Miss Match (23 page)

"He knows I'm a deplorable addict?"

"My baby brother likes you." Ruby lets out her breath slowly, smiling again.

"Uh, right. Well, like I said, got to go." I bolt for the studio and close
the door behind me.

Whew.

I turn on the computer, sure Ryan planned the whole bringing me
coffee thing to completely embarrass me in front of his sister.

I have got to learn how to play it more cool.

The bell over the door jangles just as Hannah and I finally sit down to
lunch at two.

I look over, ticked off that someone would dare interrupt my affair
with the turkey sandwich. Healthy? Yes. At the moment I don't care what
it is as long as it's edible. I'm starving.

Turkey sandwich forgotten. Nick stands fidgeting just inside
the door.

"Hiya, Nick." I wave.

Nick smiles, the corners of his mouth twitching. Nerves. Whatever
he has come here to do will take guts-of this I'm sure.

"Hi, Laurie," he stutters. "Hannah."

"Hey," Hannah calls out in a friendly voice. "Got an appointment?"

"No, no. Uh, actually, I was wondering. . ." He stops, looks down
at his shoes, looks back up at us, at his hands, the carpet, us, the ceiling,
the back wall, us.

"Nick?" I interrupt before his poor neck passes out from exhaustion
and his head falls off.

"Yeah. Right." He lets out a long breath. "Is Ruby here?"

"Yep," Hannah answers. "She's in with a client, though, in Studio Two. Should be done pretty quick. Want to wait?"

He doesn't say anything for a long minute before finally walking
forward and collapsing into the chair beside me. "Sure, I'll wait."

I watch his foot bounce up and down, up and down, up and down
before finally leveling a good swift kick to his ankle.

"Ouch," he exclaims, probably more surprised than hurt.

"Sit still," I command, lifting my One True Love to my mouth. My
stomach growls in protest.

Two o'clock is too late for lunch.

"Laurie." Nick says this suddenly, right as the soft, honey-smelling
bread brushes my lips.

My stomach downright yells.

I set the sandwich back on the paper towel, clenching my back teeth
together. Turn and look at Nick. "Yes?"

"This will sound crazy," he blurts. "But I need to practice on something other than my mirror."

"Whoa." Hannah waves a hand. She finishes chewing.

My stomach says: "Look, Hannah's eating and talking. Can you not
do the same?"

I say: "No, I am not talented in that way. "

"Practice what on Laurie?" Hannah continues, chewing dispensed
with.

My stomach gestures toward her in a perturbed manner.

"My speech," Nick says.

"To whom?" I pat my stomach sympathetically.

"Ruby," Nick says.

Hannah raises her hand. "Does it include kissing? Because Laurie's
already taken."

Nick chortles. Whether in laughter or in shock, I know not.

My stomach doesn't find that scenario very pleasant either.

"No, uh, kissing." Nick gasps, reaching for his shirt collar.

"Are you sure you don't want to just wait for Ruby?" My eyes are
pleading. Practicing a speech such as the one I figure is coming on a
person other than the one for whom it is intended is never a good idea.
Look what always happens in the movies. If only the hero abstained practicing on his childhood best friend, the heroine would never get upset
and never move to Baltimore to fall in love with a different guy, the hero
would never have to chase her down and stop her halfway through the
wedding, and the movie would be a good hour or more shorter.

"Practice makes perfect," Nick quotes.

"Not always," I tell him. "One time when I was eight, I won this
sticky hand at a carnival and I wanted to try to hit Brandon in the back
of the head with it, so I practiced and practiced and practiced, and
when I finally got good enough, the hand wasn't sticky anymore, so it
didn't work."

Hannah laughs and whirls around in her desk chair, her shoulders
shaking.

Nick stares at me. "Okay. But this is just a speech."

"Listen to me, Nick. Do you really want Ruby to move to Baltimore
and be walking down the aisle toward a different guy and you have to
run after her?"

He blinks. "What?"

"Just answer the question."

"Uh ... I ... no, no, of course not."

"Good. Then don't practice the speech. Go in there fresh as the
morning dew and win her heart."

A wrinkle appears between his eyes. "How'd you know I was going
to ask her out?"

I look over at Hannah, who still has her hack toward us. Her shoulders jerk suddenly and her hands go toward her face.

I put my hand on Nick's shoulder. "Nicky, I just knew, all right? So.
Straighten up. Breathe in. Make the most of the opportunity. March in
there with a smile. And find out if June 15 works for her, whether she
wants it indoors or out, and what her colors are. Hannah and I can take
care of the rest."

He frowns. "See if what works in June?"

"Just ask her, okay?"

My hands close around my sweet sandwich and once again lift it to
my lips. I bite into it, moaning in sheer pleasure.

Nick watches me with a strange look on his face. Opens his mouth
as if he is going to say something, then closes it.

The door to Studio Two swings open. "Thanks for coming," we hear
Ruby call out.

"See ya," a nice-looking man and a pretty woman call back.

I kick his leg again. "Go, Nick. Now."

He takes a deep breath, lets it out quickly, jumps up, half-trips to the
studio door, and knocks once on the doorjamb.

"Did you need something else ... ?" Ruby's voice trails off. "Nick."

"Hi. Can I talk to you?" His voice sounds fairly calm, but his left
hand is trembling behind his back.

Aw. My pastor is cute in love.

"Sure," we hear her say after a moment's pause.

Nick walks in and promptly shuts the door.

I glance at Hannah, who grins back at me. In one accord, we race
around the desk and plant our ears against the door.

11
... wanted to apologize for the past week." Nick's voice is muffled.

"For what?"

"The past week."

Hannah covers her mouth, her eyes sparking dangerously.

"I mean, apologize for what during the past week?" Ruby asks.

"My standoffishness. I was confused." He exhales harshly.

She pauses. "Confused about what?"

"Us."

"Oh." Ruby's voice is much different now.

"Do you think we could ... that is, would you consider ... uh,
do you think sometime we might be able to ... go get something to
eat ... um, together?" Nick clears his throat.

I press my head harder against the rough wood grain. Ruby copies
Nick and clears her throat as well. "Yeah. That would be nice, actually."

"Really?" Nick says quickly.

I can hear Ruby's smile. "Yes. Really."

"Wow." Nick breathes. "I mean, thanks, Ruby. I . .

Suddenly everything goes quiet.

Hannah peeks at me, mouthing, "What do we do now?"

I shrug. I can feel the grain of the wood impressing a nice design on
my ear. It will never be the same. Neither will my back. Kneeling in this
position is not something I do every day.

I hear Ruby gasp. "What was that?" She's breathing hard.

My chin hits my knee. "He kissed her!" I mouth excitedly.

Nick is out of breath too. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have ... oh
boy. Ruby, I didn't mean to ..."

Again, silence.

"Good grief." Hannah hisses this in my ear.

I don't really know what happens next. One minute we are crouched
against the door, the next we both spill onto the concrete floor of
the studio.

"Ow!" Hannah howls.

I just moan. Look up to see Ruby's Told-You-So expression.

"Hi." I sit up and rub my head, which implanted itself into
the cement.

"Hello, girls." Ruby raises her eyebrows.

Even with her schoolteacher tone, I notice the two bright pink spots
on her cheeks and the extreme sparkle in her eyes.

I grin unrepentantly. "Sorry."

"You are not," Ruby says.

Nick stares at me. I smile at him. "Well, sounds like it went well.
We'll just, uh, finish lunch. So, have a nice chat, you two."

I scoot out of the room, dragging Hannah with me, and shut
the door.

Hannah starts laughing the minute the door closes. "Oh, Laurie! It
happened! It finally happened!"

"I know!"

We hug each other in a congratulatory celebration.

"Girls!" Ruby yells from inside the studio.

"I think Bud's is calling." I scramble to my feet.

"Right behind you." We grab our coats and are out the door before
Ruby gets the studio door open.

We run down the sidewalk to Bud's, whip the door open, and collapse into the first open table we find.

Mikey watches us, frowning. "Just pull a bank job, Laurie?"

"Better than that," I grin.

"Knock off a casino?"

Hannah giggles. Mikey turns red.

"Hey, you haven't met Hannah. Mikey, Hannah. Mikey is Bud's son
and my secret pal."

Mikey shakes Hannah's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"You too, Mikey."

"So, what did you do?" he asks me.

"Ruby is kissing Nick in Studio Two." I laugh in pure excitement.
My blood is doing cartwheels through my veins and I feel alive.

I am born to be a matchmaker!

Mikey gasps. "Ruby?"

"Ruby," I affirm.

"Ruby Palmer." He is unbelieving.

"One and the same."

"Holy cow," he says, leaning against the counter. "Wow, Laurie. I
mean, I always figured the first one of the four of y'all to start kissing
someone in the studio would be you."

"Hey!"

"That's not an insult, Laurie," he soothes. "Wow. Ruby Palmer."

"Kissing Nick." I grin, giddy.

"Who is Nick?"

"He's our singles' pastor," Hannah answers.

Now I'm ecstatic for two reasons: Ruby kissed Nick, and Hannah
just called Nick "our" pastor.

Miracles happen every day.

"He's the guy in the ugly sedan," Mikey says, using his hands to put
two and two together.

I nod. "Yeah, that's him."

"He needs a new car."

"Well, no one's perfect."

Mikey points out the window. "Hey, isn't that-"

Uh-oh. Big Trouble.

"Brandon!"

"He's back?" Hannah swings around to look out. "Oh man. Laurie,
what are we going to do?"

I don't answer. Just burst through the door and hightail it to
Brandon's car.

He opens his door, staring at me warily. "What happened? What's
flooded or on fire or broken?"

I'm out of breath. "Nothing, nothing. Nothing."

"Then why are you rushing out of Bud's?"

"Exercise." I huff. "It was my New Year's resolution."

"You don't make resolutions." Now Brandon is beginning to jog
toward his beloved studio. I follow like a little lost dog with my tail cut
short and my ears cut long. "And you don't exercise!"

"Look, Brandon, honestly, nothing is wrong. Everything is right.
Really right!" I grab his arm to make him stop.

He pulls me along with him. "The camera broke, didn't it?"

"Nothing broke. Stop, Brandon!" I command.

He freezes.

I take a deep breath and step in front of him. The story comes flowing out. "Nick came in this morning to talk to Ruby and they went into
the studio and closed the door and he said he was sorry and she said that's
okay and then he kissed her-"

Brandon holds up his hands, silencing me. "Whoa. Ruby kissed
Nick?" He is incredulous.

"No, actually, Nick kissed Ruby."

"I thought you said they closed the door."

I look at him.

"Wait, who am I talking to? Never mind." His mouth stays open.
"Nick kissed her?"

I nod.

"What did Ruby do?"

"I don't know. Right about there is when she opened the door."

Brandon rolls his eyes. "And found you. And if I'm guessing correctly, also Hannah."

"Sadly, yes."

"And they are still in there?"

I nod again.

He lets his breath out slowly. "Wow."

"That's the word of the moment."

"I mean, really. Wow!" His expression suddenly changes and he stares
at me long and hard, eyes narrowed and cold. "Lauren Holbrook."

"Brandon Knox."

"You didn't ... I don't see how it's possible ... you didn't make them
fall in love, did you?"

I let my mouth drop open in shock. "Me? How could I even think of
toying with something like love?"

"You did it."

"Mmm, I think God did it." I pause, considering my next words. "I
may have sort of arranged a few things."

"Oh man, oh man, oh man."

"It's my destiny." I slit my eyes at him, deepen my voice. "Who am
l?" I put a hand to my chest. "I'm Cupidwoman!" I poke my finger in his
chest. "And plus, I believe you helped, Mr. Acting-So-Innocent."

He finally smiles. Knuckles my head. "Crazy, you are."

"Yeah, well, to each his own. Want a burger?"

"Sure, I'm starved." He wraps an arm around my shoulders and
walks me hack to Bud's. "I guess you've completely corrupted Hannah
by now."

"Well, corruption is in the eye of the beholder."

"That's beauty, Nutsy. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

Hannah stands guiltily as we open the door. "Hey, Brandon."

He gives her a look over and then smiles. "You're forgiven."

She sighs. "Thanks."

Mikey takes his rightful place behind the register. "Can I guess?
'Three hamburgers, one order of French fries, two onion rings, and three
milkshakes?" Okay, turkey sandwich definitely forgotten. I'll take a
burger and a milkshake over lunchmeat any day.

Brandon nods. "Sure."

Mikey rings the order up. "On the house. Best excitement I've had
all day."