"Speaking of husbands, how is your man, Daisy?" Rachel asked.
"Oh, he's fine. Getting into trouble around the house, like usual. I'm about to suggest he start a planter garden on our terrace to keep him busy." Daisy laughed. "Even though it means dirt in the house."
"Which reminds me, Rachel, how are things in your department at work?" Eddie asked while she made herself another cup of tea.
"Overworked with not enough people. Like usual," Rachel said, liking the safe topics of conversation. "Did you go rummage saling this week, Daisy?"
"We thought so. Working yourself to the bone," Daisy said, giving her a slight frown.
Uhoh, Daisy completely ignored her question. Not good. Not good at all.
"We're all working hard. There aren't enough people in any of the departments," Tish said, helping herself to the hot water and another tea bag while Rachel tried to think of a way to get the conversation back on on track. Preferably away from the topic of her life.
"Sounds as if you need an influx of new workers," Velda said. She relaxed into her chair, resting her feet on a low padded footstool matching the chair. "Someone should do something about that."
"Oh no, you didn't," Rachel said with a groan. She couldn't help it. She'd seen this too many times. The ladies decided something needed doing or helping, and they just jumped right in. They were known for it all over the station.
"You know us too well," Daisy said, giggling like a little girl and not the grandmother she was.
Tish followed each part of the conversation, the expression of confusion on her face growing with each moment. "Know what?"
"Unless my guess is drastically wrong, my wonderful friends," and Rachel emphasized the word 'friends,' "have decided to help out at work."
"As maintenance engineers?" Tish looked from one to the other, probably trying to figure out how the older women could do the physically demanding work.
Velda shot up straight in her chair. "Oh my no. I have the bed and breakfast to keep me quite busy."
"I enjoy retirement too much," Eddie said.
"I work in the gardens with my hubby. I'm quite happy," Daisy added.
"Then there is Rachel. Poor overworked, without a free moment of time, in need of some personal excitement, Rachel," Velda said with a dramatic sigh, giving her such an expression of sorrow.
Rachel didn't buy it for a moment. She set her tea cup down and attempted to stare down Velda. Velda met her stare calmly, not looking away for a second.
"Okay, out with it. What did you do?" Rachel demanded.
"Helped you out, of course," Eddie said.
"Took a lot of work," Daisy said.
Rachel was ready to scream. Ask a direct question, and get verbal mud back? "Come on. What did you do?"
"Helped recruit new engineers, of course," Velda said with an elegant shrug of one shoulder. "I believe you are almost alone in your department? Well, we have two interviews for you come tomorrow evening after work."
Tish started laughing, only to laugh harder when Rachel turned a glare at her. She gasped out between laugh, "I'm sorry, but your face!"
"Eighteen hundred hours is the first interview," Velda said, reaching over to the table next to her chair to pick up a flex-paper. "The second an hour later, both here at the Northstar. Good young men with good backgrounds. A lot of potential, and thrilled at the chance at a job."
Siggy gave a high howl and a curious bark before disappearing back into his duffle bag with his squeaky toy. Rachel wanted to hide inside along with him.
"Arthur previews all hires," Rachel started. She knew the reason for the sudden interest in maintenance engineers, and it wasn't about hiring new maintenance engineers. Not a chance.
"I doubt he has time right now," Eddie said.
"If you think they have potential you can pass them on to Arthur," Velda said, sliding the flex-paper across the table towards Rachel. "In the meantime, we'll keep looking."
"It's only a pre-interview," Daisy said.
"Eighteen hundred hours next Monday night," Eddie said. "We'll be here to help you."
"You can use the craft room for the interviews," Velda said, pointing to one side of the house.
"I'm not doing this," Rachel said, refusing to pick up the flex-paper. Did they really think she'd fall for something this obvious?
"Why not?" Velda asked.
"Because I already have a date." Rachel clamped shut her mouth, not believing she'd said it out loud.
The room went quiet. Siggy poked his nose out of his carry case to stare at her out from under purple floppy bangs, cocking his head. Even Tish looked shocked.
Rachel cleared her throat, her mind racing on how she could fix what she'd said. She'd brought Tish along to deflect attention from herself, and ended up as the center of it anyway. "Uh, I mean an appointment. I'm having to work a lot of overtime lately, so I had to put one of them off."
"Oh no, you don't," Velda said, placing her cup on top of a brightly painted coaster on the small table next to her chair. She rose elegantly to her feet, standing firm and strong in heels so high a woman a third her age would have trouble balancing in, and put her hands on her hips. Siggy came out of his carry case, adopting the same stance but while standing on all four feet. "Out with it girl. You have a date? Who is this man? What does he do for a living? Where is he taking you?"
CHAPTER SIX
IGNACIO CHECKED ON the Silky Newt family three times before he finally settled on a suit. The shirt, tie, and other apparel to go with it might take him late into the night, and he had less than an hour to go.
Many times he almost called Rachel to cancel. All week he'd gone round and round in mental circles, first listing the reasons he shouldn't get involved with a woman right now. All of which made logical sense.
Then remembering how nice it had been to be in the company of someone who understood and accepted his work and passions. Of wanting to know more. Also good logical sense, at least from an emotional side.
He nearly called her again after his fourth trip into the warehouse to check the enclosures. He froze in the act of returning to the bedroom at a chime at the door.
Forty-five minutes early? He wasn't ready. He still wore his ratty bathrobe with his hair damp from a shower.
He forced himself towards the front door. Maybe he should play sick? He used the door-cam, hoping to judge her mood, to know how to call it all off.
Paul stood outside, grinning big, rocking back and forth on his heels and toes. Ignacio rolled his eyes as he opened the door. "What are you doing here?"
"Newt-sitting, remember? Has the panic set in yet?" Paul pushed his way in, glancing around the living room. "I see you cleaned up a bit."
"Had a meeting last night with a representative of a conservation group." Ignacio stalked back towards the bedroom. "And no, I am not panicking."
Paul followed him back, ignoring an offer of a beer from the refrigerator. "You showered, so that means you haven't called it off. A good sign. What are you wearing?"
"I have it handled." Ignacio tried to close his bedroom door, but Paul had already slipped in.
Paul picked up the suit from where it lay on the bed and shook his head. "No way. You aren't wearing this."
As Paul took the offending suit back to the closet, Ignacio called out to him, "I'm going to cancel."
"No way. Wait, I found something." Paul came to the door of the walk-in closet and threw a blue suit on the bed before disappearing back inside. "What were you saying about not panicking?"
"This isn't fair to her," Ignacio said, picking up the suit to return it to the closet.
"This has nothing to do with her, buddy. It's all about you, and you are ready." A white shirt shot out of the door to land on the bed. Ignacio jumped back, barely avoiding a shoe.
"You have never met this woman," Ignacio said into the closet, before having to duck as the second shoe came flying out.
"Don't have to. You're interested. That's all I need to kno
w." Paul emerged from the closet with a green pinstripe silk tie in his hand. "Casual, a bit sporty, but still formal."
"This is a bad idea," Ignacio repeated, not really hearing the words.
Paul took the suit from his hands and laid it on the bed. "Continuing to repeat it to yourself won't make you believe it, my friend. You had all week to cancel, and you didn't. Time to own it."
Just like Paul to be so direct and to the point. Not something Ignacio was sure he wanted around at the moment, not when he was trying to think of a good excuse.
He ran down the reasons again for why he should back out as he put on the shirt and pants. Went over them a second time while knotting the tie exactly right. A third time as he ran a polishing cloth over the shoes before putting them on.
All the while the gentle face of Rachel appeared in his head, her angry flashing eyes mocking him at his cowardice. Irvine soon joined her, hissing at him from the top of his rock grotto.
Paul leaned against the doorjamb of the bedroom and took a big swallow of a beer, and then toasted him. "Looking good."
Ignacio adjusted the suit jacket in front of the mirror over the dresser. "I feel like an idiot."
"Welcome to dating. What time did you say she was coming over? Hey, why didn't you go over to pick her up at her place?"
The door chime rang. Ignacio froze in the act of tucking the tie down into the front of the jacket.
"I'm guessing now is the time?" Paul asked. "Time to turn on the charm. I hope you aren't expecting her to pay her part."
He stood rooted to the floor, his hands frozen in motion. In the mirror, he watched the color drain out of his face.
Paul took another swallow of beer. "No running."
"I'm not running." Ignacio glared at him as he left the mirror to head for the front of the apartment. "She works for the station maintenance department, which means she lives in a restricted area. And I'm not telling you what I have planned tonight. I wouldn't put it past you to show up to make sure I'm doing it right."
"No way, man. I promised to babysit, and I will. I'll count all the babies on the hour and if I see a problem I'll call." Paul crossed his heart and gave him a salute.
Ignacio stopped in front of the door. On the other side would be Rachel. Too late to back out now. What should he say when he opened the door? A simple greeting? Invite her in? Head out immediately?
"Do I need to open it for you?" Paul asked.
"I have it." Ignacio took a deep breath and reached out to open the door.
***
"Rachel, wear the gold dress. It brings out the highlights in your hair," Velda said in the short message.
More advice followed in a message left by Eddie. All while Rachel stood ankle-deep in water while trying to find a drainage problem in one of the industrial areas. She knew they meant well, but an entire day of calls and messages with advice for the date later that night? Didn't they have something else to keep them busy?
"I might run away," Rachel said to her bot.
Her bot whistled to her, gliding barely over the water as it went back and forth to the cart for more tools. The sound mimicked Daisy so much Rachel asked, "Is your name Daisy?"
The bot handed her hooked tool, staring up at her without a sound.
Rachel took the tool. "Okay, fine. Your name isn't Daisy."
Despite her intention of finishing up the jobs on time, she ended up a half hour late. She was also a mess. She stripped down in the industrial showers near the platform before checking out and making sure her bot had everything put away before it disappeared for the night to do whatever the bots did at night.
The moment she appeared at the maintenance platform Damien flung a flex-paper towards her. "You have messages. Who is Eddie?"
"They've been calling here?" Rachel scanned through the text messages sent to the maintenance department in the form of service requests. Dresses to think about. Places to dine in case her date had trouble thinking of a place. What jewelry went with what colors.
"Odd service request: wear the silver shoes," Damien said with a grin. "I hope this isn't your date for the evening. Seems too controlling for the likes of you."
"No, only the Naughty Knitter's Club."
Damien's smile froze. "Naughty? Why are they called that?"
"You don't want to know." When Damien's eyebrows went up, she quickly added, "Get your mind out of the gutter. It isn't anything like that. I'll clear the requests."
Rachel headed for the back of the platform before he could ask more questions. Her bot already finished cleaning out the cart, turning to putting inside more valves, joints, and other parts for the next shift. Rachel cleared out all the requests on the flex-paper one by one, hoping Arthur didn't see them or she would have more questions to answer. She should have expected the ladies to be so persistent once they found out about the date. Her switching all her calls to messages hadn't slowed them down a bit.
With the service requests cleared and the cart ready to go, Rachel led the way to the storage area. As she crossed a hallway she spotted Arthur and Tish sitting at the small table at the other end of the platform, their heads close together. A flex-paper and tablet computers covered the small table between them, but the way their heads leaned in to talk spoke volumes. They might be talking business, but they were enjoying every minute of it.
She wouldn't mind a little bit of that euphoric feeling. A chance to feel something special. And Ignacio was all sorts of special. She'd looked him up after first meeting him, finding his name and his work mentioned in surprising places across multiple planets.
His efforts to rebuild the unique newt population in an area decimated by an industrial spill filled the top search positions. One of the reports included pictures of the Silky Newts, the same type she'd watched the birth of. Other articles spoke of his expertise in several exotic lizard species.
She still wished he could be interested in an animal a little more fluffy and attractive, but she did admit some of the more colorful newts had a charm of their own.
Her bot whistled at her as it pushed the cart into the storage room. It settled the cart in a corner and then came back to the hallway.
"Shiny? Ochre? Sunshine?" Rachel tried. The bot stared up at her, not uttering a sound. "And I strike out again. Okay, fine. Thanks for the help tonight. I'll see you in the morning."
The bot whistled at her and disappeared down a hallway, speeding away from the maintenance platform.
Which meant she had no excuse but to get ready for the date, and she didn't have much time. Despite the ladies trying to help her, she still didn't have any idea what to wear. Over the past week she'd come to the conclusion her wardrobe was horribly insufficient. Not having time to go out and buy something new made her genuinely worried about presenting herself well. She desperately wanted to make a good first impression on their first official date.
She bit her lip as she deposited her utility belt in her locker. She needed a bit of help to do this right. An outside point of view.
Rachel headed into the main platform and came to a stop at the table. It took a few seconds for the two occupants to notice someone standing next to them.
"Are you finished with official stuff?" Rachel asked.
"We just finished. Have something on your mind?" Arthur stacked several flex-papers, the service orders on them blinking up at them. Rachel ignored them. If one of them belonged to her department, she would soon know.
"Nope, nothing wrong, nothing more to report other than what I already have. I need to steal your girlfriend for a personal matter."
Tish grinned while Violet whistled a question. "What's going on?" Her face cleared, and she made a little jump in her chair. "Oh, tonight is the night."
"What is tonight?" Arthur asked. "Did I forget something?"
"Nope, not you. I'll tell you later." Tish grabbed a tablet computer and handed it to Violet. "Needing help?"
"Lord yes," Rachel said.
She'd expected it to be harder
to pry the two apart. Instead, Tish jumped right up and followed her to her apartment.
She frowned as she surveyed the small front living portion. "We really need to get these renovated. Or moved. Or both."
"Good luck in anyone finding the time to organize it." Rachel headed straight into the one bedroom in the back. She pulled two dresses out of the closet and held them up. "Like either one of them?"
"Do you have any idea where he's taking you?" Tish asked from where she settled cross-legged on the bed.
"Not a clue. Not the black. I think he would have said if he meant formal." Rachel put the black dress back inside the closet, leaving the gold dress in her left hand. She pulled out a red dress, but then put it right back. "Too flashy. Problem is, I really don't have much."
"Strange he hasn't called you all week to let you know more details."
"He's busy with new baby newts."
Tish laughed. "Did you say newts?"
"Yep. He breeds them. Really rare ones. Trying to bring them back from extinction." Rachel pulled out a dress of green and blue with a silky layered skirt.
"That one has potential," Tish said, reaching out to touch the material.
The front door chimed.
Rachel stared at her open bedroom door in horror. "I was supposed to go there, not him come here. This area is restricted."
"You know, that never made sense to me," Tish said. "You are in your off-time. You should be able to have a social life, including having friends over, if you want to."
"Get some people to refurbish the nearby apartment block and we'll be able to. These apartments are too close to the maintenance storage rooms." Rachel lay both dresses on the bed. She glanced back at the door. "I hope it isn't a system emergency!"
"Right, too many valuable parts that could be stolen. Such as by pirates." Tish climbed off the bed. "Relax. I don't sense the station upset. I'll go see who it is while you try on the dresses. Put on the green and blue dress first."
Rachel pulled off her shirt and shimmied out of her pants. The dress might be okay, but it still didn't feel right. She plunged back into the closet in a desperate search to find something appropriate to wear on a date with a man she barely knew, going somewhere she didn't know, to talk about who-knew what.
Turn of the Pipes (A Redpoint One Romance) Page 5