“By the way,” Scott said softly, leaning forward and stretching his hand across the small table toward her own, “have I mentioned lately how beautiful you look tonight?”
Lisa opened her mouth to answer. But before she could get a word out, she heard a loud, cheerful voice calling Scott’s name from somewhere across the room.
Dropping her hand, Scott turned to see who was coming. Lisa glanced over, too, and spotted a portly, bearded man in an expensive-looking suit threading his way through the tables toward them.
Scott stood up to greet the man. “Mr. Ganz!” he exclaimed in his most jovial voice. “There you are. I was wondering if you were purposely avoiding me—or maybe just off negotiating to buy yet another fabulously successful restaurant!”
The man threw back his head and laughed loudly, bringing curious glances from the other diners. “Scott, you’re more like your old man every day!” he exclaimed as he extended his hand for a hearty handshake with Scott. Suddenly noticing Lisa, the man smiled. “Ah, and I see your taste in women is just as fine as your father’s as well. Aren’t you going to introduce me to your lovely companion?”
“Of course. Mr. Ganz, this is Lisa Atwood,” Scott said, smiling at Lisa. “Lisa, this is Mr. Harold Ganz. He’s an old friend of the family. Oh, and he just happens to own this place.”
“Nice to meet you,” Lisa said politely.
It figures Scott would run into someone he knows, even at a place like this, she thought, more amused than annoyed. But at least it’s not like running into friends our own age, where we’d be stuck with them for ages.
After greeting Lisa with a smile and a little bow, Mr. Ganz returned his attention to Scott. “How’s the family, Scotty my boy?” he asked. “You must tell your parents, I’m going to take it personally if they don’t stop in and see me again soon.”
“I’m sure they’d love to, but it’s a tough job getting reservations.” Scott smiled. He gestured to an empty chair at a nearby table. “Why don’t you pull up a seat and join us for a while? Then I can fill you in on all the latest.”
Lisa blinked, hardly believing her ears. Had Scott really just invited the restaurant owner to join their date?
“Well, if you and the lovely Lisa don’t mind, I suppose I could sit down long enough for a cup of coffee.” Mr. Ganz grabbed the empty chair, then gestured to the waiter hovering nearby. “Coffee all around, Vincent.”
The waiter nodded and disappeared in the direction of the kitchen. In a matter of minutes they all had large steaming cups of coffee in front of them, and Scott and Mr. Ganz were deeply involved in a discussion of people, places, and events Lisa had never heard of and didn’t care about at all.
Lisa stared into her coffee cup, fighting the urge to knock it aside like a petulant child. What’s Scott’s problem, anyway? she wondered. I’m sure Mr. Ganz has better things to do than hang out with us. And I certainly didn’t expect to wind up our dinner making small talk with some fifty-year-old man I just met. Besides, Scott knows I don’t even like coffee. At least he should know. Not that I should expect him to remember a little detail like that—after all, he doesn’t even seem to remember that we’re supposed to be on a date!
“Excuse me,” she mumbled, pushing back her chair. “Uh, I just need to, um, powder my nose.”
She took off for the rest room without waiting for a response, feeling dangerously close to tears. Knowing she was overreacting but not caring, she locked herself into a stall and leaned against the cold tile wall, allowing a wave of self-pity and frustration to wash over her.
Is this ever going to stop? she wondered. If we can’t have a private evening at a place like this, what hope is there for us? And the worst part is, Scott doesn’t even see anything wrong with it. It’s like he doesn’t even care if every single date we have gets interrupted by other people. Like I’m not enough for him all by myself.
She realized she was being unfair. Scott didn’t seek out people during their dates—he just didn’t object too hard when they sought him.
Letting herself out of the stall, Lisa walked across to the sinks. Staring into the mirror, she tried to regain control of her emotions. No matter what else happened, she had to go back out there and get through the rest of the evening. She and Scott had talked about seeing a movie after dinner, but now she wondered if she should just claim she had a headache and back out of the plans. Or if she should maybe just back out of their whole relationship.
She didn’t like that last thought at all. I like Scott, she admitted to herself. I like him a whole lot—more and more, the more I get to know him. But is it worth it? Is it worth being miserable at times like this, even if he’s great the rest of the time? Can I figure out a way to deal with that?
As much as she hated to admit it, she wasn’t sure she was strong enough to do that. She wasn’t sure she could learn to fade quietly into the background, smiling politely as Scott chatted up one friend or acquaintance after another. She wasn’t sure she’d ever learn not to mind feeling secondary in his life.
None of her options seemed very appealing, no matter how many times she examined them. Finally, realizing she’d been in the rest room for an awfully long time, Lisa took a few deep breaths. Straightening her hair and moistening her lips, she headed for the door.
She almost collided with Scott, who was standing in the narrow hallway just outside. “There you are!” he exclaimed. “I was getting worried. You’re not feeling sick, are you?”
“Yes, I am,” Lisa blurted out before she realized what she was saying. “Sick and tired of playing second fiddle to every passing acquaintance.”
“What?” Scott looked startled. Glancing around the empty hallway, he cleared his throat. “Um, let’s go get our coats. Maybe we can talk outside.”
Lisa shrugged. “What about your friend Mr. Ganz?” she said. “Shouldn’t you get back to him?”
“He had to get back to work. I already took care of the bill and everything—I was just waiting for you.” Scott sounded worried now. “Come on, Lisa. Let’s go talk.”
“Okay.” Lisa followed him toward the coatroom, feeling sulky and a little embarrassed about her outburst. What good was it going to do to talk? Scott wasn’t going to change. He was social and friendly and interested in people, all kinds of people—that was just who he was. Asking him to give up his outgoing ways would be like asking Stevie to take a vow of silence or Carole to give up riding.
As soon as they were outside in the parking lot, Scott turned to face her, his expression serious. “Okay,” he said quietly. “Now, what’s this all about?”
Lisa opened her mouth to apologize, to assure him that nothing was wrong—she was just feeling a little tired, overfull, and cranky. No big deal.
Instead she heard herself telling him the truth—the whole truth, no holds barred. How annoying it was to have every date interrupted. How it made her feel to see Scott greet each interrupter like a long-lost friend, while she sat by and twiddled her thumbs and felt like the world’s biggest loser.
Scott listened quietly, not saying a word until she had wound herself down at last. “Wow,” he said. “I had no idea.”
“I know,” Lisa said sadly, her anger and frustration replaced with a feeling of hopelessness. A cold wind made her shiver and she wrapped her coat around herself tightly before continuing. “I know. It’s just me, being petty and insecure. Or whatever.”
“No.” Scott shook his head. “It’s not you. I should have realized something was wrong. It’s just that I’m so used to that sort of thing—I mean, I grew up always realizing that Dad might have to take a phone call from the governor in the middle of our basketball games, and understanding that any person who felt less than welcomed and adored by any member of our family might cast the vote that would boot Dad out of office. I forgot that maybe everyone isn’t used to that sort of life, or comfortable with it.”
Lisa nodded. While she had always known that Scott’s family life was very different from her o
wn or that of her other friends, this was the first time she’d really heard him open up about it. It was strange to think about the way he’d grown up. Had he ever felt the way she had that evening? As if his parents cared less about him than they did about their constituents?
“I’m not making excuses, though,” Scott added hastily. “Like I said, I should have noticed you weren’t totally happy with how things were going between us.” He reached out and took both her hands in his own. “I just hope you’ll give me a chance to do better.”
Gazing into his worried blue eyes, Lisa couldn’t help nodding. “Of course,” she said, wondering if she was making a mistake.
Scott smiled and squeezed her hands. “Great,” he said. “Just remember—I can be pretty dense sometimes, as you already know. That means you need to tell me when you’re feeling bad about stuff like this instead of waiting for me to guess. Kick my butt about it if I don’t get it the first time. Agreed?”
“Well … okay.” Lisa tentatively returned his smile.
Scott dropped one of her hands and gently touched her cheek with his fingertips. “Look, Lisa,” he said softly. “I can’t promise to move away with you to a deserted island. You know that, right?”
Lisa nodded, shifting her feet on the hard asphalt parking lot. “I know.”
“But I can promise you this.” Scott traced the line of her jaw. “I’ll do my very best to let you know, whenever possible, that you’re number one with me. Because that’s the truth.”
Lisa sighed and leaned into his embrace as he wrapped his arms around her in a hug. She felt better than she had earlier, but thinking about her future with Scott still left her uneasy. What was really going to change? Scott could tell her she was number one at times like this—one of their rare moments alone. But was that really going to be enough to carry her through the other times?
She just didn’t know the answer to that. Tilting her head back as Scott bent down to kiss her, she did her best not to think about it anymore.
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About the Author
Bonnie Bryant is the author of over one hundred forty books about horses, including the Saddle Club series and its spinoffs, the Pony Tails series and the Pine Hollow series. Bryant did not know very much about horses before writing the first Saddle Club book in 1986, so she found herself learning right along with the characters she created. She has also written novels and movie novelizations under her married name, Bonnie Bryant Hiller. Bryant was born and raised in New York City, where she still lives today.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2001 by Bonnie Bryant Hiller
Cover design by Connie Gabbert
ISBN: 978-1-4976-5414-3
This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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Track Record Page 19