“He will,” Natalie admitted. “But he was a good teacher, too. And a good coach.”
“This is what he wanted.”
“And heaven knows you want him to have everything he wants,” her friend murmured over a plastic tumbler of watery iced tea. “Just like you do for everyone else you care about. I still say you try too hard to make everyone happy.”
“Yes, well, I’m going to be very selfish when I start grad school in the next year or so. Watching Connor has reminded me of how much work it’s going to be to take classes and tests again. I’m going to have to concentrate entirely on myself while I earn my doctorate.”
Looking skeptical, Natalie crumpled her napkin and tossed it on her plate. “You? Selfish? Yeah, right.”
“Just watch me. You’ll call and want me to go shopping with you and I’ll tell you I can’t. Have to study. Or you’ll want me to give you a lift to the airport and I’ll turn you down flat because I have a paper to write.”
“Hmm.” It was obvious that Natalie didn’t believe a word of her friend’s assertion. Even Mia wondered if she would be able to follow through. She’d always had a hard time with that no word when it came to people she cared about.
“So, about tomorrow night…”
Mia paused in the process of gathering the remains of her lunch onto the brown plastic tray in preparation for carrying it to the conveyor belt that would sweep it back into the kitchen for cleaning. “What about tomorrow night?”
Natalie sighed loudly and rolled her eyes. “Double date? Me and Donnie and you and…uh, Donnie’s friend whose name I’ve forgotten.”
Groaning, Mia sat down again. “I never said I would do that. I said I would think about it.”
“C’mon, Mia, it’ll be great. Donnie’s fun and his friend’s probably fun, too.”
“Probably?”
“Well, I’ve never actually met him. But Donnie says he’s a great guy.”
“And this allegedly great guy needs a date tomorrow night because…?”
“Because he’s new in town and doesn’t know many people yet. We’re just being friendly. You know, welcoming him to town. Southern hospitality—”
“Only extends so far,” Mia muttered.
“I’m not asking you to sleep with him or anything. Just join us for dinner. Maybe a movie or something. How bad could it be?”
“You really want me to answer that?”
“Do it for me, okay? Donnie was really pleased when I said I’d bring someone to meet his friend. You don’t have to see him again if you don’t want to, but at least meet the guy.”
Letting out a gusty breath, Mia nodded. “All right. I’ll meet him.”
Natalie beamed. “Thank you. You’ll see, it will be fun.”
Mia wasn’t so sure. But she hadn’t been able to disappoint her friend.
That was going to change, she promised herself. She really was going to learn to say no. Next year.
Mia was getting ready for her double date the next evening when Connor called. “Didn’t you have another exam today? How did it go?” she asked.
“As hard as I expected. But I think I did okay on both tests this week.”
“I’m sure you did well. When will you know?”
“Middle of next week, I think.”
“Did you get any sleep last night?”
“A few hours,” he said, notably evasive. “But then I came home after the exam and crashed. Just fell facedown in the bed and slept for three solid hours.”