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“Do you, Darcy?”
“Huh?” Darcy’s attention snapped to Haven, who was watching her with something that looked like impatience. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”
Haven gave her a pointed look. “I asked if you need to use the restroom.” Her words were measured, as if she were trying to send her a coded message.
“Yeah, I do.” Darcy pushed her chair back. When she stood, she noticed Mason scrolling through his phone while Derek scowled.
Darcy followed Haven to the ladies’ room, where Haven stood with her hands on her hips and stared down at her.
“Will you even try to talk to him?”
“Have you been sitting at a different table?” Darcy gestured toward the door. “He hasn’t asked me a single question, and I can’t seem to connect with him about anything. Now he’s more interested in his phone. At least Star Wars guy maintained some eye contact with me when he wasn’t showing me photos of himself dressed as a Jedi Knight.”
Haven touched her shoulder. “I know this is hard for you, Darce, but I just want to see you happy, okay? I’m sure you can find something to discuss with Mason.”
“I seriously doubt it. He just insulted the restaurant. How is Derek even friends with him?”
Haven’s smile was a little too bright. “I’m sure he didn’t mean it.”
“He sure looked like it to me. He seems very unimpressed with the food and with me.”
Haven pulled her in for a hug. “You look gorgeous tonight. If Mason hasn’t noticed, then perhaps he is as arrogant as he seems.” She frowned. “I was wondering what Derek saw in him too.”
“Aha!” Darcy gave a victorious smile. “You do agree with me.”
Haven looped her arm around Darcy. “Let’s see if we can hurry up this meal and go walk around and look at the cars. Maybe that will loosen up Mason.”
“We can only hope.”
Darcy and Haven returned to the table, where the men were discussing politics. She finished her meal with the men’s conversation as background noise. After the men paid the check, they headed out to the street. The delicious aromas from the restaurant mixed with the odor of exhaust and the smell from a nearby street vendor selling burgers, hot dogs, and fries.
As Mason held the door open for Darcy, his cell phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket, and his expression lit when he read the screen. “Oh, I need to take this. Excuse me.”
Darcy turned toward Haven and rolled her eyes.
“I’m sorry he’s being such a jerk,” Derek muttered. “I thought he’d be different.”
“It’s okay,” Darcy told him. She pivoted to face Mason and found him grinning while talking on the phone.
“No, it’s okay, I can talk,” Mason said, just loud enough for Darcy and the others to hear. “Yeah, I’m on a date too. How have you been?” he said into the phone. “Yeah, I miss you too. Your date is a disaster? Who’s the guy? Well, there’s no way he could be as charming and handsome as me, right? You said I was the best boyfriend you’d ever had.” He chuckled.
Haven’s mouth fell open. “Is he talking to another woman?”
Darcy shook her head and started down Main Street. She could count this as another failed blind date. She continued to wander, taking in the classic cars lining the road. She spotted a gorgeous blue Shelby Cobra, a purple 1969 Camaro, and a black late-model Dodge Viper. She noticed the Barton Automotive sign in the distance, and the memory of Carter’s smile tickled her stomach. She once again wondered if he was somewhere on Main Street admiring the snazzy vehicles, and butterflies danced in her belly.
She silently scolded herself. What were the chances she’d ever see him again?
Darcy stopped in front of a baby-blue Ford Bronco that looked as if it might have been built in the 1960s. Her thoughts suddenly turned to Jace, and she wondered if he would be standing beside her admiring the cars if he were alive.
Surely she and Jace would have continued their double dates with Haven and Derek, since he and Derek had been close friends since college. Memories of their college years together filled her mind. While she and Haven had been roommates, Derek and Jace had met through their fraternity. The four of them were inseparable after Haven and Derek started dating and Derek introduced Jace to Darcy. Although Jace wasn’t a car enthusiast like her father, he enjoyed a car show every now and then. He just seemed to like being with her, regardless of what they did together.
She felt her eyes start to prick with tears, and she sniffed.
Don’t lose it, Darcy. Not here.
“I always liked the 1968 Bronco, but if I were to pick a year, I’d have to say that 1978 is my favorite.”
Darcy caught a whiff of woodsy cologne as she registered the familiar voice. The scent took her back to the ride she’d shared with Carter in his Suburban.
