Kicking aside a splayed-out street map, Tessa flattened herself and peered into the dusty no-man’s-land under the couch. Where the heck was her phone?

It rang again, drowning out the sound of the television.

Since her date with Richard last week, she kept her phone ringer set to high. She certainly didn’t have a pager, and she didn’t want to miss him when he reached out next. Still, the deafening ringtone did her no good when she couldn’t actually find the darned thing.

She tossed aside the crocheted afghan on the couch. Success! Hitting pause on the remote, she froze the host of the Travel Network’s Mysteries of the Big Apple just as he bit into a cannoli. “Hello?”

“Are you free?”

“Well, good morning, and how are you too, Dr. Bruce.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.” He cleared his throat. “I have an hour. Can I take you to lunch?”

The brusque greeting rubbed her the wrong way. She hadn’t heard from him in three days—hadn’t seen him since their date last week—and travel books littered the floor. Nudging them into a pile with one foot, she blew out a breath. “Now?”

“I’ll be there in five.”

A note of impatience crept into his voice. He was in hospital mode. No time for courtesy, apparently. “Wait, where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise.”

She glanced at her cutoffs and State University tee. “Do I need to dress up?”

“No. But that’s all you’re getting.” He chuckled, and his tone softened. “I can’t wait to see you.”

Tapping the screen to end the call, she let him off the hook. Judge McCracken’s condition had stabilized but not improved, and Richard was working longer hours than usual. Arriving at the hospital in the morning, she often spotted his car in the same spot as the night before. He went home to sleep, right?

After a week in the volunteer office researching bands, dancers, and more for the newly christened “Swing into Summer Midsummer Ball,” she’d hit up the town library in preparation to visit Jenn. Plenty of tourist information was available online, but she loved the feel of a glossy travel book. Unlike Richard, Jennifer texted several times each day, pestering her with a hilarious parade of off-color memes. She couldn’t postpone her trip much longer.

She switched off the TV, took the stairs two by two, and pulled a sundress from her closet. Casual or no, she hated appearing anything less than put together around Richard. She had just applied a light sheen of lip balm and grabbed her backpack when the SUV rolled into the driveway. He laid on the horn, and she raced out the door. Breathless and flushed, she bounded into the front seat.

“Hello, gorgeous.”