“Can’t imagine being able to retire in your thirties, or even forties,” she said. “My dad’s seventy this year and he still works every day.”
“What’s he do?”
“He’s a rancher in Napa.”
“Is that where you’re from?”
She nodded. “Born and raised. Used to have a restaurant in downtown Napa with my sister, but then I came here in September to manage the café.”
“Why did you leave Napa?”
“Thought it was time for a change.”
“Change is good,” he agreed.
“Change is great.” She headed to the register to get him change but Boone didn’t wait for her to return, meeting her at the register instead.
“I don’t know what your schedule is,” he said, taking the cash she gave him, having already left her tip on the counter. “But if you’re out of here early enough, why don’t you come to the game tonight? I can put you and a friend on the pass list.”
Lauren looked to the window and the bright swath of sunlit sky. She never went anywhere after work. Just the café and her apartment, back and forth, back and forth. “Does sound fun,” she said.
“Then come. What’s your last name? I’ll have it on the list. Just check in at will-call, they’ll give you tickets.”
“I don’t know who I’d take.”
“You don’t have a boyfriend?”
Lauren flushed, suddenly self-conscious. “No.”
“How about bring Phyllis, or Bette, or that new girl . . . what’s her name?”
“Karen. And maybe one of them will come, or maybe I can find a friend. Do I need to give you a name now?”
“No. The tickets will be in your name. Just show up, and if you get to the park early enough, come down to the field and say hi.”
She wrinkled her nose. “That wouldn’t be awkward?”
“Awkward how?”
“You don’t think people will talk?”
He frowned. “Why?” His frown deepened and then his expression changed as he understood what she was saying. “I’m not hitting on you, Lauren. I’m just offering you tickets to a game.”
“I . . . didn’t mean it . . . that way,” she stammered. Or had she?
From behind the grill, Bob called to her. “Order up, boss.”
“Better go grab that,” she murmured, uncomfortable and confused, and desperate to escape,
But Boone put a hand out, stopping her. “Have I led you on somehow? Said something wrong—”
“Oh God, no!” Lauren shoved her hand behind her back, mortified, and terrifyingly close to tears. She never cried at work, and wasn’t going to cry now. “No. I was just thinking about your wife, wanting to be respectful.”
Boone’s gaze searched hers. “I love my wife.”
Her throat ached, and her chest squeezed tight. She didn’t understand men. She’d never dated a lot. Had Blake in high school and then just a few dates here and there before meeting Damien four years ago. She’d liked Damien, a lot, and he had adored her, and Blake. She’d thought that maybe she’d found someone special, someone gentle and kind, someone who didn’t push her physically because he cared about her, respected her—
And he did.
But that was because he liked her. Loved her as a person. But it was purely platonic. They were close, maybe fast becoming best friends, but it wasn’t a romance. He was gay. But she knew that, right?
She hadn’t. And Lauren had felt stupid, so very, very stupid, when he told her.
She felt just as stupid now.
“Let’s just forget the game,” she whispered, embarrassed. “Maybe another time.”
But Boone shook his head. “No, I still want you to come tonight. It’d be good for you to get out. From what Phyllis says, you don’t get out much—”
“I’m fine.”
He gave her a sharp look. “And we both know that fine isn’t fine.”
Lauren suddenly smiled a lopsided smile. “I hate it when people use my words against me.”
“You’ll have fun tonight. I’ll introduce you to some of the players, and you’ll sit with the families and friends—”
“Uh, families?”
“And friends. There’s some kind of giveaway, too. But remember, come down to the field during batting practice and warm-ups and say hello so I know you got in okay.”
He tipped his head at her and then headed out, pushing open the café door to step into the dazzling California sun.
Lauren watched him go, heart thumping, feeling emotions she hadn’t felt in years, feeling emotions she shouldn’t feel for him.