"She reached over to squeeze the tips of his fingers. "Very nice to meet you."
"Bad news, he's not Australian and he doesn't have a yacht. I checked."
He laughed, and wiped the bar with his rag. "Plus, I have a girlfriend."
And didn't that make my heart sing?
She stuck out her bottom lip and turned to me. "In that case, I'm ready to go home. How about you?"
I hopped off the barstool. "You don't have to ask me twice."
She headed for the door, and I swiped the napkin from the bar."
"The medication making her sleepy?" Brady asked.
"Nah, it's a parole curfew."
Out came the dimples. "See you tomorrow."
"Only to prove you wrong." I smiled at him over my shoulder as we left.
"Damn," Miranda said, climbing into the cab. "He was cute. He would have been fun."
I said nothing, annoyed for the first time that she could have whoever she wanted. But Brady told her he was taken. That made me squeal inside. "He's a bartender. Not your type." Normally, I supported any fling she was considering. She had very good reason to pack in as much fun as possible. I did my best to make sure she didn't get hurt in the process. It's a role I'd been playing for a while."
"She leaned her head back against the seat while I tried to touch as little of the foul, plastic, peeling material on the seats as possible.
"So, what was your best excuse of the night?" she asked.
I tapped my fingers on my thigh, thinking, as the cab lurched through the city, the pine tree air-freshener swinging on the rear view mirror. "Actually, Brady helped me out with a good one."
"The bartender knew what you were doing?"
"He overheard me. And I used one on him when he asked me if you'd want a drink. Told him it didn't mix with your meds."
She pretended to slug me. "Don't scare away the cute ones."
I threw up my hands. "What? I didn't think you'd be interested."
"I could be interested for a night or two."
"He's too nice for that."
She gave me a look. "Did someone finally catch your eye?"
I shook my head too hard. "No, he was just fun, helping me come up with excuses. We told one guy your boyfriend was in the bar-fresh out of jail."
She rested her head on my shoulder. "Oh, Janey, I do love you."
The cab pulled in front our apartment building. She lived across the hall from me in downtown Springfield. Which was like a zebra living in Idaho, really. Why she wasn't a model living in Boston or some other big city was beyond me. But she was quite content working as a kindergarten teacher with her summers off. Those poor little boys in her class would never find a woman who could live up to their first teacher crush. I'm sure there were a few smitten daddies, too, scheduling extra parent-teacher conferences."
"I'll be up around noon. Want to do lunch?" she asked.
I opened the door to the building. "Some of us have to work," I whispered.
"Oh, you're no fun."
"And you're all fun. We balance out."
"Add Brady to my list. If he's ever available, I'm in. We'll have to check back in a few weeks. Nighty-night, Janey. Love you." She blew me a kiss and let herself into her apartment.
Glad someone does. "Back at ya," I said.
The only reason I tried on seven different outfits the next day was because of the flaky weather report. Sun, rain, hail-make"
