Abby nodded. “Sorry. I guess you can see that on the navigation screen. I know my way there blindfolded, but I always like to have the map up.”

“So what about my dirty knees?”

Abby sighed. “Sharon and I were talking about my dilemma of not being able to find a date and she pointed you out. And I’d seen you before. Anyway, you were having lunch like we were. And…”

“And I had dirty knees?”

“Yes. And I basically dismissed you for that reason alone. And now I feel terrible about it.”

Nic didn’t seem upset by her confession. No, she smiled at her instead. “I knew you’d been checking me out. I told you I’d seen you.”

“I was not checking you out!”

“No? Well, I guess I shouldn’t have been mingling there with you all anyway. Probably should have stayed in my truck until after the lunch crowd.”

She didn’t know Nic well enough at all to try to read her, but the tone of her voice—while sounding the same—had a wounded feel to it. It was as if Nic was saying she should have stayed in her truck where she belonged. She likened it to her schoolyard days where everyone would be playing and there, on the fringes, stood Kara Butka—the “butt” of all their jokes—alone and unwelcome, never invited to join in. It simply tugged at her heart, and she reached across the console and touched Nic’s arm.

“Please forgive me for being so…well, so shallow,” she said, thinking of her earlier word. “I’d like to say that’s not who I am, but…”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I’ll try not to embarrass you with my lowly standing.”

She released her arm, not knowing if Nic was teasing or not. “You won’t embarrass me. I think it’ll be fun. It’ll certainly confuse them all, that’s for sure.”

“I’m the opposite of Holly, in other words.”

“The complete opposite.” She smiled at her then. “And that’s a good thing, I think.”

The truth was, last year at Christmas, she wasn’t really over Holly. Oh, she said she was, and she pretended that she was, but once she was around her again, Holly had turned on the charm and Abby had found herself responding to her once again. She’d pushed aside the fact that Holly was sleeping with her brother. She’d purposefully shoved the memory of the breakup scene to the back of her mind. Because Holly was attractive and dynamic, and she was flirting with her. And when Holly made it clear that she wanted to sleep with her, Abby only half-heartedly fought it. Oh, hell, that’s a lie. She didn’t fight it at all.