Excerpt: Stand-Up

She hadn't worked out her plan until Pete Thornton said she could use the grocery store garage if she needed an extra, private place for anything at all. Then Lydia felt aided, given a sign, even dared to do more. After Pete had made his offer, no strings attached, he said and for once she believed it, she felt she wanted to prove to him she could be creative and resourceful. She wanted to reassure him that she was as good as he believed: responsible enough to know what to do to keep herself safe. Someone was finally on her side, she felt, unlike all the guys who'd whispered sweet words while doing an entirely different deed as their “proof” that they loved her. She wondered if she had been right to expect or even hope for any romance in her life ever, until she let a few conversations with Pete at the store run a little longer than her usual minute limit. Pete practically giggled when she talked; her speaking seemed to tickle his ears. She saw the way he lit up when she said anything at all to him. If she'd been more confident, she might have thought he'd had a long-time crush on her, but that had never occurred to her.