“Mom.” Rick rubbed at his head, shooting Vivian an apologetic look.
Vivian just laughed again. She understood what mothers were like and wasn’t about to take it seriously. “Thank you. I appreciate the compliments.” She glanced at her smart watch and was shocked by how late it was. “Actually, I better get going. It was really nice to meet you, Mrs. Grant.”
“It was wonderful to meet you too. Thanks for the company. Hopefully I’ll see you again.”
Vivian smiled and waved, making sure to include Rick in the farewell. Then she started walking away from them.
She’d had a great time, and she’d loved getting to know a new side of Rick. She’d never pictured him as a son before, but he was clearly a good one.
But the encounter had prompted even more of the feelings she was trying to get rid of.
One thing was clear. She needed her older-man plan more than ever.
THE FOLLOWING DAY WAS Thursday, which was one of the two weekdays Vivian didn’t teach classes and kept free of appointments so she would have no excuse not to focus on her dissertation. By nine-thirty, she made herself trudge over to the university library, and she only spun her wheels for about forty-five minutes before she actually started to work.
Her dissertation was on Appalachian storytelling, so a lot of her work had involved traveling to various mountain communities to collect and analyze stories and folk tales. That part she loved and already had more than enough content for two or three dissertations. But unfortunately she also had to cover all the previous research on her topic, so she had to get through this dreaded chapter before she moved on.
To her surprise, she actually got a lot done today, and it was three in the afternoon before she even thought about lunch. Since she was at a good stopping point, she walked across campus to wait for Britt, who would be getting out of one of her classes soon.
Britt was a cute little blonde with a perpetually sunny disposition. She’d taught third grade for a few years after college but had gone back to graduate school last year to get her doctorate in Educational Administration.
She was smiling as usual when she came strolling out of the building with a couple of other women in her cohort. She waved and grinned when she saw Vivian waiting, as if seeing her was the best thing to happen all day.
That was one of the great things about Britt. She radiated pure, bright, genuine joy.
“I thought you were in the library today,” Britt said as she approached.
“I was. But I got a lot done, and my eyes were blurring over, so I’m calling it quits for today.”
“Have you eaten? I’m about to starve to death.”
“Me too. I skipped lunch. I was going to grab something from Coble on the way home.”
“Perfect. I’ll come too.” Britt’s brown eyes flashed with knowing amusement. “And my visit isn’t prompted by the hopes of seeing a certain somewhere who likes to do his work there.”
Vivian rolled her eyes. “That’s not why I like to go. I was hanging out there long before Rick started showing up.”
“I suppose. But I still think you should just ask him out instead of going through this convoluted strategy to get over him.”
“It’s not a convoluted strategy. It’s a fine plan. And I’ve told you and Megan over and over that I’m not going to ask him out. I made it clear I was interested, and he made no move on me at all. I’m not going to embarrass both of us and ruin our friendship by making things weird.”
“And you don’t think asking him to set you up with all his old-man friends isn’t going to make things weird?”
“No, I don’t. I think it’s a good way for me to get better perspective. Plus, I do want to try older men. I want someone who is smart and thoughtful and mature and has his life together and has had enough life experience to know what he’s doing.” Vivian sighed as they made their way across the street. “I want him to look at me with that kind of weight of experience that proves he’s not a boy anymore.”
When Britt didn’t answer, Vivian flashed her a quick look. Saw the corners of Britt’s mouth were twitching.
“What?” she demanded.
“Vivian, I’m sorry, but this fictional older man you’re imagining sounds an awful lot like Rick himself. Instead of trying to find a man who is exactly like Rick, why don’t you just try to get Rick himself.”
“I tried. I failed. I can’t make him interested in me.”
“I still think he might be—”
“Stop it. Please.” Vivian’s tone wasn’t sharp. Rather, it was beseeching. “I know you and Megan are trying to help, and I understand why you think it would make sense for me to make one more play for him. But I’ve made up my mind. I want to move on. Meeting his mom last night really rattled me, and I can’t keep letting that happen. I don’t want to be hanging around emotionally at his mercy. I’m going to get over him, and finding someone else I like seems like the best way to do that.”
Britt was quiet for a moment. Then she nodded. “Okay. I get it. I won’t tease you about him again. And you never know. Maybe there is another guy out there who will catch your interest. Plus, you’re doing just fine on your own.”
“I know. I was always perfectly happy being single until last year. For some reason, this crush on Rick knocked me over. But I’m getting up now. I’m going to take active steps to make things better for me, and my older-man plan is one way I’m going to do it.”
“Good. I understand now, and I fully support it. The older-man plan isn’t really aimed at getting a man. It’s aimed at being content and confident in yourself again. It has my endorsement."
"Thank you."
They’d almost reached the coffee shop now. They just needed to cross one more of the downtown streets and go half a block. At this time of the afternoon, the sidewalks were always filled with college students coming and going, so they had to maneuver around a few groups to get to the front door.
To Vivian’s relief, it wasn’t crowded. Only one person was waiting at the counter, and about a third of the tables were taken.
Her heart dropped when she realized Rick wasn’t there.
Shit.
She shouldn’t be so disappointed about his absence.
“He might show up,” Britt said softly.
“It’s fine. No big deal. I just wanted to ask him about his friends. But there’s no hurry, I guess.”
“No. There’s not.” Britt was giving her a sidelong look, but she didn’t say anything else. She grinned and waved at Megan, who was working behind the counter.
After the person in front of them was served, they spent a couple of minutes chatting with Megan before they gave their order. Then Britt went to pester Nash in the back office—she seemed to enjoy annoying the perpetual grump with her unrelenting cheerfulness—and Megan murmured to Vivian, “Rick has been here most of the day. He left about an hour ago, but I think he was just going to take a walk. He left his stuff behind the counter here, so he’ll definitely be back.”
“Okay. That’s good. But it’s fine either way.” Vivian licked her lips and glanced toward the door. “If he doesn’t have any friends to introduce me to, then I’ll just get back on the dating apps and set my age range older than I used to.”