IGNACIO CHECKED ON the Silky Newt family three times before he finally settled on a suit. The shirt, tie, and other apparel to go with it might take him late into the night, and he had less than an hour to go.
Many times he almost called Rachel to cancel. All week he'd gone round and round in mental circles, first listing the reasons he shouldn't get involved with a woman right now. All of which made logical sense.
Then remembering how nice it had been to be in the company of someone who understood and accepted his work and passions. Of wanting to know more. Also good logical sense, at least from an emotional side.
He nearly called her again after his fourth trip into the warehouse to check the enclosures. He froze in the act of returning to the bedroom at a chime at the door.
Forty-five minutes early? He wasn't ready. He still wore his ratty bathrobe with his hair damp from a shower.
He forced himself towards the front door. Maybe he should play sick? He used the door-cam, hoping to judge her mood, to know how to call it all off.
Paul stood outside, grinning big, rocking back and forth on his heels and toes. Ignacio rolled his eyes as he opened the door. "What are you doing here?"
"Newt-sitting, remember? Has the panic set in yet?" Paul pushed his way in, glancing around the living room. "I see you cleaned up a bit."
"Had a meeting last night with a representative of a conservation group." Ignacio stalked back towards the bedroom. "And no, I am not panicking."
Paul followed him back, ignoring an offer of a beer from the refrigerator. "You showered, so that means you haven't called it off. A good sign. What are you wearing?"
"I have it handled." Ignacio tried to close his bedroom door, but Paul had already slipped in.
Paul picked up the suit from where it lay on the bed and shook his head. "No way. You aren't wearing this."
As Paul took the offending suit back to the closet, Ignacio called out to him, "I'm going to cancel."
"No way. Wait, I found something." Paul came to the door of the walk-in closet and threw a blue suit on the bed before disappearing back inside. "What were you saying about not panicking?"
"This isn't fair to her," Ignacio said, picking up the suit to return it to the closet.
"This has nothing to do with her, buddy. It's all about you, and you are ready." A white shirt shot out of the door to land on the bed. Ignacio jumped back, barely avoiding a shoe.
"You have never met this woman," Ignacio said into the closet, before having to duck as the second shoe came flying out.
"Don't have to. You're interested. That's all I need to know." Paul emerged from the closet with a green pinstripe silk tie in his hand. "Casual, a bit sporty, but still formal."
"This is a bad idea," Ignacio repeated, not really hearing the words.
Paul took the suit from his hands and laid it on the bed. "Continuing to repeat it to yourself won't make you believe it, my friend. You had all week to cancel, and you didn't. Time to own it."
Just like Paul to be so direct and to the point. Not something Ignacio was sure he wanted around at the moment, not when he was trying to think of a good excuse.
He ran down the reasons again for why he should back out as he put on the shirt and pants. Went over them a second time while knotting the tie exactly right. A third time as he ran a polishing cloth over the shoes before putting them on.
All the while the gentle face of Rachel appeared in his head, her angry flashing eyes mocking him at his cowardice. Irvine soon joined her, hissing at him from the top of his rock grotto.
Paul leaned against the doorjamb of the bedroom and took a big swallow of a beer, and then toasted him. "Looking good."
Ignacio adjusted the suit jacket in front of the mirror over the dresser. "I feel like an idiot."
"Welcome to dating. What time did you say she was coming over? Hey, why didn't you go over to pick her up at her place?"
The door chime rang. Ignacio froze in the act of tucking the tie down into the front of the jacket.
"I'm guessing now is the time?" Paul asked. "Time to turn on the charm. I hope you aren't expecting her to pay her part."
He stood rooted to the floor, his hands frozen in motion. In the mirror, he watched the color drain out of his face.
Paul took another swallow of beer. "No running."
"I'm not running." Ignacio glared at him as he left the mirror to head for the front of the apartment. "She works for the station maintenance department, which means she lives in a restricted area. And I'm not telling you what I have planned tonight. I wouldn't put it past you to show up to make sure I'm doing it right."
"No way, man. I promised to babysit, and I will. I'll count all the babies on the hour and if I see a problem I'll call." Paul crossed his heart and gave him a salute.
Ignacio stopped in front of the door. On the other side would be Rachel. Too late to back out now. What should he say when he opened the door? A simple greeting? Invite her in? Head out immediately?
"Do I need to open it for you?" Paul asked.
"I have it." Ignacio took a deep breath and reached out to open the door.
***
"Rachel, wear the gold dress. It brings out the highlights in your hair," Velda said in the short message.
More advice followed in a message left by Eddie. All while Rachel stood ankle-deep in water while trying to find a drainage problem in one of the industrial areas. She knew they meant well, but an entire day of calls and messages with advice for the date later that night? Didn't they have something else to keep them busy?
"I might run away," Rachel said to her bot.
Her bot whistled to her, gliding barely over the water as it went back and forth to the cart for more tools. The sound mimicked Daisy so much Rachel asked, "Is your name Daisy?"
The bot handed her hooked tool, staring up at her without a sound.
Rachel took the tool. "Okay, fine. Your name isn't Daisy."
Despite her intention of finishing up the jobs on time, she ended up a half hour late. She was also a mess. She stripped down in the industrial showers near the platform before checking out and making sure her bot had everything put away before it disappeared for the night to do whatever the bots did at night.
The moment she appeared at the maintenance platform Damien flung a flex-paper towards her. "You have messages. Who is Eddie?"
"They've been calling here?" Rachel scanned through the text messages sent to the maintenance department in the form of service requests. Dresses to think about. Places to dine in case her date had trouble thinking of a place. What jewelry went with what colors.
"Odd service request: wear the silver shoes," Damien said with a grin. "I hope this isn't your date for the evening. Seems too controlling for the likes of you."
"No, only the Naughty Knitter's Club."
Damien's smile froze. "Naughty? Why are they called that?"
"You don't want to know." When Damien's eyebrows went up, she quickly added, "Get your mind out of the gutter. It isn't anything like that. I'll clear the requests."
Rachel headed for the back of the platform before he could ask more questions. Her bot already finished cleaning out the cart, turning to putting inside more valves, joints, and other parts for the next shift. Rachel cleared out all the requests on the flex-paper one by one, hoping Arthur didn't see them or she would have more questions to answer. She should have expected the ladies to be so persistent once they found out about the date. Her switching all her calls to messages hadn't slowed them down a bit.
With the service requests cleared and the cart ready to go, Rachel led the way to the storage area. As she crossed a hallway she spotted Arthur and Tish sitting at the small table at the other end of the platform, their heads close together. A flex-paper and tablet computers covered the small table between them, but the way their heads leaned in to talk spoke volumes. They might be talking business, but they were enjoying every minute of it.
She wouldn't mind a little bit of that euphoric feeling. A chance to feel something special. And Ignacio was all sorts of special. She'd looked him up after first meeting him, finding his name and his work mentioned in surprising places across multiple planets.
His efforts to rebuild the unique newt population in an area decimated by an industrial spill filled the top search positions. One of the reports included pictures of the Silky Newts, the same type she'd watched the birth of. Other articles spoke of his expertise in several exotic lizard species.
She still wished he could be interested in an animal a little more fluffy and attractive, but she did admit some of the more colorful newts had a charm of their own.
Her bot whistled at her as it pushed the cart into the storage room. It settled the cart in a corner and then came back to the hallway.
"Shiny? Ochre? Sunshine?" Rachel tried. The bot stared up at her, not uttering a sound. "And I strike out again. Okay, fine. Thanks for the help tonight. I'll see you in the morning."
The bot whistled at her and disappeared down a hallway, speeding away from the maintenance platform.
Which meant she had no excuse but to get ready for the date, and she didn't have much time. Despite the ladies trying to help her, she still didn't have any idea what to wear. Over the past week she'd come to the conclusion her wardrobe was horribly insufficient. Not having time to go out and buy something new made her genuinely worried about presenting herself well. She desperately wanted to make a good first impression on their first official date.
She bit her lip as she deposited her utility belt in her locker. She needed a bit of help to do this right. An outside point of view.
Rachel headed into the main platform and came to a stop at the table. It took a few seconds for the two occupants to notice someone standing next to them.
"Are you finished with official stuff?" Rachel asked.
"We just finished. Have something on your mind?" Arthur stacked several flex-papers, the service orders on them blinking up at them. Rachel ignored them. If one of them belonged to her department, she would soon know.
"Nope, nothing wrong, nothing more to report other than what I already have. I need to steal your girlfriend for a personal matter."
Tish grinned while Violet whistled a question. "What's going on?" Her face cleared, and she made a little jump in her chair. "Oh, tonight is the night."
"What is tonight?" Arthur asked. "Did I forget something?"
"Nope, not you. I'll tell you later." Tish grabbed a tablet computer and handed it to Violet. "Needing help?"
"Lord yes," Rachel said.
She'd expected it to be harder to pry the two apart. Instead, Tish jumped right up and followed her to her apartment.
She frowned as she surveyed the small front living portion. "We really need to get these renovated. Or moved. Or both."
"Good luck in anyone finding the time to organize it." Rachel headed straight into the one bedroom in the back. She pulled two dresses out of the closet and held them up. "Like either one of them?"
"Do you have any idea where he's taking you?" Tish asked from where she settled cross-legged on the bed.
"Not a clue. Not the black. I think he would have said if he meant formal." Rachel put the black dress back inside the closet, leaving the gold dress in her left hand. She pulled out a red dress, but then put it right back. "Too flashy. Problem is, I really don't have much."
"Strange he hasn't called you all week to let you know more details."
"He's busy with new baby newts."
Tish laughed. "Did you say newts?"
"Yep. He breeds them. Really rare ones. Trying to bring them back from extinction." Rachel pulled out a dress of green and blue with a silky layered skirt.
"That one has potential," Tish said, reaching out to touch the material.
The front door chimed.
Rachel stared at her open bedroom door in horror. "I was supposed to go there, not him come here. This area is restricted."
"You know, that never made sense to me," Tish said. "You are in your off-time. You should be able to have a social life, including having friends over, if you want to."
"Get some people to refurbish the nearby apartment block and we'll be able to. These apartments are too close to the maintenance storage rooms." Rachel lay both dresses on the bed. She glanced back at the door. "I hope it isn't a system emergency!"
"Right, too many valuable parts that could be stolen. Such as by pirates." Tish climbed off the bed. "Relax. I don't sense the station upset. I'll go see who it is while you try on the dresses. Put on the green and blue dress first."
Rachel pulled off her shirt and shimmied out of her pants. The dress might be okay, but it still didn't feel right. She plunged back into the closet in a desperate search to find something appropriate to wear on a date with a man she barely knew, going somewhere she didn't know, to talk about who-knew what.
Oh great, now she was trying to panic herself.
She pulled out a dress-bag from the very back of the closet, trying to remember what it might be. Maybe a glorious dress she'd forgotten she'd bought in the distant past.
As she came out of the closet Tish appeared at the bedroom door with an odd expression on her face. Rachel dropped the dress bag on the bed and grabbed her robe. "What is it? Is it an emergency?"
"I don't know. It might be." Tish stopped, grimacing. "You've been invaded."
"Invaded?"
"Never fear, your club is here!" Velda announced, appearing behind Tish with a dark long bag held over her arm.
Rachel cinched up her robe as Tish moved out of the way to keep from getting run over by Eddie and Daisy joining the crowd into the bedroom.
The three ladies stood at one side of her bed, regarding the dresses displayed there shaking their heads sadly.
Eddie said, "These won't do."
"I'm still deciding," Rachel said, smoothing out the dress bag and trying to find how to open it. "This area is restricted, you know."
"Oh, we know," Velda said, hanging up the black dress-bag from a doorjamb. "We stopped Arthur on the way here. As if we could be a security threat."
"Except when it comes to getting killer deals at rummage sales," Daisy said with a smug smile. "Just wait until you see what we found."
Rachel's heart sunk as Eddie added, "Daisy is the queen of deals!"
"And, it appears you needed our help anyway," Daisy said, picking up both dresses and returning them to the closet.
"I don't need all this help," Rachel said as she was pushed away from the closet. "I doubt he's taking me anywhere formal."
"Good guess. We looked up your date," Velda said, unzipping the bag. "Quite the reputation he has."
"Sam was impressed," Daisy said. "Turns out the two have worked together before."
"Your husband is interested in newts?" Rachel asked.
"No, the Ring Five Formal Gardens, silly. The garden has lizards, too," Daisy said, pushing her to the bed and making her sit down. "He has a very good reputation on board the station. Very helpful and caring."
"Now, time for the big reveal," Velda said from the doorway where the dress bag hung. "Be ready for the dress of your dreams."
Rachel remained frozen to the spot, waiting for the dress to come out and attack her with whatever venom it might have, with the pain of the attack to be soothed by the happy smiles of her friends. The dress was sure to be something like Velda's classy but loud getups, or Eddie's layered ensembles, or Daisy's bright and gay whimsical creations. All very nice, so long as they wore the clothes and didn't insist Rachel joined in.
Oh, her dear misguided friends.
A flash of deep gold appeared at the top of the dress bag. Velda reached inside and pulled out a simple deep gold dress with a wide waist and flaring skirt, tastefully edged with gold and red rhinestones along the upper bodice. The color was perfect. The entire dress was perfect.
"Elegant with a touch of formal, but subdued enough for any occasion," Daisy said, smoothing out the skirt.
"Wow," Tish said from her corner of the bedroom. "You found this at a rummage sale?"
"Bevel silk," Daisy said. "I think your Ignacio will appreciate the nice touch. What do you think?"
"Wow," Rachel echoed, not knowing what else to say.
The dress looked fabulous on the hanger, and just as fabulous on her. How did Daisy manage to find such a great dress and in her size, all in the same week of her date? Sometimes the abilities of the other Naughty Knitters amazed her.
The one bathroom in her small apartment somehow fit four at a time as the ladies moved on to the hair. Tish stayed out of the way, instead becoming the beverage girl and offering opinions. Where before Rachel had been worried about being late, she instead ended up ready right on time.
"No dallying. Get going, he'll be waiting," Eddie said, putting a lacy knitted shawl over her shoulders.
"Of course we expect all the details later," Velda said with an evil grin.
"There will be no juicy details," Rachel said as the women pushed her towards the door.
"There should be. Live a little," Velda said, putting her hands on her hips. "I mean it."
"Go get him," Tish said, her eyes dancing. "Don't get into too much trouble with the newts."
Newts. Colorful, ruffled, frilled, long and short newts. Including one that liked getting into her pipes.
Which hadn't happened in all the time she'd been waiting for this date. So nice to meet a man who kept his promises.
Still, she found herself nervous as she came to stand outside his door. Only five minutes early, but she considered waiting the extra few minutes to be right on time. Yet, as the seconds ticked by her apprehension began to mount.
Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door chime. Time for this date to start, for better or for worse.
The seconds ticked by while she waited for the door to open. When it did, it didn't reveal a man in a long apron with hair sticking out in all directions like last time.
Ignacio wore a simple casual dark blue suit with a white shirt and simple tie with polished shoes and shiny black hair neatly combed back away from a high forehead. Not a speck of dirt marred the sharp planes of his face. He smelled fantastic.
She'd met a comfortable curmudgeon in an apron before. Tonight she was with a devastatingly handsome man she might have to beat women away from with a big stick.
She cleared her voice, managing to say, "Good evening."
"Good evening." His eyes roved along her body, growing bright as they took in the dress. "You look lovely."
"Thank you. You aren't so bad yourself." He was more than fine, in fact. Rachel adjusted the shawl. "So, what did you have in mind for tonight?"
Rachel expected a nice restaurant, perhaps a hole-in-the-wall he liked to frequent. Perhaps one of the bigger reservation-only restaurants in the entertainment sector as a way to impress her.
Finding herself on a blanket in the middle of an exotic-animal reserve for a night picnic would have never occurred to her.
"Interesting location," Rachel remarked as Ignacio started laying out the contents of a picnic basket along the edge of the blanket. An artificial moon reflected off the lake on the other side of a wide walking path. From the trees around them came the muffled and subdued sounds of the creatures who inhabited the night.
"I work with the managers," he said with a grin. "Would you prefer dinner by candlelight in a place where they serve snacks for dinner?"
She laughed. "No way. I prefer a bit of substance to my meals."
"Good. I prefer a woman who likes to eat." He set a covered plate in front of her, taking the cover off to reveal a sauteed mix of fish and vegetables over a bed of flaky rice.
The aroma floating up to her nose smelled amazing. Rachel needed no invitation to start attacking it. After a long hard day with few breaks, and a pitiful excuse of a lunch, it tasted delicious. She felt so much better with a little food in her, easing the edges of her nervousness.
Only when she'd consumed half the contents of the plate did she notice he'd laid down a flaky roll in front of her. He laughed when she picked it up to help finish off the meal.
"Enjoying the food?" He asked.
"Please tell me you didn't cook this," she said between bites. "It would be too much."
"It would bother you if I did?"
Rachel rolled her eyes. "Rescuing animals, breeding near extinct newts, on conservation committees. How much more can you do?"
"I'm horrible about the laundry, if that helps. And no, I didn't cook it. I know a little restaurant. They know me well, and I asked if they could help me out."
Rachel paused in the act of using the roll to scoop up the last of the rice. "A little hole-in-the-wall place?"
He nodded. "Sophie's Place. Do you know it?"
"No, I was just guessing." Rachel polished off the last few bites, sorry to see it all gone.
A splash in the water preceded the appearance of the arching neck of a large fishing bird. It shook its head, fancy white feathers around the crown of its head flaring out. Small gray babies bobbed to the surface next to it before one more large adult, then the family paddled out into the lake.
"The flitch had a brood? I don't remember hearing about that." Rachel smiled as she watched them paddle out into the lake. "Babies everywhere."
"You are familiar with the bird?"
"Oh yes. Quite the accomplished underwater hunters. I rescued Boto from an illegal trader who tried to make Redpoint One into a way-station for his goods."
"Why does it not surprise me you know the name of one of them?"
"I helped name her. She was only a baby when she arrived at the reserve. A cute little fluff-ball." Cute, but the same dull gray as the babies swimming frantically to keep up with the parents.
Ignacio put the finished dishes back into the basket, casting her a worried glance. "I'm not sure I like the idea of you confronting animal traffickers. Some of them can be quite dangerous."
Normally, such protective words would make her bristle. She was an adult who had made her own way in the world for some time. She ran her department. The fact she couldn't find fault in Ignacio's sincere tone when he said the words made the difference. He sounded as if he were honestly worried for her.
"You forget I had Redpoint One on my side." Rachel grinned at him. "They made the mistake of messing with my pipes."
Ignacio gave a short laugh. "Warning taken. Keep my newts under control."
"You've done a really good job so far. I didn't even know about your program until recently."
Ignacio grimaced, revealing charming lines across his forehead that she itched to run a finger across to soothe. "Coinciding with Irvine healing from a leg injury."
Rachel lifted a broad-based glass, saluting him with the clear amber liquid inside. "To Irvine, for introducing us. May he now happily stay in his enclosure."
Ignacio lifted his own glass, letting the lip of it clink against hers. "To Irvine, and his eventual return to the wild."
Rachel saluted him again. "Even better. I'll definitely drink to that."
She lifted the glass of wine to her lips while watching Ignacio's face. His eyes were just as intense on her face. The taste of wine was almost as good as the expression lurking in his eyes. Almost.
Something small hit the back of her head. Her head went forward, and a small sip of wine went down the wrong pipe. Rachel struggled to set down the wine without spilling while coughing seized her.