For now, she just wanted to feel better.
“Dinner will be ready in an hour—your dad’s grilling burgers. Bring your appetite because he bought way too much for three people.”
“Maybe she can invite Ray,” Molly said.
“I will not be inviting anyone, even it if means I’m eating burgers for a week.”
Sabrina could tell her mom and Molly weren’t going to let it go. She’d have to leave and knew the perfect way to kill an hour and improve her day—it had worked since high school. In her room, she grabbed two five-dollar bills from her tip jug, notecards, and a pen, then headed to the library.
* * *
Ray stacked two more cookbooks onto a nearby table at the local library, careful to square them so they wouldn’t topple and disturb the serene afternoon. Deep in the 600s, he’d discovered a trove of regional cookbooks, which he planned to scour for Wisconsin recipes he wanted to master. First up was a beer-cheese soup. Already thinking about the different cheeses he wanted to try, he picked up his stack and headed toward the checkout, not noticing the leg sticking out from the N-through-T row of fiction. Instinct pulled back his foot as soon as it encountered uneven ground, but his other leg had already lifted off. His only option was to crumple sideways or risk hurting the leg’s owner. Books flew out of his hands and slid across the floor—literary blood spatter. His left elbow caught the brunt of his weight, shooting pain like lightning up his arm. Damn. He needed that arm.
“I’m so sorry,” said a now-familiar voice.
He pushed his glasses back into place, looked over at the woman speaking to him, and smiled. Sabrina. She was on her knees next to him.
“Hey,” Ray said, pushing himself up and moving his arm to test the extent of damage. He could move it, though it smarted when he extended it fully. It would be tender, but nothing permanent. Now he could focus on what was important—Sabrina in front of him.
“You okay?” she said.
“I’ll be fine once I get some ice on it.”
Surely she could see this was some kind of sign. Three random meet-ups, even in this small town, showed they had something in common. The universe wanted them to get to know each other.
She sat back on her heels, adding more distance between them—clearly not seeing the same message. She slid some paper into a book and set it back on the shelf. He noted the title, but didn’t comment. If she was up to something, he could figure it out later.
“Let me help,” she said, picking up some of the books he’d dropped. There were more notecards in her jeans’ back pocket.
She retrieved the few books nearest him. Careful not to touch him when she set the books in his hands, her eyes scanned the titles.
“I like to try new recipes. I’m mastering Wisconsin cuisine.” Ray wanted to keep her talking, discover more about her and why she kept popping up wherever he went.
“Wisconsin cuisine? Is that even a thing?” Sabrina asked.
He smiled. “Have some state pride. You know, kringle, booyah, fish boils, cheese curds. Do you have a favorite?”
Sabrina took a few breaths before responding.
“Kringle . . . and anything with cheese.” A tiny smile curved her lips.
“Then I’ll start there.” Ray smiled, hoping she’d relax around him. “Can I count on you to be a guinea pig? I’ll need someone to tell me if I get it wrong.”
“Sure?”
She didn’t look sure. She rubbed her hands over her arms and checked over her shoulder as if confirming that the path for retreat was clear. He didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.
“Thanks for helping pick up the books. I’d better check these out. See you soon.” He pointed to the circulation desk.
“Sorry again. For tripping you.”
“Always a pleasure to see you, even if I get a few bruises.”
She glanced up at him, her own bruises surrounding her eyes.
“Seems to be a theme with us,” Sabrina said.
Her hands shook slightly before she shoved them into her pockets.
He unsettled her, but not enough that she couldn’t crack a joke. Progress.
Seeing her chance, Sabrina waved and escaped before he could say anything else. He waited to make sure she was really gone, then set his books on the floor, stretching his arm again in the process to test for a more serious injury. He slid out the book that Sabrina had been holding and opened it up to the piece of paper.
It was an anonymous note for whomever checked out the book next along with five dollars.
Here’s a treat for someone with exceptional taste in books.
Sabrina was leaving surprises for readers in books. With her rejected credit card, he doubted she had the spare money, but she did it anyway. Why?
She was a breath of fresh air compared to the women his mom set him up with. Ever since he’d first seen Sabrina covered in margarita, a tension had eased inside him. He could breathe, just like when he stood outside on the deck of his supper club. And somehow each new detail he uncovered about Sabrina intrigued him even more.
9
“I’m home!” Sabrina shouted as the screen door slammed behind her and she pulled herself up the handful of steps into the kitchen. Since seeing Ray at the library, she’d managed to have a few long but uneventful days at work with no surprise run-ins with Ray or his adorable glasses and easy smile. Sigh. Between that and the embarrassing Walmart incident, she could never see him again. So far, so good.
In the kitchen, her mom, wearing a navy-blue-and-white-gingham sleeveless dress with its collar turned up and a white sweater wrapped around her shoulders, looked ready for a night of drinking gin rickeys at a country club. Molly wore the same outfit, except in bright-pink-and-white gingham and with a faint blur around her. Both sat at the kitchen table with another woman. The hazy third woman was in her midfifties, with unnaturally red hair, light brown and gray at the roots, that clashed with a thin pale-pink cotton dress similar to a hospital gown. Her arms waved as she spoke, while her mom and Molly listened closely to her story. Sabrina wanted to flop onto her bed, but that was clearly not going to happen.
At the stove, her dad stirred a pot with a wooden spoon, oblivious to the side of the conversation he couldn’t hear. Sabrina kissed him on the cheek and peeked into the saucepan. Homemade fudge sauce. Her favorite. She stuck her finger in it and sucked the chocolate off.
“There’s ice cream in the freezer. YOLO-gurt, right?” her dad said.
Sabrina rolled her eyes but gave her dad another kiss.
“Who’s that?” Sabrina whispered to him. She planned to get up to her room before her mom could wrangle her.