Free Third Time's a Charm by Virginia Smith Page A

enjoyed by every Kentuckian who lived within a hundred-mile radius of Lexington—U.K. basketball. His closet was full of blue and white.
    Ryan took the golf shirt. “Thanks.” He pulled it over his head, then stepped back into the bathroom to run the comb through his hair.
    Loralee leaned against the doorjamb. “So if she’s from Lexington, what’s she doing here?”
    “Her mom lives in Danville.”
    “Really? What’s her name?”
    Ryan didn’t answer immediately. He put Walt’s toiletries back in the medicine chest and closed the door. When he turned, Loralee had folded her hands atop her protruding belly and stood watching him without any sign of moving to let him pass until he satisfied her curiosity.
    Where was the harm? “Her name is Tori Sanderson. Her mom’s a nurse at the hospital in Danville.”
    Loralee’s mouth flew open. “You mean Joan Sanderson’s sister? I know her!”
    Great. “Yeah? How do you know Tori?”
    “Well, I don’t know her, but I used to know Joan a little. She played the clarinet, just like me. We were at band competitions together.”
    Joan and Ryan and Loralee were all the same age, though they’d attended three different high schools. Ryan had been vaguely aware of Joan during school, but only as someone with whom he occasionally crossed paths when he hung out with the guys at the Sonic or in the shopping center parking lot. Loralee had grown up fifteen miles away, in Harrodsburg, and Ryan had never even heard of her until Walt introduced them. And he didn’t know Tori at all until he met her at church.
    “Okay, so you know her.” Ryan put a hand on each of Loralee’s shoulders and pushed her gently backward so he could squeeze past. “Now I’ve got to go. It isn’t nice to leave a girl hanging out at a restaurant by herself.”
    Loralee followed him to the front door. “Have fun. Do you want to fetch her out here for supper sometime?”
    Ryan trotted down the metal stairs and then turned to give his sister-in-law an exasperated grimace. “I’m taking her for coffee. We’re a long way away from a family dinner, okay?”
    Loralee raised her hands. “Just asking!”
    Yeah, right. And the next thing he knew, she’d be just fishing for details about his coffee date, and then just nagging about the next date, and then just insisting that he bring Tori home to meet everyone. Which was exactly why he hadn’t wanted to mention her at all.
    “Goodbye, Loralee.” He used the sternest tone he could to put an end to the discussion. Hopefully, she’d get the point. But he doubted it.

5
    Tori stepped through the door of The Hub Coffee House on the corner of Main and Third Streets, and paused on the mat to inhale the rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Hmmm. Was there a smell anywhere in the world better than that? The dark mustard-colored walls held giant chalkboards displaying the various coffees and teas, as well as specialty sandwiches and soups. An industrial-sized espresso machine hissed on the other side of a wood counter crowded with wrapped biscotti and pastries on display. Behind a cash register, a barista in a maroon shirt punched buttons as a customer on this side of the counter spoke in a voice low enough to be drowned out by the gurgle of the milk steamer.
    Tori scanned the shop’s interior and experienced a flash of irritation. She’d beaten Ryan here. Which meant she’d be the one waiting for him, when it ought to be the other way around. Hard to make an impressive entrance when the audience hadn’t arrived yet. She pressed her lips together and felt them slide with the layer of shiny pink gloss she applied in the car at a stoplight on the way over. When she turned her head, a stray curl bounced at the corner of her eye. She grasped it between a thumb and forefinger and carefully tucked it back in place.
    The lone customer stepped away from the counter and the barista turned a questioning glance her way. Tori flashed a quick smile and focused her