two more magazine subscriptions in your name at Town Hall.”
“More?” he asks, exasperated. He glances at me. “I keep getting random magazines sent to me and can’t figure out how to stop them. Lisa, what are they this time?”
“Mindful Magazine: How to Stay Humble and Retirement’s Digest: the Benefits of Retiring Early.”
Dad sighs. “I guess you can add those to the list to unsubscribe from.”
I look at him curiously. “What are the others?”
“AARP and Crochet World,” he replies.
“Don’t forget Model Railroader and Dental Procedures for the Elderly,” Lisa pipes in.
“Right. It feels pointed, but I guess when you hit a certain age, the advertisers single you out.”
I hide my grin as Dad shakes his head in frustration. This doesn’t sound like random advertisements. It sounds like one of Archer’s pointed pranks.
A conversation ensues about the next budget meeting being held during and after the festival, and since it gives me no hints about Archer or a potential relationship between Dad and Lisa—aside from the occasional giggle from his secretary—my mind wanders as I stare at the distant trees blanketing the fields. The green leaves are finally morphing to yellows, oranges, and reds, and my eyes hungrily take in the sight.
“Right, I’ll get it taken care of,” Lisa says. “Oh, then there’s lunch you had me schedule for you tomorrow. You still on for that?”
“Ah, we might need to change that.”
More silence, then Lisa responds again. “Understood.”
Dad wouldn’t date his secretary. He’s too buttoned-up for that. But if they have some secret understanding between them that they plan to pursue once he leaves office, it wouldn’t surprise me.
We draw closer to town and pull to a stop at the crosswalk to wait for an older couple ambling across the road. Dad’s still deep in conversation, so I absentmindedly observe the couple before looking out my side window again. A rumbling occurs nearby, then a dark gray truck pulls up in the lane next to us.
Speak of the devil.
My stomach lifts, weightless as if I just took a leap off a mountain. I peer up, and sure enough, Archer sits in the driver’s seat. He’s tapping his fingers against the steering wheel, bobbing his head back and forth in time with whatever music he’s listening to.
Pulling my gaze away, I make sure Dad hasn’t seen Archer, then glance back at the cowboy. He looks at me in that same moment, and does a double take.
His instant smile fills my soul, and the dip of his head in greeting sends me into a near fit.
My crush is gone, remember?
