The Date Next Door

His friends’ eyes widened. “A shotgun?” Heidi repeated with a gasp.

Nic gave Joel a chiding look. “It was just loaded with rock salt. And old Mr. Barnett couldn’t hit the side of a barn anyway. He didn’t even come close to peppering me.”

“And you…um, enjoy that work?”

Why did people keep asking her that, as if she would be crazy to admit that she was satisfied with her job? “Yes,” she told Heidi firmly. “I do like it.”

“Oh.” Looking a little flustered now, Heidi glanced toward the football field, where self-consciously proud fathers escorted their shivering, scantily dressed daughters across the patchy grass. Seemingly relieved to seize a new topic, she trilled, “Oh, that brings back memories. I was a homecoming princess our senior year, you know. And Heather was queen—remember, Joel?”

Everyone around them went quiet as Joel murmured, “I remember.”

Of course Heather had been homecoming queen, Nic thought with a sigh. And of course Heidi had brought her up again just as Joel seemed to be relaxing a bit and enjoying the present. She didn’t believe Heidi was being deliberately cruel, simply clinging to the treasured memories of her high school days—but still, the mood changed after she spoke.

Maybe Heidi realized what she had done. Swallowing visibly, she looked at Nic again. “What were homecomings like at your school, Nicole? Did you participate?”

Nic shrugged. “I was never a homecoming princess, if that’s what you’re asking. I was always too much of a tomboy to be interested in fancy dresses and tiaras.”

And, no, she hadn’t been a cheerleader. Nor had she attended college or earned a doctorate degree or become a family counselor. She had never been a striking beauty and she doubted sincerely that her classmates thought of her as perfection personified.

She rather pitied any woman who aspired to be the next Mrs. Joel Brannon. Who could possibly compete with the memory of Saint Heather?

Whether Joel sensed her discomfort or was struggling with similar feelings of his own, he quickly turned the subject back to one that made her more comfortable—sports. Nic was pleased when the Watson brothers eagerly cooperated.

Letting Heidi and the other wives talk about homecoming fashions, Nic threw herself into the conversation about football and the upcoming basketball season. She was much more comfortable talking with the guys, she assured herself. After all, she had always considered herself one of them.

Joel wondered what he had been thinking when he’d asked Nic to accompany him to his reunion. He’d been so concerned about his own dread of the event that he hadn’t given enough consideration to how awkward it would be for Nic.

He’d thought that making it clear they were only friends would take some of the pressure off her while still sending a message that he had a good life now. A full life, not a sad and lonely one.

He had imagined there would be some questions about Nic and him. After all, they were both single, and she was pretty and personable. Fascinating, actually, with her straightforward manner and her spunky individuality.

Some of his old friends probably thought he was crazy for not making a move on her. Or perhaps they thought he was still too tied up in his grief to consider being with another woman.