...then comes lunch.

Madeline stepped forward, putting her hand on Mary’s shoulder. “Just…try to keep an open mind come Friday. Ann will be there, and I’ll be in the background helping out. If you need us for any reason, we will be right there with you. But you never know…you could actually end up enjoying being on the same team.”

Mary sighed. She could not help but admit that when it came to the big picture, there was little evidence that Tom Hayward was anything other than a stand up guy. She just didn’t feel like acknowledging that to them. 

She also didn’t want to acknowledge the little flip her stomach had done when she’d seen Tom roll up his sleeves to play darts at the pub the other night. It felt horribly objectifying considering how little she actually knew of him.

Still. Nice guy or not, she wasn’t convinced Ann and Madeline were right about Tom’s perception of her. Their interactions, limited as they were, all pointed to the same conclusion: he didn’t want anything to do with her. Avoiding Tom simply made life easier for both of them. 

Unfortunately, Mary also knew that she wouldn’t be able to avoid him forever. Especially not if Ann had anything to do with it.

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