Free North Dakota Weddings by Elizabeth Goddard Page B

rhubarb prickled. “Shouldn’t we eat dinner first?”
    Andi worked to swallow her mouthful of pie. “I thought you were the king of junk food?”
    Vance enjoyed watching Andi stuff her face with pie. “Once in a while, I get hungry for real food.”
    Music boomed from the nearby carnival. Elisa handed Vance her unfinished pie. “Here, you can have this.”
    Vance tossed it in the garbage can next to him.
    “Hey sis, I see some friends. I’m going to hang out.”
    Irritation flashed in Andi’s eyes. “Oh no you don’t.”
    Elisa glared, then looked at Vance and softened. “But I want to go on the rides.”
    “We’re here because Vance wanted dinner, remember? Some of the restaurants offer sample meals made from rhubarb. Let’s walk across the street to the corner of Main and Houser. Otto’s has steaks.”
    Vance grinned, his mouth watering at the thought of prime rib. “Can I get that without rhubarb?”
    Andi laughed and the smile Vance liked almost peeked through. Oh yeah, she was definitely loosening up. Once inside Otto’s, a hostess showed them to a booth where Andi and Elisa took their seats opposite each other. There was an awkward moment when he needed to decide where to sit.
    Finally, he slid next to Elisa, facing Andi. “This way I can see your pretty face.”
    “Go, Andi. Vance thinks you’re pretty,” Elisa said.
    Rather than killing her sister with a glare, as Vance would have expected, Andi kept her eyes on the menu, though a light shade of pink rose in her cheeks.
    Andi shy and embarrassed because of him? Was he delusional that a girl like her could like a guy like him? Or could he relish the twist of heat in his stomach?
    The waiter brought their drinks and they ordered. Andi took a sip of her water with lemon. Taking her time, she shared about growing up in the area. In her voice, he heard a sense of pride mingled with past hurts.
    “Tell me, how did you end up in North Dakota all the way from Texas?” she asked.
    He would have loved to hear more about her, but apparently she was ready to turn the topic to him.
    Funny, he couldn’t run from thoughts of ANND or Peter even at a Rhubarb Festival. “My college roommate and I had a competition to see who would start his own company first. Four years later, I got a call to work for him in Fargo—that was last year. I think maybe he just wanted to rub my face in it, but I was tired of working as one of hundreds of droids in a large Texas company. Plus, he offered me the opportunity of a lifetime.”
    Peter had plenty of talented programmers but had wanted Vance to join him. Better to be a big fish in a small pond, Vance’s dad always said.
    “So what do you do exactly?” Andi asked.
    “Let me guess. It has to be something related to computers.” Elisa had her back to the wall, sitting sideways in the booth.
    Vance laughed. “Why do you say that?”
    Their waiter brought their food and set plates before each of them.
    Elisa tore a chicken strip in half and dipped it into rhubarb and horseradish sauce. “You just have that look about you.”
    Vance glanced at Andi, trying to read her. Andi chewed her food while bearing a friendly smirk.
    “So, you, too, huh?”
    Vance thought he’d seen a subtle nod, but Andi just smiled.
    Elisa laughed. “Andi’s last boyfriend was a geek.”
    Andi scoured her sister with her gaze, then she looked at Vance. Fortunately her expression softened. “You never did answer my question. What do you do?”
    Vance savored a bite of his medium-rare prime rib. “You know, they really do have some of the best steak in North Dakota. I’ll give you that.”
    “Yeah, I agree. What do you do?” Andi wasn’t going to let it go.
    He couldn’t exactly tell them all the secret stuff. “I work for a data mining company. You were right, too.” He glanced at Elisa. “I’m a programmer. I like to call it software engineer—sounds better.”
    Elisa leaned closer. “What’s data mining?”
    “Leave the man