Free Sweet Misfortune: A Novel by Kevin Alan Milne Page A

an angle and fiddled with a long strand of hair. She kept her eyes locked on his. “Good point. The only thing that comes to mind is getting set up on a blind date by your foster mother.” She smiled warmly, then turned her attention once more to her plate of food.
    Garrett’s second sugar packet arrived at the table just as they were finishing dessert. They could both see from where they sat that it was filled with handwritten words, and Garrett knew only a few of them were his own.
    “Are you going to pick it up?” Sophie asked. “Or can I make it three for three?”
    “Go ahead. But just to warn you, this one’s a little bit different than the others.”
    She didn’t say anything but gave him a quizzical look that spoke volumes.
    Here goes nothing
, Garrett thought.
    Sophie picked it up and cupped it in her hands, studying both sides for what felt like an eternity, though in reality it was probably under ten seconds. Finally she spoke. “I take it you’re planning a date with someone?”
    He grinned. “As a matter of fact, I am.”
    She raised her eyebrows. “Someone special?”
    He thought for a moment about Olivia’s counsel. “A real gem, near as I can tell.”
    “Wow. Sounds great. Have you asked her out yet?”
    “No, I haven’t gotten that far.”
    Sophie was smiling, which Garrett found encouraging. “So this little sugar-packet survey is intended to help you plan your next date with this ‘special gem’? Is that right?”
    “That was the general idea, yes. Are there any good ones?”
    She laughed. “Shall I read what it says?”
    He smiled back and nodded. “Yes, please.”
    Sophie tucked more hair behind her ear, and then read the question Garrett had written at the top of the sugar packet. “ ‘Ideas for a second date?’ ” She looked up at him. “Just to let you know, a couple of the responses—I’m guessing from Rodney and company—are fairly crude. Can I skip over those? I’m sure your special someone wouldn’t agree to them anyway.”
    “By all means, filter out the junk.”
    “Great,” she said, and then started over. “ ‘Ideas for a second date?’ ” She paused once more, clearing her throat. “And I quote, ‘Three Bs: Bowl, Bar, Beer.’ ”
    “That could be Rodney, too,” quipped Garrett.
    She snickered. “No doubt. Next up, ‘Dinner Cruise on Puget Sound.’ Sounds nice. ‘Laser Tag.’ Hmmm. I’m guessing a teenage boy wrote that one. This next one is very small print, but I think it says, ‘Dinner and a movie.’ Completely overdone, if you ask me. The next one cracks me up. ‘Meet the parents!’ Right.” She flipped the sugar over. “ ‘Hike Mt. Rainier.’ Yikes, not this time of year. ‘Hot tubbing.’ Not on the second date. And finally, ‘Spend an entire evening gazing at the stars.’ I’m sure a woman wrote that one.” Sophie looked up from the sugar in her hand and smiled.
    “Why is that one from a woman?”
    “Because it’s the only suggestion that is even remotely romantic.”
    “Ah. So romance is important?”
    “Romance is
everything
. I’m willing to bet your ladyfriend wants a man who’s tender and thoughtful and does all the little things that are important. A truly romantic man must be willing to do whatever it takes to win the lady’s heart.”
    “Oh? And then what? Ride off into the sunset?”
    She lowered her chin and smiled. “Something like that.”
    “Romance sounds daunting,” he commented, still wearing his giant, dimpled smile. “So if I had to pick something from this list for my next date, you’d definitely go with stargazing?”
    She winked. “Definitely.”
    Andre showed up then with Garrett’s credit card and a receipt, and thanked them for coming. The way he stood there waiting, Sophie and Garrett gathered that it was time for them to leave. Andre led them to the main elevator, and forty-three seconds later they were back down on Planet Earth.
    “Sophie,” Garrett said, before they reached the