Labor of Love Read online

No, my coming here had more to do with putting distance between me and home. Getting away, far away, worked for me. I had no desire to run into my ex-boyfriend. I was hoping that before school started his family would move to Alaska or Siberia. Never seeing him again would totally work for me.

  Nudging me, Amber whispered, “He has a really nice smile.” She nodded at the guy behind the counter.

  Okay, great. Amber, the skeptic, was suddenly a believer. I touched the brim of my white cap. “No hat.”

  I was a little taller than she was, and I wasn’t at all stocky. I wasn’t as tall or thin as Jenna, either. If we were in a fairy tale, I’d be the one who was just right—hey, it’s my fairy tale.

  “Maybe he just doesn’t wear it when he’s working,” Amber said.

  Maybe.

  “Are you a Kansas City Chiefs fan?” Amber asked the guy as he set our order on the counter.

  He scowled, as if he’d been insulted. “Are you kidding? Saints.”

  “Oh, right.” She gave me a look that said, What’s his problem?

  His problem was probably that he was working and we weren’t. I knew the feeling.

  We ordered sweetened tea, paid for our order, and sat at a nearby table.

  “Okay, so he wasn’t the one,” Amber said.

  “There is no ‘the one,’” I assured her, before sipping my tea. Nothing is better than sweetened tea on a hot day. I took a bite of my éclair. The filling was a combination of custard and cream, with a wicked amount of chocolate on top. Really good.

  “Ohmigod!” Amber exclaimed, after taking her first bite of praline. “This is the best I’ve ever tasted. It just melted in my mouth.”

  “I think New Orleans is famous for its pralines,” Jenna said.

  “Its pralines, its music, its voodoo, its beads. We’re going to have so much fun,” I said.

  “It’ll be the best summer ever,” Jenna admitted.

  “Although I think you’re wrong to swear off guys,” Amber said. “It’s like my dad is always saying: When you fall off the horse, the best thing to do is get back in the saddle.”

  I started shaking my head. We’d spent hours discussing the unfairness of it all. All I really wanted to do now was escape into summer.

  “I think Amber’s right,” Jenna said. “Look, we’re going to be here for six weeks. We’re bound to meet guys, guys who are available. Why not hook up with one? Just for fun, just to have someone to do something with? Have a summer fling? Get Drew out of your system, completely and absolutely.”

  Why not? Because it was scary to think about liking someone new, knowing how much he could hurt me. I didn’t know if I could do a casual relationship, if I could keep my heart from getting involved. I’d fallen for Drew really fast. And who could blame me? I mean, how many guys these days bring a girl flowers on their first date? And, okay, it was only three flowers, and I think he’d plucked them from my mom’s garden, but still—the thought counted.

  “Look, Drew was a jerk,” Amber said. “Chad would never hurt me like that. And I don’t care what the psychic said. He’s the one. I totally love him.”

  “Because you totally love him, I should hook up with somebody?” Amber is one of my best friends and I love her, but sometimes I can’t follow her thought process. Like the comment about the Corning Ware.

  “No, I’m just pointing out that not all guys are going to do something to hurt us.”

  “Just don’t say absolutely not,” Jenna said. “Keep yourself open to the possibility that you could hook up this summer—temporarily anyway.”

  “But we’re not here to hook up. We’re here on a mission.”

  “But I don’t see why we can’t combine guys and good works. I mean, think about it. Wouldn’t it be the sweetest revenge, to post pictures of you with a hottie on my MySpace page? Drew would know you were totally over him.”

  “I don’t care what he knows.” Okay, a part of me still did. Yes, he was a jerk; yes, he’d broken my heart. But for a while he’d been everything. He was the one who sat with me in the hospital waiting room when my grandma was sick—even though my parents were there. He was the first one I called when I passed my driver’s test. He was the one who got up at five in the morning to be first in line at the electronics store when their weekly shipment came in so he could give me a Wii for my birthday—because I wanted one so badly. Unfortunately I couldn’t play it now without thinking of him, so I’d stopped using it. Drew and I did so much together, he was a part of so many things that the memories formed a web, connecting everything and making me feel trapped.

  “I’m not hooking up with anyone. That’s final,” I said.

  Jenna shrugged. “Fine. Don’t. But I plan to.” Having finished her carrot cake, she reached into the box and took out a praline. “I mean, I’ve never even had a date.”

  “The guys at school are so stupid,” Amber said.

  Jenna smiled. “I guess.”

  “I think you both should get boyfriends while we’re here,” Amber said.

  How many times did I have to say no?

  “If we did, you’d be hanging out alone,” I felt compelled to point out.

  “Don’t worry about me,” Amber said. “I’ll always find someone to hang with. As my dad says, I’ve never met a stranger.”

  “I’ve got a crazy idea.” Jenna leaned forward, her blue eyes twinkling. “We should go to a voodoo shop and have a hex put on Drew and get a love potion for me.”

  “No thanks. I’m still freaked out about the psychic reading,” Amber said. “I’m not sure if I’m ready for voodoo rituals.”

  The bakery door opened and three guys wearing sunglasses sauntered in. They looked a little older than us. College guys, probably. It looked like they hadn’t shaved in a couple of days. Scruffy—but in a sexy kind of way.

  They were wearing cargo shorts, Birkenstocks, and wrinkled T-shirts. They grinned at us as they walked by our table. The one in the middle had a really, really nice smile.

  He was also wearing a red cap.

  A red cap with a Kansas City Chiefs logo on it.

  Chapter 2

  “Ohmigod, that’s your guy!” Jenna whispered excitedly.

  It couldn’t be. It just couldn’t be.

  I was trying not to hyperventilate, trying not to lose it. There were probably a hundred guys in the city wearing that hat. Maybe a Kansas City Chiefs’ fanatics convention was going on. Or a preseason game. Was it time for preseason games yet?

  I shook my head fast. “No, he’s not.”

  Amber leaned across the table and said in a low voice, “Is anyone else totally freaking out here?”

  “Don’t you think he’s her guy?” Jenna asked.

  “Well, yeah! Absolutely.”

  “It’s just coincidence.” I sounded breathless. My heart was pounding hard.

  “I’d buy into that if he was wearing a Saints hat. But Kansas City? Why would he be wearing that?” Jenna asked.

  “Maybe he’s from Kansas City.”

  “But what are the odds—”

  “Look, people visit here from all over. Saraphina probably saw him at some point, and he stayed on her mind and when she was tapping into things, she tapped into her own memory, not my future.”

  That was the logical explanation, and I liked logical.

  “He’d sure stay on my mind,” Amber said. “He’s totally hot.”

  Her brown eyes widened. “Oh gosh, don’t tell Chad I noticed another guy. He would so not understand.”

  “You don’t think guys with girlfriends notice other girls?” Jenna asked.

  “Once you’re with someone, that should be your focus,” Amber said, but she didn’t sound as though she was totally convinced—and she was still eyeing the guys at the counter, with almost as much interest as she had for the pralines.

  “My brother says even though he’s ordered the entrée, he can still look over the menu,” Jenna said.

  Her brother—the personal trainer—was five or six ye