The Hardest Fight

“I was just coming to tell Paige that we’re breaking for lunch.”

“We were heading to lunch, too.” Paige nudged Lucy aside. “Do you and Eugene want to join us?”

Had she completely forgotten everything they were just talking about? Lucy was going to lunch to get away from Dylan, not to socialize with him. “We’re going to City Vegan. That’s not really Dylan’s style.”

“We could go somewhere else,” Paige suggested.

“No, don’t change your plans for us.” Dylan backed away from the door. Lucy’s shoulders relaxed until he added, “We’ll go to the vegan place.”

“Since when do you eat vegan food?” she asked, frustrated by his air of nonchalance around her. If he had really cared about her five years ago, he should find it as hard to be around her as it was for her to be near him. She had broken up with him. Why did it feel as if she had been jilted?

“You’re the only one who can change her diet? I remember you telling me that eating less meat could save my life. Maybe I listened to you.”

She didn’t believe him for a second. When her mother had gotten sick, Lucy changed several of her habits. What she ate became a matter of life or death. Dylan had been supportive but had not been a fan of a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. Tofu burgers had never satisfied him the way the big, juicy ones made out of midwestern Angus beef had.

He was obviously trying to ruin her entire day. Maybe this was his way of punishing her for the breakup. Maybe he wasn’t being as mature about it as she originally thought.

If getting under her skin was his plan, she would do everything she could not to show her irritation. He wasn’t the only one who could act as if their past meant nothing. She took a breath and pasted on a smile. “Great.”

“Great?” Dylan and Paige both echoed. Evidently, neither of them had been expecting that answer.

Lucy motioned for Dylan to step aside and exited Paige’s office. “Come on, Eugene. Put down your hammer and let’s get some lunch!”

Eugene stopped midswing. His eyes moved back and forth between Lucy and Dylan. That was when Lucy realized she had seen the older gentleman before. He was the man with the little boy at Simon’s basketball game. The man who was sitting with Dylan and had heard her verbally blast him for being there. No wonder he could hardly believe they were going anywhere together.

“Well, you heard the lady,” Dylan said. “We’re going to lunch. With them. Let’s go.”

“I promise not to get us kicked out of anywhere this time,” she added in an attempt to reassure Eugene. That seemed to do the trick. His shoulders relaxed and he slid his hammer into a loop on his tool belt.

“This time? Oh, that sounds like a story,” Paige said, closing her office door.

Paige, and her need to know things. Some stories weren’t worth being told. The endings were too depressing.

* * *

CITY VEGAN WAS one of Lucy’s favorite restaurants. In her mind, there wasn’t a bad thing on the menu, but she could tell Dylan and Eugene were having a hard time finding something they dared to try.

“What’s soy chicken?” Eugene asked Paige. “I thought this place was vegetarian.”

“It’s fake chicken. It’s soy made to look and taste like chicken,” Dylan answered for her.

Eugene’s nose scrunched up and he set down his menu. “If vegetarians don’t like meat, why would they want to eat something that looks and tastes like chicken?”

Lucy was used to fielding this kind of question. The animal rights activist inside her pushed her to skip meat more often than not, but being a child raised on midwestern beef and Chicago hot dogs, she hadn’t given it up completely.

“There are a lot of people out there who don’t eat meat because they believe it’s wrong. That doesn’t mean they don’t miss the taste and texture of it. Soy chicken allows them to pretend to eat meat without harming any animals in the process.”

“Well, you learn something new every day,” Eugene said, picking his menu back up.

“If you aren’t used to eating this way, I suggest these noodles.” Paige leaned in, reaching across Eugene to show him what she was talking about. Her hand brushed against his arm and he smiled at the contact.

Lucy cocked her head and stared at the two of them. Was Paige flirting with this guy? She giggled at something Eugene said and playfully pushed his shoulder.

Oh, she was definitely flirting.

It was still unclear how Dylan and Eugene knew one another. Theirs seemed an unlikely friendship. Lucy couldn’t help but wonder if it had something to do with the boy, whom she deduced was Eugene’s grandson. It sounded as if he lived with Eugene but was spending the weekend with an aunt and uncle. Perhaps Dylan had known the boy’s parents. Why else would he attend the eight-year-old’s basketball game?

They ordered lunch and Dylan joined in the conversation between Eugene and Paige. The three of them laughed and socialized while Lucy sat in silent objection to this ridiculous game Dylan was obviously playing. She fought an eye roll when he showed off his skill at reading people.

The waitress became his unwitting subject. He guessed she was newly engaged, a student at DePaul University and not originally from Chicago. Paige hung on every word but doubted he could have gathered that much information from the few interactions they had had with the young woman.

“If I’m right, lunch is on you. If I’m wrong, I’ll buy,” he offered.

“Don’t make any bets with this man,” Lucy warned. She had seen Dylan swindle too many people in the time they were together to let her friend become his next victim.

Paige wouldn’t listen. “There’s no way he’s right about all of that. I’m in.”

“You have to swear you don’t know that girl, though,” Eugene said. “Don’t be cheating this nice lady. If you know her, fess up right now.”

Dylan raised his hands. “I swear I have never seen her before in my life. Ask her when she comes back to the table. I don’t have to cheat to win. I promise you that.”

This was true. Dylan Hunt did not cheat and he almost always won. It used to drive Lucy crazy. Still did, apparently.

The waitress came back to refill their drinks, and she confirmed for Eugene that she had never met Dylan. She was surprised to be asked but happy to share that she actually was recently engaged, showing everyone her ring and gushing about how romantic the proposal had been. She also admitted to being a student at DePaul, studying library science. Spitefully, Lucy thought there was no way Dylan would have guessed the woman wanted to be a librarian. Last, the waitress informed Paige that she was originally from South Carolina. Lucy had picked up on her slight accent earlier and had known Dylan was right about that one.

“That totally freaks me out.” Paige’s eyes were wide and her mouth hung open. “How did you know all that?”

“My grandmother was a psychic,” Dylan said straight-faced. “She taught me how to read minds.”

“Seriously?” Eugene asked, his expression a mirror image of Paige’s.

Lucy snorted. Dylan had a way of turning even the most intelligent people into naive nitwits. “He can’t read minds.”

“Well, not hers,” Dylan said, jerking a thumb in Lucy’s direction. “It’s the metal plates in her skull. Blocks me out.”

“You have metal plates in your skull?” Paige’s jaw dropped farther.

Lucy sighed heavily. “No, I do not have metal plates in my skull. And no, he cannot read minds. He pays attention. That’s it. He heard her Southern accent. He noticed her showing off her ring to someone else. He probably just guessed based on her age that she’s a student. He can’t read my mind or anyone else’s.”

“Actually, she has a DePaul lanyard sticking out of her back pocket. That’s how I knew. I didn’t guess. I rarely guess.” The way he glared at her made Lucy’s cheeks flush.

“Of course. I should have figured you got a good look at her backside.”

“Excuse me?” Dylan’s voice rose slightly.

“Oh, please. You always notice a beautiful woman’s assets.”

“I think all men appreciate a beautiful woman. You make me sound like some sort of creep.”