Chapter Twenty

Gray dropped a gift bag on Veronica's desk the moment she arrived at St. Charles Collegiate Academy for her Monday morning meeting, an anticipatory smile on her face.

"What's this?" Veronica asked.

"Just a little something that reminded me of you."

Veronica arched an eyebrow curiously, then dug in and found the set of hot sauces. After a brief pause, she said, "Tabasco sauce reminded you of me? I'm the ‘spicy Latina,' is that all you think of me?"

Gray's panic was immediately apparent on her face. "No! No, not at all, I was just thinking of the jalape?o—"

Veronica cackled, her face breaking into a satisfied grin. "Wow, I really got you with that one."

Gray buried her face in her hands, embarrassed. "Oh my god. I was halfway to planning another massive book donation."

"You'd have to find someone to fund a library expansion first." Veronica looked closer at the gift in her hand. "Cranberry serrano sounds delicious. Thank you."

"I went to the Tabasco factory!" Gray said, still feeling the need to apologize. "I didn't just, like, see hot sauce and think of you."

Digging back into the bag, Veronica pulled out the two aprons.

"For you and Karys," Gray said as Veronica unfolded them. "Since real chefs always wear an apron."

"My mom and I always used to wear matching aprons when I was a kid and she was teaching me how to cook," Veronica said, her expression softer than before. "They're wonderful. Karys will love them."

Gray mentally patted herself on the back. "I'm glad. And I've got another gift. This one's less for you personally, but I think you'll like it all the same." She went on to tell Veronica that, after a few very persuasive phone calls, a local bank was planning to sponsor five scholarships for promising students from high-need families in each grade of the middle school for at least the next three years.

Veronica blinked. "Now you're the one pranking me."

"Am not!" Gray said. "I heard they were looking to raise their philanthropic profile, and I found out the CEO has a set of twins that just started kindergarten on the elementary campus. He has zero ties to the parents and board members giving you grief. I checked." The tip-off had come from Robbie, who worked in the bank's IT department. It was good to have friends in high places—or at least places full of cash. "The bank will give you total control over the student selection and retention process," Gray continued. "And they're thinking of those three years as a trial period. If it goes well, they'll hopefully make a more permanent commitment."

"What about when those kids move on to the high school?" Veronica asked, clearly looking for a downside.

"They're open to adding scholarships at the high school level too."

A slight frown displayed Veronica's skepticism. "That's a lot of money. Why would they do all that?"

"Plenty of reasons," Gray said. "Tax breaks, good PR, fulfilling the promises for their own DEI initiatives. They've grown significantly in recent years, so they had some extra charitable dollars to spread around." She crossed an ankle over her knee and leaned closer. "Now you just need to meet with them sometime this week to get them to sign on the dotted line."

"This week? Is that enough time for me to do the research to be appropriately convincing?"

Gray pulled a file folder from the bag she'd placed by her chair, then dropped it on the desk in front of Veronica. "I already did the research for you. I've got talking points and background on each of the executives so you know what's most likely to move them. And besides, they've already verbally committed. You just have to be yourself, tell them why this matters to you."

"You make it sound so easy," Veronica said, her expression a mix of apprehension and hope.

"It is. They'll recognize your expertise and passion as quickly as I did when I first met you," Gray said, grinning. "But maybe don't threaten to kick them out of your office if they're running a few minutes late."

The week seemed to fly by without a second to think about her next date. Gray ran into Veronica on campus every day while running a series of focus groups with students, parents, and alumni to help craft their new marketing plans. Even so, she felt a rush of joy upon spotting Veronica on their usual park bench on Thursday afternoon, waving as she pushed her sunglasses on top of her dark hair. Gray wanted to hear all about Veronica's Thursday morning meeting with the bank executives, which had gone perfectly according to plan. But even more, she wanted to relax and chat with her friend while River and Karys played. Before parting ways, Karys talked Gray into joining her on the monkey bars, and although her upper-body strength wasn't as robust as when she was a child, she managed to make it from oneside to the other as Veronica and River cheered from the ground.

But when Gray woke up on Friday and looked at her work calendar, she realized with a jolt that time to find her soulmate was running out. Her birthday was in one week. One week to go on three more dates before Saturn return was officially aligned. It felt like a total reversal from the start of the challenge, when her thrilling date with Carmen had distracted her so much she'd almost ruined her chance at impressing Veronica with her public relations prowess. Now work was getting in the way of her romantic goals.

So Gray turned her attention to finding a Capricorn, the final earth sign in the zodiac. An ambitious young law student named Tara stood out from the start. Cherry's suggested icebreaker—"As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?"—had led Tara to reveal her lifelong dream of becoming mayor of New Orleans. And she appreciated Gray's ambitious childhood goal of splitting her time between professional softball and rocket science. (She'd dropped the latter career plan when she realized how many science classes were required to become a scientist.)

Conveniently, Tara was quick to bring up meeting in person. That may have been for less than romantic purposes, since she seemed primarily interested in recruiting Gray to volunteer at a small-business market the following morning. But considering her sense of urgency to complete her challenge, Gray decided that was close enough to a date. Even if it meant she had to wake up at the crack of dawn to participate.

Gray dressed in the shadowy predawn hours, sneaked out of her apartment before the rest of the house was awake, and drove to a spot near the river she recognized from her walk through the park with Arielle the previous weekend. But this time, instead of a few bikers, joggers, or dog walkers, Gray found herself walking among a crowd of vendors setting up tents and unloading items for sale.

"Gray!" a voice yelled from her right. Gray looked over to see Tara seated behind a folding table with a clipboard in hand, her glossy black hair in a thick braid down her back. As soon as Gray arrived at the table, Tara wrapped her in a hug. Tara's soft curves and warm welcome made their embrace feel familiar, not like they were meeting for the first time. "Thanks for coming! What shirt size do you wear?"

"Medium." Gray noticed the breathable material of Tara's bright-blue polo with a New Orleans Chamber of Commerce logo on the breast. "Oh, that's nice. Do I get one?"

"You only get a polo after a hundred hours of volunteer service," Tara said, then ducked under the table and returned with an unflattering neon-yellow T-shirt. "But until then, you get this very fashionable tee!" She held it up and turned it around to show volunteer printed across the back over a larger image of the same logo from the polo.

Gray pulled off her sweatshirt and pulled the T-shirt over her tank, then struck a pose with her hands on her hips. Even though she'd mostly gotten over the awkwardness of starting a first date, she was grateful for another activity to jump right into, like her first date at pub trivia. Having a task to do always seemed to make things run a little smoother when meeting someone new. It put her more in PR get-the-job-done mode, which apparently some people found charming. "All right, put me to work."

Tara handed Gray a clipboard with a numbered map of booths and explained how it coordinated with a list of vendors on the backside, then showed Gray where to check in sellers as they arrived. When a vendor approached the table, Gray watched as Tara cheerily marked them off the list and pointed them to their designated area.

"Here comes Kayvone from Light Me Up Candles," Tara said as a woman with a rolling cart full of boxes came toward them. "Why don't you check her in?"

Gray referenced the list of booths and looked up just in time as Kayvone reached the table. "Good morning! Light Me Up Candles, right? Your booth is number twenty-seven, down there on the right next to the red tent for"—she paused to look at her clipboard—"Pretty Paws Pet Supply."

"What's your name?" Kayvone asked.

"Oh. Gray. Sorry, forgot to say that bit. You're Kayvone, right?"

"Thanks, Gray," Kayvone said, then turned to Tara. "She's cute. Another dating app find?"

Tara blushed slightly, but put on an easy smile for Kayvone. "Better get set up, the first shoppers will be here in about twenty minutes."

Kayvone winked at Tara before walking away toward her booth. Her comment stuck in Gray's head as she checked in the next wave of vendors. When they hit a lull, she had to ask. "So you bring a lot of your dates here?"

Tara gave Gray an embarrassed grin. "Hey, I'm a busy person, but I'm still looking for love," she said. "I can two-birds-one-stone my dating life and volunteer recruitment. Saves time and helps the city! Some people even come back. Suneetha, down there handing out water bottles? She's only a handful of events away from earning her own polo. And see that booth selling pralines down there? That's Tiffany. She signed up as a vendor after our date."

"No judgment," Gray said, knowing she certainly couldn't criticize anyone trying to fulfill unique personal goals while on Mercurious. "I admire your dedication. Is all this volunteer management part of your path to becoming mayor of New Orleans?"

"My whole life has been part of that path," Tara said, her eyes lighting up. "New Orleans is the best city in the whole world, and growing up here has been an incredible gift. I want to give back to the city and guide it into the future."

"You've already got your campaign speech ready, I see."

Tara laughed. "I've been workshopping it since my valedictorian speech at high school graduation."

Between checking in vendors, Gray picked Tara's brain about her plans for getting into politics. Once the booths were all claimed, Tara explained how their duties would shift to helping shoppers navigate the market and advising them on the closest ATM and public bathrooms.

The first couple of hours of the small-business market whizzed by in a flurry of customers and small problems to solve. Gray and Tara took turns managing the information table while the other walked through the booths, Gray shopping for a few things to decorate her new apartment, Tara mostly interested in chatting with the sellers. Before Gray realized it, the market was winding down and the vendors were packing up their displays, most carrying considerably lighter boxes than they'd brought.

As Gray helped load the volunteer table into Tara's SUV, she realized they'd hardly had any time to chat about anything besides the market and Tara's future mayorship. "I'm starving. Want to grab an early lunch somewhere? My treat," Gray offered.

"That sounds lovely, but I've got"—Tara pulled out her phone and scrolled through her calendar—"a lot going on this afternoon. I have a study group for my class on land use law, then I'm knocking on doors for a friend running for city council, going to a fundraising dinner for the food bank, and I promised to help my mom with her taxes tonight."

"Wow. That is a lot," Gray said, her head spinning. "Do you ever sleep?"

"I'll sleep when I'm dead." Tara shrugged. "Speaking of, I could actually use some coffee. Care to join me for a cup?"

"Sounds great," Gray said. Seeing Tara's enthusiasm and hardworking attitude brought someone else to mind. "And I know just the place. Have you been to Demitasse Café?"

"Oh, I saw that interview with the owner in The Times-Picayune and have been meaning to go!" Tara said. "It's all fair-trade and organic, right?"

Gray felt a burst of joy knowing she'd helped facilitate that very article. "Yes, and delicious. You're going to love it." She told Tara the cross streets of the shop, and they both hopped into their separate cars, agreeing to meet once they arrived.

When they found each other on the sidewalk outside the café, Gray was surprised to see that Tara had somehow managed to change clothes during the short drive. Instead of her volunteer polo, Tara was now wearing a stylish trench coat over a cream top, and she'd swapped her sneakers for a pair of chunky tan boots. It made sense that Tara would have wardrobe changes ready in her car with such a packed schedule, Gray realized.

Gray pulled the door open and gestured for Tara to enter. "After you."

Tara nodded her thanks and joined the line to order. Gray pointed out some of her favorite features of the coffee shop, and Tara listened eagerly. Just before they made it to the register, Riley seemed to appear out of nowhere to wrap an arm around Gray's shoulders.

"One of my favorite customers!" Riley pointed to a series of framed vintage photos of celebrities and public figures drinking coffee hung along the wall. "How do you like the new decorations? Your idea."

"They look so glamorous!" Gray said. "It may have been my idea, but you executed it much better than I could have."

"I can't even tell you how many positive comments we've gotten on them." Riley paused, catching sight of Tara. "Who's this?"

"My friend Tara," Gray said, moving aside to allow Tara and Riley to shake hands.

Something in the air seemed to change when their hands connected. There was a new energy pulsing around them, one Gray hadn't noticed in the time she'd spent with either of them before.

"Tara Ortega." Tara looked at Riley's outfit, impeccably styled as always. "I love that jacket. McQueen?"

"Of course," Riley said, her hand still lingering in Tara's. "And your boots are fantastic. Jimmy Choos?"

"My favorite!"

Riley and Tara stared into each other's eyes and Gray felt the distinct discomfort of being a third wheel. Finally, Riley cleared her throat and pulled her hand back from Tara's. "What can I get for you ladies? On the house."

Tara asked for a macchiato, and then shared another charged moment with Riley talking about how it was both of their favorite espresso drinks. Gray interjected eventually to say she'd like one as well, and Riley insisted that she would make them herself. As they watched Riley prepare their drinks on the state-of-the-art espresso maker, Tara complimented Riley's taste in designing the café and menu. Once she mentioned her volunteer role at the chamber of commerce, Riley insisted on sitting down with them to talk about resources she could utilize as a small-business owner. Conversation flowed easily between the two of them as Gray sat back, sipping her macchiato and watching their chemistry sparkle. Eventually, she stood up and excused herself for a made-up appointment. Riley and Tara hardly seemed to notice, as they were so deep in discussion of how Riley might sell coffee at the monthly small-business market. Gray made her exit while mentally patting herself on the back for playing such an adept matchmaker. The planets may not have guided her to dates with Riley and Tara for her own romantic purposes, but Gray was happy to be a tool in the universe's plans for the Taurus and Capricorn.