How to Get a Life in Ten Dates by Jenny L. Howe

Author:Jenny L. Howe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

CHAPTER 18

On this particular Taco Tuesday, neither Haleigh nor Jack felt like cooking, so he was grabbing their favorites from Something to Taco About on his way home from work.

Haleigh headed over to his house early to let Twinkie out. It was one of those random warm days that always happened in February, and she could have stood on the deck forever, watching the sun disappear below the horizon and cast ribbons of sorbet-colored light across the clouds.

“We should eat out here tonight,” she suggested to the rottweiler. Twinkie was too busy burying one of his favorite toys in the dirt to respond. Haleigh left him to his task and wandered back inside.

Halfway to the kitchen she stopped short, her eyes catching on the wall of bookcases in the formal den. Jack had let her organize them by color a few months ago, but now they were alphabetized and separated by hardcover and paperback.

She peeked into his bedroom next. The space was always neat, but now it was hospital levels of clean. No old water glasses on the nightstand. Not a speck of dust on the bureau. When she opened the closet, his clothes were hanging pin-straight, every piece ironed and color-coordinated.

The kitchen was the same. The food in the cabinets and pantry were ordered by alphabet and height, and, Haleigh was pretty sure, by what aisle they were found in at the grocery store.

Her heart pushed into her throat. This must have taken him hours to do. Maybe days. How had she not noticed this last week? How bad were things at work? And why was he hiding it from her?

She got plates and silverware and threw together two quick-and-cheap margaritas (i.e., premade mix plus tequila plus ice, and stirred with a spoon).

Back on the deck, she curled up on the outdoor sofa in front of the small fire pit to wait for Jack. When he got home, Twinkie’s barking led him to the backyard.

“Eating alfresco tonight?” He smiled. His eyes were bright, but all Haleigh could see were the dark circles under them.

“Are you okay? I saw … the house,” she added softly. It seemed like lately Taco Tuesdays had also become nights for Serious Talks.

He shrugged. “I did a little cleaning.”

“At four A.M.?”

“It helps me sleep.”

Haleigh took the bag of food from his hands and stared at him. He’d start talking eventually. He always did.

It didn’t even take three minutes. “Work’s a fucking mess. Someone accidentally inverted codes on a bunch of forms and people were calling crying because they were being denied for procedures they needed.” He blew out a breath.

“Shit,” Haleigh mumbled.

“It took Dylan and me days to fix it.” At that name, Haleigh’s heart stammered. Jack barely ever even mentioned his other coworkers, but Dylan seemed to come up a lot lately. She was clearly on his mind. Did they hang out outside of work? Had she been here? Haleigh knew it wasn’t her place to care (no being jealous assholes), but that didn’t stop her chest from twinging.

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