“Hey, Mandy.” Chris was suddenly shy. It was adorable.
“Hey, Chris.” Mandy, my little but fierce new friend, appeared to be feeling the same.
I stood between the two of them as they shuffled their feet, not really making eye contact.
“Good practice today.” I tried to help along the conversation. She had been so talkative in the taco place, it was funny to see her so quiet now.
“Yeah.” Mandy thankfully took the bait. “You looked good out there—I mean, uh, you guys looked good out there.” She was turning pink and looked at me with the universal “please help me” face.
“You got some good pictures, I thought.” I looked over at Chris. “She’s a really good photographer.”
“I’ve seen her pictures in the paper,” he agreed quickly. “They are really good.” He was so charmingly earnest. I mentally applauded Mandy for her good taste.
“You should show Chris some of your pictures some time,” I suggested.
“Oh, but he sees them in the paper,” Mandy responded, totally clueless, and Chris’ hopeful expression faded.
“Not all of them.” I wished I could kick her. “I bet he’d like to see your work. And you take pictures of other things, right?”
“I’d love to see your work,” Chris added immediately. Good boy, I thought.
“Oh, I don’t know—” Mandy began, but I looped my arm around her shoulders.
“You probably have to look through them first, right?” I tried to be gentle, encouraging. “But maybe you guys could get together after the practice tomorrow?”
“That would be great.” Chris’ smile was huge and charming.
“Great,” I answered since it seemed as though Mandy had lost her voice. She was standing there doing her best open-mouthed bass impression. “We’ll see you after practice tomorrow and you guys can go somewhere quiet and look at Mandy’s photos.”
“Great,” Chris responded happily.
“Great.” Mandy was still clearly in shock. It was so much easier to get other people together than it was to fix my own romantic issues. And currently, much more fun.
“OK then.” I realized that neither of them seemed to know how to exit this conversation. Could they be any more perfect for each other? “Well, we’ll see you tomorrow, Chris.”
“Great,” Chris said again and then seemed to realize that it was time for him to go. “Right,” he said. “Tomorrow. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” His eyes darted down to the camera bag in Mandy’s arms. “I have to go run some errands anyway.”
“OK.” Mandy held her camera close. “See you tomorrow.”
“Bye,” I shooed Chris away. He got in his car with an obvious bounce in his step. I waved as he pulled out of the lot. He waved back.
I turned to find Mandy standing dumbstruck, one hand lifted in a wave.
“Don’t forget to shave your legs.” I gave her shoulder a nudge. “And wear cute underwear.”
“I’ve got a date with Chris tomorrow,” she said slowly. Her eyes were unfocused, her mouth slightly slack. “I’ve got a date with Chris tomorrow,” she repeated “Oh. My. God.”
“You do have cute underwear, right?” I asked her.
She finally seemed to notice I was there and let out a loud laugh. “You got Chris to ask me out on a date tomorrow night.”
“Technically you asked him out,” I reminded her. “And I didn’t get him to do anything. He likes you.”
“Wow.” She gently put her camera case in her backseat. “I’ve been trying to work up the courage to just figure out if he likes me and you get here and within a day I’ve got a date with him.” She blinked at me, awe in her eyes. “You’re amazing.”
“Not amazing,” I shrugged aside the praise modestly. “Just intuitive.” With other people, I added silently. When it comes to your own choices, you really need some work, Hall.
As if she was reading my mind, Mandy tilted her head and gave me a look. “Any luck with Nathan?”
I shrugged. “He’s still upset.”
Mandy nodded. “That makes a lot of sense. But don’t worry.” She patted my hand. “We’ll figure something out.” She got into her car. “Let me give you a ride.” I smiled, grateful for her help.
As we neared the hotel, she turned the radio down.
“You’ll be back tomorrow, right?”
“Of course.” I wasn’t leaving until I got my interview.
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow.” She smiled up at me. “And in case I didn’t say it already, thanks.”
I’d had Mandy drop me a short walk from the hotel. I needed to clear my head. The day had cooled off and the walk back to the hotel was just what I needed. It gave me a chance to admire how beautiful Austin was in the daytime. All the gorgeous old buildings, accented by huge lush trees everywhere. The whole place felt timeless and modern at once somehow, big skyscrapers peering out between columned hotels like the Driskill. I bet from above the whole city glittered.
As I walked, I started to feel better. There was a lake near the hotel, Lady Bird Lake, and I stopped there to watch people playing with their dogs and couples walking hand in hand. It was peaceful and I was feeling the same.
Sure, things with Nathan had started out rocky, but now I had match-made my way into two of his friends’ good graces. That could only help my situation. An extra bonus on top of the fact that I liked Chris and Mandy. I didn’t even know them that well, but I wanted both of them to be happy.
As far as my progress, I wasn’t quite where I would have been if last night hadn’t happened, but I was better than I had been when I woke up this morning. And I had time. If anyone was going to get a story out of Nathan Ryder, it was going to be me. And I wasn’t leaving Austin until I had it.
Chapter Six
I woke to a text message from Mandy. As I squinted at the bright screen of my phone in the dark of my room, I groaned. It wasn’t even that early, but the margaritas yesterday probably didn’t help.
Today will be hot. Wear shorts. Mandy.
Thank you, Mandy, my new best friend.
It was only a half hour until my alarm was set to go off, so I got up and took a long shower. Yesterday I had looked like the worst version of myself; today was not going to be the same. I was going to look fantastic.
The heat and my sweat was going to be murder on my hair no matter what, but still, I took my time with it, drying and styling it, hoping that it would last at least until I saw Nathan. I left it down this time. It gave me grief, but when I got it to behave, it treated me very well.
Even though the weather report said it was going to be about the same temperature as yesterday, I took Mandy’s advice. I thought about what she had been wearing yesterday—a pretty little sundress—and took my lead from that. I looked regretfully at the nice slacks and jacket I had packed, realizing that they were definitely the wrong fashion choice. Looking like a journalist would probably make Nathan even more skittish. I had to look like myself. Like a person he could talk to. Luckily I had brought enough everyday clothes to make it through the interview process.
I didn’t have a sundress, so I pulled a pair of jean shorts from the drawer and paired it with my favorite gray T-shirt and sneakers. The whole thing was casual—not too ratty, but nothing overtly professional that screamed, “I am a reporter here to interview you and get all your deepest darkest secrets and put them out in the world for everyone to read.” He wouldn’t talk to me if he thought I was here looking for a scandal. I had to find a way to make him trust me.
It was more crowded than yesterday, though I spotted a few girls I recognized. I waved and they, reluctantly it seemed, waved back. Maybe they didn’t think I was the worst person ever.