21

Trudy

Hey, Trudy.”

I glance up and see Darryl Conrad, the man who’s been living at the other end of my building for the past year and a half while his house is being built. He once told me he’s waited long enough to find the woman of his dreams, and since the Lord hasn’t seen fit to bring her to him yet, he’s moving on with his life. I totally get that.

“Hey, Darryl.” I slam my car door shut and start walking toward the apartment building

“Haven’t seen you around much lately. Been workin’ hard?”

“Always.” I stop, shield my eyes from the late afternoon sun, and smile at him. Darryl’s not a bad-looking man, but I wouldn’t call him handsome either. He’s definitely not someone I’d notice in a crowded room.

“Be careful about that, or you’ll look back and wonder where your life went.”

His smile is warm and genuine. I suspect he was one of those guys in high school who made good grades, joined a club or two, and otherwise flew under the radar. Girls like I was back then wouldn’t have given him the time of day. Such a pity. I get an idea.

“Hey, Darryl, whatcha doin’ for supper?”

“I haven’t thought that far into the future yet.” He laughs. “Why? What are you doing?”

“Thinkin’ about going out for Mexican food.”

He takes a step toward me. “Care to have company?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

“Have you tried that new place, Casa Enchilada’s?”

I giggle. “I was there the night they opened. It’s good.”

“Wanna go there?”

“Of course. Let’s go early, and maybe we’ll have time to walk off some of the calories afterward.”

“Great idea!” He points to his apartment. “I’m going to change into some jeans first.”

“See ya back here in about fifteen minutes?”

“It’s a date.” His stride quickens, and in a matter of seconds, he’s disappeared inside the building.

As I get ready, I realize this actually is a date—something I haven’t had in months. Last time I went out with a man, he bored me to tears with his techie talk, and I swore off men—at least for a while. Seems like the good-looking guys think about themselves too much, but the geeky ones speak a language that might as well be Martian as far as I’m concerned. The only tech stuff I want to know about is what I have to use on the job. I can text message on my phone, but I don’t wanna know how it works. All I care about is whether or not the person received it.

Darryl’s waiting for me when I go back outside. “I’ll drive,” he says. He looks me up and down. “Lookin’ good, Trudy.” He laughs softly as though he just thought of a private joke. “But then you always do.”

“Thank you.” He jumps in front of me and opens the passenger door, something not many guys seem to be doing these days. I like it.

As he drives to Casa Enchilada, we chatter nonstop about everything under the sun. I’m comfortable around Darryl, and it appears he feels the same way about me, which is rather unusual, if I must say so myself. I mean, being a former beauty queen has its drawbacks, and one of them is that men seem to be intimidated by the way I look, even now with these thunder thighs.

I study his profile and wonder why I’ve never noticed his great cheekbones and his strong chin. “So how’s the house coming along?”

“We had a slight weather delay, but we’re back on track. Wanna see it sometime?”

“I’d love to!”

Once inside the restaurant, the server brings us some chips and salsa. “Our special tonight is a spinach enchilada platter with rice and beans.”

Darryl nods toward me. “Ladies first.”

“The spinach enchilada sounds good. I’ll have that.”

“Ditto.” Darryl folds his hands on the table. “That was easy enough.”

“I know.” Everything is easy with Darryl—conversation, laughter, and just bein’ with him.

Throughout the meal, he never once looks at me like I’ve lost my mind—even when I polish off the last bit of rice and scrape the sauce from the enchilada with one of the chips. These days, I have no self-control when I eat certain types of foods, and Mexican is one of them.

Darryl gently pushes my hand away when I reach for the bill. “My treat.”

“But I asked you.”

“Yes, I know, but that’s only because I hadn’t gotten around to asking you first.”

He’s such a sweetheart. “Okay, but next time is my treat.”

Our gazes lock, and I feel a tiny flicker in my chest. That’s when it hits me. I’m really attracted to Darryl, and I want to spend more time with him.

“So where would you like to go for our walk?” He turns the key in the ignition.

“What are my choices?”

“We could go back to the apartment complex and walk around there, or we could go to the mall.”

I smile at him. “I work at the mall, so nix that idea.”

He shrugs. “Apartment complex it is then . . . unless you have a better idea.”

At this moment it doesn’t matter a hill of beans where we are, as long as I’m with Darryl. I haven’t felt like this since me and Michael were an item.

I put my purse in my apartment, stuff the key into my pocket, and join Darryl back outside. “Couldn’t be a better night for walking.”

We walk and talk about whatever pops into our minds. And we laugh at things I ordinarily wouldn’t think are funny. I want this evening to last forever, and if my intuition is as good as it always has been, Darryl feels the same way.

After we round the tennis courts and start back, he stops, takes me by the hand, and turns me around to face him. “Are you dating anyone, Trudy?”

“No.” My heart hammers as he takes my other hand and looks down at me with gentle eyes. “Are you?”

“Not until now.” We continue lookin’ at each other, until he pulls me close. “I like you, Trudy. You’re fun and very sweet and super smart. Most pretty girls lack one of those.”

I laugh. It sure does feel nice to hear those words. “I hope I don’t disappoint you.”

“I don’t think you will.” He lets go of my hands, cups my face, and drops a brief kiss on my lips. “We need to start talking about what to do on our next date.”

I suggest a movie, but he says that’s not a good idea so early in our relationship since we can’t talk and get to know each other better. “How about skating?” I’m half kidding, thinkin’ there’s no way he’ll wanna do that.

He surprises me. “Sounds like fun. I haven’t skated since I was a kid.”

“Same here. That should be hilarious.”

“I’ll bring my good camera to capture those funny moments. My parents gave me an expensive camera for my birthday, and until now I haven’t had a chance to put it to good use.”

“I don’t know about pictures.” I used to be a camera hog, but not so much now.

He makes a silly face. “Aw, c’mon, Trudy. No one will believe me when I tell them I’m hanging out with such a pretty girl, unless I show proof.”

Flattery like this used to go straight to my head, but now it’s grabbing my heart. “Okay, but you have to promise to give me final approval on what you keep and what you delete.”

He makes a cross over his heart. “I promise.”

As I lie in bed later, I reflect on my time with Darryl. He’s much better looking than I ever realized before now, and I appreciate the fact that I can take everything he says at face value without having to analyze it later.