town?”
“We love to celebrate.”
“You need a twelve-step program. Hi, I’m Fool’s Gold and I’m addicted to festivals.”
She smiled. “I’m actually really excited about the bazaar next weekend. I stocked it with some really interesting items. Now you remember you can simply direct people to the store, right?”
“Yes, my goal is to sell as little as possible.”
“I need something to throw at you,” she grumbled. “Of course you can sell things, but you don’t have to. If they want it in a different color or whatever, tell them to come to the store. But that’s for next weekend. Tomorrow we only have to get through the post–Black Friday what-if-I-didn’t-get-everything-I-want shopping frenzy.”
She shook her head. “I should have taken part-time jobs in retail while I was in college.”
“What did you do?”
“Internships when I could get them. I was a nanny for a couple of summers and I temped in offices. I was a waitress. The usual. What about you?”
“I didn’t have summers off. I got through college quickly. Once I was in the army and they were paying for medical school, there weren’t any breaks.”
She angled toward him, taking in the strong profile and determined set of his jaw. “Did you really want to be an English professor?”
He glanced at her. “I don’t know. I didn’t want to be a soldier.”
“Yet you are one.”
He shrugged. “Not really. Being a doctor was a way to honor the family legacy and still do something I wanted to do. Hard to do that while writing a thesis on great American writers of the twentieth century.”
“Your dad pressured you.”
“That’s one way of putting it.” He drank from his beer bottle. “My dad was determined. He talked about Gideon and me going into the army from the time we were born. Doing anything else wasn’t an option. Looking back, I tell myself I should have stood up to him.”
“You were a kid. Did you even know there were other choices?”
“Not really,” he admitted. “I just knew I couldn’t go do what Gideon did.”
She’d been lucky with her family. They wanted her to do whatever made her happy. But not all parents were like that.
There was a knock on the door. She stood and groaned as her feet and legs protested, then hobbled to the door. Gabriel beat her there and pulled out his wallet.
“I’ve got this,” he said.
She grinned at him. “You’re such a guy.”
“Thank you.”
Ten minutes later they were seated at her small table. She put out plates and napkins, and they were digging into the pizza.
The crust was crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. The melted cheese was hot, the grilled vegetables the perfect texture.
Gabriel stared at her half of the pizza. “Vegetables? Seriously? On pizza?”
“I know. I can’t help it. But you have your manly all-meat.” She grinned. “Beer and pizza. Later you’ll probably feel the need to go challenge some teenaged boys to a drag race.”
“Or I could just watch wrestling on TV and have my manhood affirmed that way.”
“Really? Wrestling? Don’t they wear tights?”
“It’s not tights. It’s—” He sighed heavily. “Why do I bother?”
She laughed and took another bite of her pizza.
When they’d polished off every slice, she leaned back in her chair. “That was great. And later, there’s ice cream.”
“A gourmet meal?” he asked.
“One of my favorites.”
He started to say something, then stopped. She had a feeling it was going to be to ask her if she ate like that, how come she was so thin. And she didn’t want to talk about her weight or how she was still working her way back to what she had been.
“Any pizza where you were stationed?” she asked.
“Sure. The army provides. In Germany there were a few places around the base. In Afghanistan and Iraq, it was more of a challenge to find. The mess had it, but it wasn’t exactly the same.”
She got up and walked to her refrigerator, where she grabbed a
“We love to celebrate.”
“You need a twelve-step program. Hi, I’m Fool’s Gold and I’m addicted to festivals.”
She smiled. “I’m actually really excited about the bazaar next weekend. I stocked it with some really interesting items. Now you remember you can simply direct people to the store, right?”
“Yes, my goal is to sell as little as possible.”
“I need something to throw at you,” she grumbled. “Of course you can sell things, but you don’t have to. If they want it in a different color or whatever, tell them to come to the store. But that’s for next weekend. Tomorrow we only have to get through the post–Black Friday what-if-I-didn’t-get-everything-I-want shopping frenzy.”
She shook her head. “I should have taken part-time jobs in retail while I was in college.”
“What did you do?”
“Internships when I could get them. I was a nanny for a couple of summers and I temped in offices. I was a waitress. The usual. What about you?”
“I didn’t have summers off. I got through college quickly. Once I was in the army and they were paying for medical school, there weren’t any breaks.”
She angled toward him, taking in the strong profile and determined set of his jaw. “Did you really want to be an English professor?”
He glanced at her. “I don’t know. I didn’t want to be a soldier.”
“Yet you are one.”
He shrugged. “Not really. Being a doctor was a way to honor the family legacy and still do something I wanted to do. Hard to do that while writing a thesis on great American writers of the twentieth century.”
“Your dad pressured you.”
“That’s one way of putting it.” He drank from his beer bottle. “My dad was determined. He talked about Gideon and me going into the army from the time we were born. Doing anything else wasn’t an option. Looking back, I tell myself I should have stood up to him.”
“You were a kid. Did you even know there were other choices?”
“Not really,” he admitted. “I just knew I couldn’t go do what Gideon did.”
She’d been lucky with her family. They wanted her to do whatever made her happy. But not all parents were like that.
There was a knock on the door. She stood and groaned as her feet and legs protested, then hobbled to the door. Gabriel beat her there and pulled out his wallet.
“I’ve got this,” he said.
She grinned at him. “You’re such a guy.”
“Thank you.”
Ten minutes later they were seated at her small table. She put out plates and napkins, and they were digging into the pizza.
The crust was crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. The melted cheese was hot, the grilled vegetables the perfect texture.
Gabriel stared at her half of the pizza. “Vegetables? Seriously? On pizza?”
“I know. I can’t help it. But you have your manly all-meat.” She grinned. “Beer and pizza. Later you’ll probably feel the need to go challenge some teenaged boys to a drag race.”
“Or I could just watch wrestling on TV and have my manhood affirmed that way.”
“Really? Wrestling? Don’t they wear tights?”
“It’s not tights. It’s—” He sighed heavily. “Why do I bother?”
She laughed and took another bite of her pizza.
When they’d polished off every slice, she leaned back in her chair. “That was great. And later, there’s ice cream.”
“A gourmet meal?” he asked.
“One of my favorites.”
He started to say something, then stopped. She had a feeling it was going to be to ask her if she ate like that, how come she was so thin. And she didn’t want to talk about her weight or how she was still working her way back to what she had been.
“Any pizza where you were stationed?” she asked.
“Sure. The army provides. In Germany there were a few places around the base. In Afghanistan and Iraq, it was more of a challenge to find. The mess had it, but it wasn’t exactly the same.”
She got up and walked to her refrigerator, where she grabbed a
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