Page 123 of Still Love You

She nudges my side and whispers, "Stop it."

Ruth appears beside Larry. "Those will be some good looking kids." Ruth is Larry's wife. She's not as grouchy as Larry. She's heavy-set with gray hair that's styled like a beehive on her head. "So when's the wedding?"

"Next May," I say. "It's going to be an outdoor wedding. I'm growing the flowers for her bouquet."

Ruth smiles. "Oh, how nice." She winks at Willow. "He's very romantic. You're lucky." She hitches her thumb toward Larry. "That one's idea of romantic is going a night without belching."

"It's $8.76." Larry holds his chubby hand out the window.

"We also want a chocolate milkshake."

"With three cherries on top and a spoon?"

"Yeah." I smile. "How do you remember all that?"

He shrugs. "It's some kind of disorder. I remember weird shit."

"Larry." Ruth pokes his belly. "Don't swear in front of the customers."

"Dammit, Ruth, you made me screw up," he says, pointing to the register.

She sighs and says to me, "Just go with the $8.76. The milkshake is on us. An engagement gift."

Larry huffs. "You can't be giving stuff away like that!"

"Get back to the kitchen." She shoos him away.

He walks off, shaking his hand.

"Thanks." I hand her a ten.

"This is why I don't let him run the register. He has no people skills." She hands me the change. "It'll be ready shortly."

Willow finds us a table and as soon as we sit down, she says, "So do you want to explain your little performance back there?"

"What's there to explain?" I set some napkins in front of her.

"That was embarrassing." She says it like she's mad, but I can see a hint of a smile. "Now they think we're engaged."

"So? Why do you care? It's just Ruth and Larry."

She glances back at the window. "I wonder how long they'll keep this place."

"Probably as long as possible. I can't see them retiring. They'd kill each other if they were home all day together."

She takes a napkin and folds it in half, then does the same to the next one. She likes her napkins folded. "It's funny how you go away for a while and come back and some things are the same and some things totally change." 

"Is that a bad thing? That some things are the same?"

"No." She keeps her eyes on the napkin, running her finger over the fold.

There's something she's not saying but wants to. Before I can ask, Ruth appears, holding a tray.

She sets our sodas down. "Your burgers will be right out." She puts the milkshake between us, assuming we're sharing, and points to Willow's hand. "Where's your ring?"

"Um, I—"

"She left it at home because we were at the beach earlier," I say. "It's a one-of-a-kind ring so she didn't want to risk losing it in the water." I smile at Willow. "Although if she did, I'd just make her another one."

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