Their date was set for Wednesday night – drinks at a bar for an early happy hour. A very noncommittal sort of date, and Lucy appreciated that David must be a pro. There was no need to subject themselves to a full dinner together if they didn’t hit it off at first – or if David didn’t want to talk about Marty.

Lucy took the express ferry to the mainland on Wednesday morning, allowing plenty of time before her date. There was no chance she’d let something as annoying as the weather or rough seas ruin her hopes of saving Marty.

She told no one her plan. That way, if it failed, they didn’t have to worry about it. Instead, she’d claimed to have a job interview. The perfect cover.

Lucy got to the bar early and scoped out a seat with some privacy. There weren’t many options, though, so she decided that the end of the bar would have to do.

As she waited, she reviewed David’s profile again. It said he liked golf, baseball, and sunsets. Lucy was more of a group fitness and sunrise kind of girl, but perhaps opposites would attract?

David arrived a few minutes early, waving when he spotted her.

“Lucy?” he asked, approaching with his hand outstretched.

She accepted his handshake and smiled. “Hi, David. It’s good to meet you.”

“You look nice,” he said, before adding, “absolutely stunning.”

“Oh, thank you,” she said. “You look nice, too.”

He ran a hand near his stiffly gelled hair. “Yeah, baby!”

Ah. An Austin Powers impression. Not a good one, but it was the thought that counted.

They took their seats. He was a cute guy. Maybe a little nerdy, but Lucy liked nerds. As long as they weren’t condescending.

“What are you drinking?” he asked, pulling a menu toward them.

She tapped her chin. “I had my eye on the cranberry sangria.”

“I don’t hold alcohol well myself, so I might just start with the soda.”

“Oh!” Lucy flipped the menu over to look at the non-alcoholic options. “I’ll get a soda too, then.”

“It’s not that I don’t drink,” he said. “It’s that I shouldn’t drink.”

Lucy wasn’t sure how to respond to that. She had plenty of friends who didn’t do well with alcohol, and she didn’t even like drinking all that much herself.

If he’d felt that way, though, perhaps he shouldn’t have suggested a bar for their date?

He didn’t wait for her response. “I mean, I do drink, but I tend to go too far. You know, throwing up, peeing in public, the works. I’ll save that for our second date.”

Charming. “Got it.”

He put in an order for a cherry coke, and Lucy asked for a root beer float. It was still a night out – she needed to have a little fun.