“Actually, Maybelle tried to fix me up with at least a dozen women while I was staying at the inn. Her choices ranged from wildly inappropriate to downright weird. Excuse me for being skeptical about her taste.”
Laura laughed, and the tension in her face vanished. “But she does have the heart of a romantic,” she said. “Must be all those trysts I hear were held at the inn over the years.”
“That would definitely explain it,” he agreed, thinking how much prettier she was with a smile on her face. “So you’re here about Misty. Cal Maddox mentioned to me last night that you’d been concerned about her. Did she open up to you today about whatever’s going on?”
“Not really,” Laura admitted. “She did come to see me, though, and tried to convince me to let her transfer out of my advanced placement English class.”
J.C. frowned. “Is she failing?”
“Far from it.”
“Then why would she want to drop the class?”
“I have no idea. I was hoping, if you have the time, we could compare notes on what she said to each of us and see if we can figure this out. I’m worried she’s in some kind of trouble. What was your perception?”
“The same thing,” he admitted. Though it went against his gut instincts, he impulsively found himself asking, “Are you free for dinner? We could go to Rosalina’s or Sullivan’s and see if we can come up with any answers. Or did Maybelle find someone else who’s now waiting impatiently at home for you?”
“Maybelle’s matchmaking on my behalf was no more successful than hers was with you. And truthfully I’m starved, so dinner sounds great.”
“Any preference?”
“Either place works for me.”
“It’ll be quieter at Sullivan’s, and the service is fast. There’s a game at the high school tonight. I assume you’re going?”
“I usually meet a couple of other teachers there,” she confirmed.
“Good, then we’re both on a timetable. I’ll tell the waitress. If we’re lucky, the Friday-night special will be catfish. No one does it quite like Dana Sue.”
“So I hear,” she said.
He regarded her with surprise. “You haven’t been there?”
“Just a few times, and I’ve never had the catfish. Sullivan’s is a little beyond a teacher’s salary except for rare special occasions. Once in a while several of the teachers get together there to celebrate a birthday, but we usually opt for the Sunday brunch.”
“Then Sullivan’s it is, and it’s my treat.”
Her green eyes sparkled with more of that unexpected mirth. “Wouldn’t that almost constitute a date? I thought you were opposed to dating. That’s what Maybelle said.”
He chuckled. “Maybelle has a big mouth, but to be honest, in this case, she wasn’t far off the mark. Not that she or any of the other people I’ve tried to head off have paid a bit of attention to me. I must not sound as convincing as I’ve meant to.”
Laura held his gaze. “Something else to discuss over dinner.”
J.C. frowned. The last thing he wanted to do was give Laura Reed the wrong idea. She seemed like a lovely, thoughtful woman, but she needed to understand that this dinner was strictly business. They had a mystery to solve about a troubled teen, nothing more. He’d found that laying out the ground rules usually kept expectations in check and avoided unpleasantness later.
“Maybe we should stick to talking about Misty’s problem.” Even to his ears the comment sounded stuffy, but at least he’d made himself clear. He waited for her reaction. Her smile died along with the warmth in her eyes, but she merely shrugged.
“Whatever makes you comfortable, doctor,” she said, suddenly sounding as distant and cool as he had. “Misty’s my first priority, as well.”
The relief he should have felt at her response didn’t come. In fact, what he did feel was the faintest twinge of regret and disappointment. The sparks that had been missing during his lunch with Janice Walker reared up in I-told-you-so fashion, proving that his immunity sucked, after all.
That wasn’t good, he thought, as he ushered her to the parking lot. It wasn’t good at all.
He hoped he was just looking for a handy alternative who might get Debra to back off with her candidate, but he knew all too well that would be playing a dangerous and pretty selfish game. Tonight when he was home in his lonely bed, he’d have to examine his motives for inviting Laura Reed to dinner a little more closely…and then pray that the answers weren’t too disturbing.
Laura saw the speculative looks when she walked into Sullivan’s with J. C. Fullerton. Not only was she rarely seen around town with a date, but if he could be believed, neither was he. For a town that loved its gossip, their arrival together was bound to be big news.