Must Love Sandwiches (3 page)

Brilliant, red tomato slices peeked out from the toasted bread on her sandwich. She took a bite and closed her eyes. The combination of mashed avocado, pickled jalapenos and juicy tomato was perfect. The Deconstructed Guacamole on whole wheat. She opened her eyes again when Daisy thumped down on the bench across from her and said, “Let me guess. You went to The Sandwich Emporium again.”

Emma wiped a crumb from the side of her mouth. “I can’t help it. Their stuff is so good.”

Daisy snickered as she stuck her spork into a falafel patty. “Yeah. Their stuff does have some of the most amazing blue eyes I have ever seen. I think most of the ladies from the bank think the same thing.” She nodded at the crowd of well-dressed women clustered around the navy blue food truck. “Look at that. He has his own harem of groupies.”

“I was talking about the sandwiches, not the guy serving them. Besides, who are you to talk? I love how you turn into a vegan Cinderella at the stroke of noon.”

Trucks were parked around the perimeter of the park while smaller, mobile carts patrolled the interior paths. The enterprising food vendors offered everything from Asian dumplings to southern barbecue. Many people went to a different truck almost every day, sampling a wide variety of tasty creations, but she and Daisy always ordered from the same trucks.

“Hey, at least I’m woman enough to admit I like the cook more than his cooking.” Daisy shoveled a spoonful of cucumber salad into her mouth. “A bit of feta cheese would make this really great, but I’m dedicated to my quest to get a date with Mr. Veggie. So what if I have to give up bacon and cheese for an hour?”

“If you want, I can order bacon on my sandwich and we’ll sneak it onto your food.”

“No way! I’m not taking the chance. What if he decides to track me down and ask me out? I don’t think it would go over well if he finds me munching on smoked piggy.” Daisy raised her eyebrows. “Speaking of getting tracked down, have you noticed Brad has been staring at you?”

Emma plucked a speck of lint off her sleeve and twisted to drop it on the ground behind her. Brad met her gaze and smiled before he disappeared into the dark interior of his truck. “No, he isn’t. He’s taking orders. It just looks like he’s looking at us. Anyway, even if he was checking us out he’d be looking at your hair instead of me.” Daisy’s beautiful, blonde hair was now streaked with wide swaths of pink, blue and green. “When you said you were getting highlights I thought you’d go with platinum blonde or auburn. What’s up with all of the different colors?”

“I refuse to take criticism about my hair color from a woman who wears fairy wings in public. I’m an artist. I live in an artists’ colony. I like color, so now I have colorful hair. Nice try at changing the subject, though.”

“You can’t change a subject when it doesn’t exist. I don’t want anything to do with Brad. Max broke up with me less than a month ago and I’m really enjoying being single.”

“Blah, blah, blah. I like being single.” Daisy stole Emma’s dill pickle spear. “Pay no attention to the fact that I’m lying.”

“I am not lying. I don’t want another relationship. I’m not my mother.”

“Oh, I get it now. We’re back to your mommy issues. Come on, you aren’t turning into your mom.”

“How can you say that?” Emma smacked her fist on the tabletop. Several people who were standing nearby looked at her. “I get panic attacks if I go longer than two weeks without a date. My entire life has been a parade of boyfriends with some horrible blind dates thrown into the intermissions for variety. Since I’ve stayed with most guys for months at a time, instead of hours or days like my mom does, I never realized how much I’m like her. I really am swearing off guys for awhile. If my love life stays on this path I might as well move back to mom’s crummy trailer house. Maybe we could start going to her favorite dives together. Can you imagine the losers the two of us could attract? The mother and daughter freak show.”

“That was an interesting scenario, but way too dramatic for me. I think you just need to raise your standards, be a little more picky about who you go out with. If you set the bar high enough you can be like me and never go out with anybody anyway. Plus, all you have to do is ask and you know I’ll tell you what I think of a guy. That way you won’t end up with any more losers, like that video game designer who lived in his parents’ basement that you told me about right after I met you. Didn’t his parents try to pay him to move out and he still wouldn’t leave?” She ducked when Emma tossed a piece of crust at her. As soon as the bread hit the ground one of the many sea gulls patrolling the area snatched it up with a victorious squawk. “Think about it. The guys running these food trucks work hard every day, they’re definitely higher up on the male evolutionary chain than subterranean dwelling mama’s boys.”

Emma removed another piece of imaginary lint. When she turned Brad was handing an order to a woman with over-processed hair that looked like straw. She was lucky one of the marauding birds hadn’t landed on her head, trying to pluck her dry locks out to make a nest. Brad lingered in the window after the woman wandered away. He caught Emma looking at him again and waved. She pivoted back around to study the topographic map of crumbs on her paper plate.

Daisy stirred her bowl of pea soup in a figure-eight pattern. “I still like my idea of critiquing each other’s potential dates, even if I never get one and you don’t want one. The Vegan Valhalla truck is on the other side of the park today. Would you mind ordering a cup of soup or something from there, so you can check out Marshall? I’d like to know what you think of him before I embarrass myself by going into full-pursuit mode.”

“I think he chats and flirts with me a bit more than with his other customers.” Daisy kicked a pebble. It skittered across the sidewalk and bounced into the grass. Why would he flirt with her when there was always a bevy of svelte yoga bunnies around his truck, munching on carrot salad and lettuce wraps? “I don’t want to get my hopes up if I’m just being delusional. Please tell me what you think.”

Emma began skipping like a little girl and chanting, “Daisy likes a boy. Daisy likes a boy.” She stopped and put her hand on Daisy’s forearm. “I’m so happy for you. I bet I can count on one hand the number of dates you’ve had in the two years we’ve known each other. I’m sure he’s already fallen madly in love with you.”

“Madly in love is a dangerous place to be if you’re too blind to see the truth.”

“What does that mean?” Emma pointed to a bench. “Let’s sit down. You are one of the most confident people I know, except when it comes to men. You’re my best friend, so can you please tell me what’s going on? Why are you so skittish about dating?”

Daisy’s feet turned to lead as she trudged to the bench. It was time to fess up to her own stupidity, like a kid admitting to her mother that she had failed an exam. She slumped onto the bench as the familiar shame sapped her energy. Emma was her best friend now and it was time to tell her the deep, dark secret.

“Three years ago I was engaged.” She wound her scarf around her wrist like a tourniquet. “Shane was my first serious boyfriend. He said he loved me and didn’t care if I had acne and no boobs. I believed him. When he asked me to marry him I was over-the-moon happy. So I put on blinders and started planning the wedding.” She sighed. That time had been like a fantastic dream and for a long time she refused to wake up from it. “All of the signs were right in front of me, but I ignored them. I lied to myself and pretended he was the perfect guy, until I found him screwing my cousin in the back of his car at my family reunion. My rebound boyfriend was the guy who fixed the brakes on my car. I’m not even going to bother describing how much of a loser he was. Obviously, I have terrible judgment when it comes to boyfriends.”

A robin hopped around the base of a nearby tree. It cocked its head sideways like it was listening to Emma. “I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine how much pain you went through because of those relationships. Thank you for telling me. I feel like I know you so much better now. One more piece of the Daisy puzzle is in place.”

“I figured you should know why I’m dragging you across the park to buy pickled zucchini or whatever. I don’t trust myself and I need a second opinion on Marshall.” Did he really like her or was it a case of her love-starved imagination playing tricks? Emma would let her know. She couldn’t lie even if her life depended on it. If she thought Marshall was just a cunning salesman luring in a repeat customer she’d say so. “Now let’s get this over with. I could really go for a lamb kabob, so if I’m wasting my time hanging around Vegan Valhalla you need to let me know, okay?”

Emma stood and stretched her arms over her head. “That’s the carnivore I know and love. There’s just one problem. What if I think Marshall likes you as much as you like him? How are you going to deal with this whole fake vegan thing you’ve got going?”

She was right. If he was committed enough to the dietary regimen to open a food truck that was purely vegan, not a drop of honey or shred of real cheese to be found, what would he think if she admitted to eating meat? That hurdle would only have to be jumped if they got farther than flirting through the order window. “I don’t know. I’m not going to worry about that right now. Just give me your scorchingly honest opinion. Do you think he likes me or am I just dreaming?”

“Aye aye, captain. Will do.” Emma touched her forehead with the side of her hand in a salute. Vegan Valhalla was parked at the end of the path, straight ahead. “Proceeding to destination.”

A lump rose in Daisy’s throat. She swallowed it down. “The double pea soup was really good today. It had fresh and split peas in it. I think that is a pretty unique combination. Has Brad ever made anything like that? The cucumber boats are tasty, too. They take the seeds out and stuff them with a tomato and quinoa salad. But since you ate your lunch already maybe you could have some dessert. I saw that they have a chocolate and coconut avocado pudding today. I’ve never tried it, but it could be good.”

Emma tilted her head down and looked over the top of her sunglasses. “When we get to the window stop chattering to me and talk with Marshall. Don’t worry about what I order.”

“Sorry. I guess I’m just a bit nervous to find out what you think.”

“If this is just a bit, I don’t think I ever want to deal with you when you’re a nervous wreck.” She shook her head and laughed. “Now let’s go order something.”

It was almost 2 o’clock, so many people were done with their lunch break. Emma walked right up to Vegan Valhalla’s order window. Marshall slid the screen sideways. A breeze ruffled his wavy, blonde hair. He already had a golden tan, which made his jade green eyes even more stunning. She had never been to California, but she thought he looked like a surfer. He smiled at them and said, “Hello, Daisy’s friend and Daisy. What can I get for you?”

Emma studied the menu board for a few seconds then said, “I’ll take a chocolate pudding.”

Marshall’s gaze moved from Emma and landed on Daisy. There must have been a sudden temperature spike. A stream of sweat trickled down her back. Maybe she was getting sick. Now her mouth was dry and chalky. She croaked, “I’ll take a small glass of carrot, pineapple and lime juice.”

“Good choice, Daisy. It’s the first time I’ve tried that combination, but I think it’s very refreshing, especially on a warm afternoon like this.”

At least he mentioned it was warm, too, so maybe her body wasn’t completely short circuiting. Emma tapped her foot and nodded. He’d barely said two sentences and she already knew what he thought about her? The woman was some kind of man whisperer or savant. No wonder she had more men than she knew what to do with hanging around.

“Here you go.” Marshall handed a small tub to Emma and a large, foam cup to Daisy. “I made the juice extra large.”

Emma put her money on the counter. As he slid the coins into his palm Marshall shook his head at Daisy. “No charge. Let me know what you think of it tomorrow.”

Daisy poked a straw through the lid and took a sip. The juice was ice cold and the perfect balance of sweet and sour. “No need to wait for tomorrow. I love it. Light, sweet, tart and is there a bit of salt in it?”

“You figured out the secret ingredient.” Marshall applauded and leaned out of the window. “I add a pinch of sea salt to bring out the flavors.”

“It’s really great. I never would’ve thought to do that, but I guess that’s why you’re a chef and I’m not.”

Marshall’s smile made her toes curl in her hiking boots. He was ignoring beautiful, petite Emma and talking to her. That never happened. Ever. She had gotten used to being the invisible sidekick whenever they were out together. Most men only had eyes for Emma. This turnaround made her want to puke.

“Oh, stop. You’re going to make me blush.” He fanned himself with a printed take-out menu. “I’m just a cook who grew up in a family of hippies. I come from a long line of plant eaters, so I had to eat my veggies or go hungry. When I was a teen I started inventing my own recipes. I just cook what I think tastes good and most of the time other people think so too.”

“I wouldn’t come here if I didn’t love your food.” That was a whopper of a lie. She had just been drooling over grilled lamb. Everything from Vegan Valhalla was very flavorful, yet she often thought some cheese or a bit of crumbled bacon would take it over the top. She went there because of him, not his food. The scent of grilled sausage with peppers and onions drifted from a nearby truck. Her stomach growled.

“My days just aren’t the same if you don’t stop by. At least one good thing has finally come out of the extreme steak deprivation.”