“I can’t interrupt her date. I won’t.” He refused to be a douche and make an enjoyable evening for her all about him and his needs and demands. Even if the thought of her and Bo getting friendly was like an ax in the back of his head.

“Text her or leave a voice message,” Arlo suggested.

“No—you know what you need?” Drew said. “A grand gesture. That’s what Winona always talks about. Something big and showy to declare your love. Like a blimp. Or a flash mob.”

Tucker gaped at Drew. “Where am I going to get a flash mob in Credence?” He liked the idea of going big, and blimps were the kind of phallic a man could appreciate, but they weren’t exactly flush with them around here, either.

“Maybe we could get the old folks from the home involved? They love Della, and I know the ones who do the yoga class are pretty limber?”

“Bob Downey in spandex?” Arlo shudder. “Nobody needs to see that.”

“Okay, what about…getting Annie to bake an I love you message into one of her pies? Or writing a love letter and tying it around Betty’s neck. Or spreading rose petals from the front door of her house all the way to the bedroom and spelling I love you on the bedspread?”

Tucker and Arlo stared at Drew. “I’d have to sling his ass in jail for being a creepy fuck.”

“Yeah, good point.” Drew grimaced. “Then I think we should call Winona. I bet she’d have some ideas.”

“We’re not getting Winona in on this,” Arlo said, his voice brooking no argument.

Drew shot a doleful look in Arlo’s direction. “Fine, then,” he said. “Where are all your ideas?”

Arlo scowled, pressing his lips together as he obviously scoured his brain. Suddenly, his face brightened. “This whole thing…it started with Tinder, right?”

Tucker nodded. “Yeah.” Della sitting at his bar choosing a profile pic had been the catalyst for everything that had followed.

“So…let’s go back to the beginning.”

…

Della kicked off her shoes the next afternoon after work and sank onto the couch. Betty leaped up, being her usual enthusiastically affectionate self, and Della hugged her tight, trying not to think about her date with Bo last night being a total bust. It had been pleasant enough. She’d enjoyed his company, but her heart just hadn’t been in it. It hadn’t been in anything since last Saturday, when Tucker had stomped all over it with his casual dismissal of their relationship.

She’d been barely putting one foot in front of the other ever since. And she’d cried. A lot. But she’d been determined to go through with the date, to prove to Tucker that she was just fine.