I warned her that Emmy had a fever last night, but Emmy and Rylee spend so much time together, we stopped worrying about one getting the other sick months ago, since it happens every other week. Emmy probably got the fever from Rylee to begin with.
I knock on Allysa’s door, and when she opens it, she’s immediately grabbing for Emerson. “Come here,” she says. She pulls Emerson to her and squeezes her. “She smells so good. Rylee doesn’t smell like a baby anymore. Makes me sad.” She pushes the door open to invite me in, and when I walk inside holding the diaper bag, Allysa finally registers my outfit. “Hold up,” she says. She points a finger up and down my body. “What’s this? Why am I babysitting?”
I really don’t want to tell her where I’m going, but it’s Allysa. She reads me better than anyone. She can see the hesitation on my face and takes it for exactly what it is. “Is this a date outfit?” She whispers it and then closes the front door. “Is it the Greek god?”
“Atlas. Yes. Please don’t tell your brother.”
Right when I say that, I notice Marshall standing close by in the living room. He immediately covers his ears and says, “I heard nothing. I see nothing. Lalalalalala.” He walks through the foyer and disappears into the kitchen.
Allysa brushes his presence off with a wave. “He’s so good at being neutral; don’t worry about him.” She motions for me to follow her into the living room. Rylee is in a playpen, so Allysa walks Emmy over to her. “Rylee, look who’s here!”
Rylee smiles when she sees Emmy. The girls are starting to show excitement in each other’s presence. I love that they’re not too far apart in age. The six-month gap feels smaller and smaller the older Emmy gets.
“Where is he taking you?”
I smooth my hands down my outfit, and then flick off a piece of lint. “To dinner, but I’ve never been to this place. I hope I’m not overdressed.”
“Is this your first date with him? You seem nervous.”
“It is our first date, and I am nervous. But it’s a different kind of nervous. A good nervous. I know him so well already, so I don’t feel like I’m about to have to spend an evening with a stranger.”
Allysa studies me for a moment with gentle eyes. “You seem excited. I’ve missed this side of you.”
“Yeah. Me too.” I bend to give both Emmy and Rylee kisses. “I won’t be out too late. I have to get back to the shop and close up for Lucy, so he’s picking me up there. I should be back around nine thirty, so try to keep her up until then if you don’t mind.”
“Why are you coming back so early? That’s lame.”
“I didn’t sleep last night. I’m exhausted. But I don’t want to cancel the date, so I’m going to power through.”
“Ugh. Motherhood,” Allysa says, rolling her eyes. “I’ll keep her awake—go have fun. Drink a coffee or a five-hour or something.”
I’ve lost count of the number of coffees I’ve had today. “Love you. Thanks for saving the day,” I say on my way out the door.
“That’s what I’m here for,” she singsongs.
Chapter Eleven Atlas
I wanted the day to go by faster, so I decided to help out in the kitchen at Bib’s even though I prepared for the night with a full staff. Now I smell like garlic. This is the third time I’ve tried scrubbing the smell off, to no avail. But if I don’t leave now, I’ll be late meeting her.
We’re taking it slow, so I’m picking her up at her work rather than her apartment. I have no idea where she lives now, or if she still lives in the apartment building I showed up at almost two years ago when she needed help. For whatever reason, where we live is something that hasn’t come up in our conversations. She probably doesn’t even know I sold my house and moved into the city earlier this year. I’m curious how far apart we live from each other now.
“I smell cologne,” Darin says after he passes me. He stops walking toward the freezer and turns to give me a once-over. “Why are you wearing cologne? Why are you dressed up?”
I sniff my hands. “I don’t smell like garlic?”
“No, you smell like you’re going out. Are you leaving?”
“I am leaving. I’ll be back around closing time, though. I think I might stay the night here and see if I can catch whoever is vandalizing the restaurants.” There were several days of a quiet stretch between incidents, but we got hit for a fourth time last night. It wasn’t too costly, though. This time they just scattered the trash everywhere again. That’s a lot easier to clean up than repainting has been. That may be because Brad keeps bringing Theo to help. I should probably give Theo a heads-up that the more he complains about a chore, the more likely he’s going to be made to do that chore.
I plan to confront whoever is doing the damage tonight and see if I can’t figure out their motive and talk them down before I get the police involved. I’m confident most things can be handled with a simple, honest conversation rather than a dramatic intervention, but I have no idea who I’m dealing with.
Darin leans in and quietly says, “Who you going out with? Lily?”
I dry my hands on a towel and nod once.
Darin smiles and walks away. I like that my friends like Lily. They brought her up a couple of times after our poker night, but I think they could tell it bothered me. I didn’t like discussing Lily when she wasn’t a part of my life.
But now it looks like there’s a possibility she’s back in the picture. Maybe. This might be why I’m so nervous: because I know what a huge risk Lily is taking by going out with me tonight. If things progress with us, that could impact her life in negative ways. Which might be why I started to feel the immense pressure two hours ago of making sure this date is worth it for her.
But I smell like I’m terrified of vampires, so it’s already not going my way.
I pull into the parking lot at five minutes to six. Lily must have been waiting for me, because she exits her store and locks the door behind her before I’m even out of my car.
As soon as I lay eyes on her, I get even more nervous. She looks incredible. She’s wearing a black jumpsuit and heels. She pulls on her jacket and meets me in the middle of the parking lot.
I lean in and greet her with a quick kiss on her cheek. “You look stunning.” I swear she reddens a little after I say that.
“Do I? I didn’t sleep last night. I feel like I look ninety.”
“Why didn’t you sleep?”
“Emmy ran a fever all night. She’s better now, but…” Lily yawns. “I’m sorry. I just drank coffee. It’ll hit in a minute.”
“It’s okay. I’m not tired, but I do smell like garlic.”
“I like garlic.”
“Good thing.”
