He’d pulled a bottle of wine out of the mini-bar and poured them each a glass. “Salut.”

They both took a sip of the wine, then he bit into his hot dog. Chili ran down his chin. He swept at it with the napkin. “This is a darn good dog.”

“Oh, yeah. We’re known for them,” she said through a mouthful.

“So are you going to be spending your Valentine’s Day babysitting me?”

“If you make it that far,” she challenged.

“That wasn’t nice.” He put his hot dog down and took another swallow of wine. “I’ll make it to the end. Count on it.”

“Good. It pays me a hundred bucks a day plus per diem for meals. Plus I get bonuses the farther you get.”

“Not bad money. I guess you can always celebrate Valentine’s Day the day after. Way easier to get reservations then anyway.”

“I’m not big on roses and candy anyway, and there’s no one special waiting for me at home. Remember the ex I was talking about?”

“Maybe he’ll surprise you and call.”

Lori balled up the paper boat the hot dog had been in and tossed it at Andrew. “What makes you think I want him to?”

He caught the paper wad in the air and leveled a stare in her direction. “Because you’re mad.” He pointed a finger at her. “That means you miss him. Which means there’s still a chance.” His ears tingled. If he listened to his own advice, then there was a chance for him with Kelly. She was still mad. Had even said so.

He laid down his hot dog, washing down the bite with another sip of wine. Good news. There is a chance, albeit slim, for me after all.

“I need to add another name to my important phone call list.”

Lori pulled the list out of her tote bag and handed it to him. “Sure. Here you go.”

He held the pen in his hand. This was totally wishful thinking, but if she did call…he wanted to know. He wrote Need Cookies on the phone list.

“Need cookies?” Lori asked. “Seriously? Is this a joke to get dessert?”

“No. It’s a real person.” Kelly was still in his phone under the nickname he’d given her in high school.

“This wouldn’t happen to be the girl you should have told she was special, now would it?”

“Yeah. A nickname. We were in high school, and she’d been raising money to go to cheerleading camp. I’ll never forget that day. It was the first time I’d noticed her as a girl, and not just a friend. We’d grown up together. You know how that is.”

“Sure do. I’m from a small town too.”