Page 27 of Left Behind

“What about your mama’s cooking?” Wiley asked.

Linette wrinkled her nose. “We don’t talk about it.”

Wiley grinned. “That bad, is it?”

“Daddy cooks. Mama does dishes. It works out better that way,” Linette said.

“Where do they live?” Wiley asked.

“St. Petersburg, Florida. I grew up there,” she said. “Let’s get out. We can talk inside. You don’t have much time to eat before you have to go on duty.”

They both exited the car and hurried across the parking lot and into the restaurant.

“Wiley Pope. Reservation for two,” he said, when the hostess approached.

She checked his name on the computer, then led them to a table beside a window. “Your waiter will be with you shortly,” she said, then left the menus on the table and walked away as Wiley seated Linette, then sat down and shifted his legs a little sideways to make them fit beneath the table.

She noticed his dilemma. “They don’t leave enough legroom for guys like you, do they?”

He shook his head. “Or beds long enough, or headroom in some of the older buildings. But we’re really handy at changing light bulbs. We rarely need a ladder. What sounds good to you?”

“I’m going for shrimp scampi with wild rice,” she said.

“And I’ve been thinking about chicken-fried steak all day,” he said.

Linette deadpanned. “And here I thought you were thinking about me.”

He had a moment of panic, but then realized she was teasing and sighed. “For a second there, I thought I was in trouble all over again.”

She laughed, which intrigued Wiley even more. Linette was a dark horse. She was gorgeous and smart, and now he was discovering that she has a wicked sense of humor, too.

He loved it.

The waiter arrived and took their drink orders and, when Wiley told him they were pressed for time, took their food orders, too. After that, they sat back and stared at each other from across the table, almost as if they were memorizing each other’s faces. Finally, it was Wiley who broke the ice.

“So? Do I pass muster?” he asked.

“Do I?” she countered.

The teasing slid out of his voice. “You already did the first time I saw you. I wanted to ask you out even then, but you were so far out of my league that I didn’t think I’d stand a chance. And then when I finally got the nerve, well, we both know what happened. Thank you for the second chance.”

She rolled her eyes. “It would have happened sooner, but I missed the cue, then had to get out of my own way.”

He shook his head and reached for her hand. “It no longer matters. Tell me about Linnie Elgin. Why did you want to become a nurse, and how did you wind up in Jubilee when you grew up in Florida?”

“I always wanted to be a nurse. I was always putting bandages on my dog or on Daddy. Mom had to put Band-Aids on the grocery list at least once a month because I used them all up on Dad, dolls, and dogs.”

Wiley smiled, trying to imagine her as a child, and listened intently as she continued her story.

“As for how I wound up in Jubilee, it’s because we came here for my sixteenth birthday to see the music shows and do the tourist thing, and I fell in love with the place. After I graduated from nursing school, this hospital was the first place I applied for a job. I don’t know what I would have done if they hadn’t hired me. I never saw myself anywhere else.”

“I’m really glad you did,” Wiley said.

She gave him another long, steady look. “So am I. Now you. What’s your story, other than being related to most of the local residents?”

He hesitated. But if they were going to have the relationship he wanted, he had to be honest from the start.

“Mom was born here. She was a Pope before she married. We grew up in Conway, Arkansas, and before we came here, our last name was Wallace. We changed it to Mom’s maiden name just before we came back, which was about a year after our father went to prison. He abused Mom and us throughout their entire marriage, up until we were old enough to fight back or move out. Then one day when he was high on drugs, he beat her so badly she nearly died, then left the house and murdered two strangers in cold blood. Sean found Mom and called an ambulance.

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