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“I guess I’ll see you around town, huh? If you need more worms, you know where to find me.”
    â€œI’ll keep that in mind.” She rolled her eyes as she hefted her purchases and left the shop.
    After she drove away, Mark slapped a palm against the counter. I can’t believe I’m such a chicken I didn’t ask her out. No guy ever became a hero by letting a pretty girl get the better of him. He might seem outwardly confident and had made use of joking around in the past to cover his shy attitude, but in reality, when it came to actually interacting with women — especially women he really liked — he had no clue about what to say or do. It sucked at his veneer of confident bravado and left him trembling like a teen at his first prom.
    Where does a guy go to get an injection of bravery?
    ****
    Alice returned to Mel’s house just as her friend was locking up. “I thought you’d be long gone from here.” She set her containers of worms on the ground by the brick border.
    â€œI know, I tried, but the washer broke and flooded the laundry room floor, then my mother called. Apparently she and Dad are coming for dinner tonight, and she forgot to tell me, so I don’t have time to take chicken out of the freezer.” As she strode down the cement driveway to her eco-friendly car her heels tap-tapped with her stride. “Someone from a local news agency called for a character reference on my ex-fiancé. Apparently, he’s come back to this part of the country.” She heaved a sigh. “Needless to say, it’s been a stressful morning.”
    Though curiosity ran rampant regarding Mel’s ex, Alice refrained from asking since the redhead was obviously anxious to leave. “All right, then. I’ll just add these worms and get out to the store. I’m sure there are a ton of orders waiting on me.” The worms sent her mind skittering back to the bait shop. She couldn’t help her smile or her blush as she thought about Mark. He’d been so funny and nervous. Was he not comfortable talking to women or had it just been her, with her dirty fingernails and bird poop in the hair? Her smile slipped a bit. Maybe he’d been humoring her. Does he think I’m a crazy woman two seconds away from an institution?
    â€œHello? Earth to Alice.” Mel quirked an eyebrow. She paused with one leg inside the car. “Did something happen while you were at the bait shop? You’ve got a look.”
    â€œA look?”
    â€œYes. Spill it.”
    â€œNothing really happened.” Which was true enough. Alice sank to her knees and popped open one container of worms. “I met the owner, Mark Kincaide. He seemed nice.”
    â€œOh?” Mel abandoned her car and walked around the side of the vehicle to stare down at Alice. “Did you and he hit it off?”
    â€œI have no idea.” Alice busied herself with distributing the worms through one section of the flowerbed. “I don’t know that much about him. He didn’t talk much about himself, but I do remember his hair.” She mentally kicked herself. Why didn’t I ask him? Why didn’t I take the initiative and find out? He is kinda cute with all those black curls. Too bad she’d been so concerned about getting the bird poop out of her hair, she hadn’t had a chance to study him in greater depth.
    â€œWhy, Alice, you’re holding out on me!” Mel popped her hands on her hips. “You get yourself right back over there and ask him all the questions you want. In fact, why not just ask him out?”
    â€œI don’t know.” Alice dumped the empty container on the ground then reached for the second one. “How do I even know we’d be compatible?”
    Mel snorted. “That’s why dating was invented, silly.” She glanced at a gold watch on her slim wrist. “Crud. Listen, I really have to go, but think about it. Who knows,