I had to give Fisher credit; he knew how to attract smart, successful women—until me. Well, I was smart, but how much success could I have claimed at eighteen, even if I had enrolled in college courses?
“Take my seat, Fisher. I have to check on Isaac.” Shayla vacated her spot.
Fisher sat next to me with his plate of food and a beer. I force-fed myself, chewing slowly, swallowing hard, and keeping my head down. That day, being eighteen sucked. I hadn’t grown out of my foolish heart. It wasn’t enough for me. Fisher’s attraction to me wasn’t enough. I wanted his heart to be mine and only mine. But maybe that wasn’t how his brain or his heart functioned.
“Fisher, did you bid on that job in Aurora?” Pat asked as he removed his apron and sat down to eat.
Their conversation lasted for a long time. Enough time for me to eat as much as I could and not look like I was tossing half of my food in the trash. When I did take my plate into the kitchen, I also looked for a bathroom—an escape.
“Oh, hey … I was looking for the restroom,” I said to Shayla when she startled me as I turned the corner from the kitchen to the small hallway.
“Isaac is using the restroom. He could be awhile.” She grimaced. “There’s one downstairs.”
“Okay. Thanks.” I pivoted and headed downstairs. Nobody was in the basement filled with furniture, a big TV like the one in Fisher’s basement, a ping-pong table, a wood burning stove, and many collages of photos on the wall. I inspected the photos, smiling at young Fisher and his family that I envied so much.
“I wondered where you went. I was afraid you forgot there are bears and rattlesnakes.”
I glanced back at Fisher. “I was looking for the bathroom, but I got sidetracked with all of your family photos.”
He nodded, looking at me, not the photos. “About tomorrow night—”
“It’s fine, Fisher.” That lie made my chest hurt, but it wasn’t a pain I could show him. “Your family clearly adores Angie. And you must too. And Arnie seems really excited about the four of us going out.” I shrugged. “I have no other plans, so … why not?”
“It’s not a date.”
Turning back toward the photos, I dug deep for a little more confidence. “It’s fine if it is. Rory comes home next week. You said it yourself. Your parents would never believe you were … interested in me. And now I know why.”
“You don’t.”
“No? Well, it doesn’t matter.”
“No. It doesn’t.” He took ahold of my wrist and pulled me into a dark bedroom, closing the door behind us and flipping on the light.
I waited for Fisher to say whatever it was he needed to say. He didn’t say anything for many seconds, maybe a minute or more. It was just silence and the anguish on his face. Finally, he scrubbed his hands over his face and blew out a long breath.
“We don’t have to wait any longer,” I filled the silence with whatever I thought might make him a little less stressed because he seemed so stressed out. “It can be over now. Maybe it’s stupid to act like one more week matters. Maybe I shouldn’t have been in your bathtub that night. Maybe hiding from everyone is more trouble than it’s worth. And now this Angie person is back, and that would suck for you to miss out on an opportunity because we decided to do…” I shrugged “…whatever for one more week.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You want it to end? Now?”
“Yes.”
Gah! Stupid, untimely tears rushed to my eyes.
“Liar.”
Clenching my jaw to lock down all emotions on the verge of breaking the dam, I shook my head.
He cocked his head to the side and pressed his hand to my face, brushing his thumb across my cheek to the corner of my eye, giving it just enough pressure to release one tear and then another. “Let’s go,” he whispered.
“Where?” I sucked in a shaky breath as my strength wavered.
“Home. Rory comes home soon. And I don’t want to share you with anyone else tonight.”
“F-Fisher …” I sniffled. “You can’t have my heart.”
He smiled and nodded several times while bending down to kiss the corner of my mouth. “I know … I’ll add it to the list.”
Kiss.
“What list?”
He opened the door and shut off the light. “The parts of Reese Capshaw that I can’t have.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but I had nothing. Not one thing.
“We’re taking off,” Fisher announced as we stepped onto the deck.
“Already? I made pie and there’s ice cream.” Laurie looked a little surprised.
“Reese has a tummy ache. Maybe one of the salads sat in the sun too long.”
What the heck!
I had to have looked just as surprised … and mortified.