Catching Her Rival

“Gee, thanks.”

“That wasn’t meant as an insult,” he said quickly. “I value friendship, probably more than any romantic stuff I’ve ever been involved in. So if I see you as my friend, then take that as the compliment it is.”

“Got it. Are you considering Allie as another friend?” She already knew the answer.

“Maybe.”

“Hah!” She was enjoying making him squirm.

“Okay, I’m attracted to her. A lot.” He stopped at a red light and looked at Charlotte. “I don’t get it. She looks almost identical to you, so why am I attracted to her and not you?”

“Again, gee, thanks.” Then she laughed because she really was teasing. “Good thing I’m not attracted to you, either, friend.” And that was the honest truth. She sobered and asked the question she’d wanted to ask for a while now. “Why are you so afraid of getting into a relationship, Jack?”

“With you?” His tone was teasing, but his resistance to answering honestly was blatant.

“No. And I don’t mean to pry. It just seems like you have a successful job, a newly renovated house. You’re what, early thirties?”

“Thirty-two.”

“So what’s keeping you from settling down? Not necessarily married, but in a committed relationship?”

“Simple. It’s an allergy.”

Charlotte laughed. “Allergy?”

“I’m allergic to relationships. I inherited it from my father.”

“He never settled down, either?”

“Just the opposite,” Jack told her. “He settled down over and over and over again.”

“And that’s what caused your allergy to commitment?”

“Yep.”

“Well, I think that’s ridiculous. We’ll have to work on that. Give me your cell phone.”

He pulled it from his pants pocket and gave it to her. “What are you doing?”

She took out her own phone, too. “I’m programming Allie’s phone number into your phone so you have no excuse for not calling her. In fact, I think you should call her as soon as we get home so you can make it clear that you and I are no more than friends.”

* * *

IT WAS WELL after midnight when Allie finally collapsed, fully clothed, on her hotel bed.

“What a day,” she said aloud to the ceiling, wiggling her bare toes to bring back the circulation.

She heard a noise that sounded like her cell phone vibrating from under the pile of things she had brought in from her car. She hauled herself up off the bed, hoping it wasn’t someone asking her to do something. Her energy was depleted.

She finally dug her phone from the bottom of a reusable tote bag where she’d put her shoes, makeup bag and anything else she’d thought she might need during the day while away from the hotel.

The phone number was unfamiliar. She opened the message, and a warmth went through her as she read it.

This is Jack. Got your number from Charlotte. Hope that’s okay. Hope to talk to you soon.

She immediately wrote back, careful not to sound too eager. After all, she was off men.

Of course it’s ok. Nice to meet you.

She hesitated before hitting Send. “Nice to meet you?” she said out loud. “How formal.” She erased it and tried again.

Of course it’s ok. Call me anytime.

Again, she hesitated. Now she sounded desperate. Or at least easy. She deleted it and considered what to say.

Maybe she should ignore his text until tomorrow morning. Pretend she was asleep when it came in.

No. She really wanted him to know she felt something with him, without actually telling him that. Even though she really was off men.

She took another approach. She texted Charlotte.

Hope this didn’t wake you. It’s Allie. I need advice. Jack texted me. I want to answer, but don’t want him to get the wrong idea.

She only waited a minute or two before Charlotte replied.

It’s obvious you like each other. Why play hard-to-get?

Charlotte had no idea about Allie’s poor decisions when it came to men. She typed quickly.

I’ve made wrong choices before. Don’t want to repeat mistakes.

Charlotte wrote back.

Give him a chance. He’s been a good friend to me.

Allie considered that. She had seen firsthand how comforting Jack had been to Charlotte in the short time she’d known him.

But she barely knew Charlotte. How could she know how good the woman was at judging character? Should she take Charlotte at her word that Jack was a good guy? She looked exactly like Allie, but what if she was also as bad at judging people as Allie was?

She wrote back to Charlotte.

Thanks. Will think about it. Talk to you soon.

Charlotte replied.

Looking forward to it. Call or text me tomorrow after your family stuff. You could come over to my house so we can talk more.

Allie thought about how much work she still had to do. She really needed to drive back to Providence, but getting to know Charlotte better had become a top priority.