Page 38 of Memphis

Toni held my gaze for a moment, and when I didn’t say anything, she stood and sighed. “Yeah, sure.”

And with that, they both walked out of the room, leaving me to stew in my thoughts.

Damn.

Antonia

“I gotta say, I’m kind of surprised you agreed to come have coffee with me.”

“Why’s that?”

“I don’t know. Guess I didn’t figure I was your type.”

“Not my type?”

“Yeah, you know what I mean.”

“No, I’m curious. What do you think is my type?”

“Aw, I don’t know. I figured you were into those finance guys with their business suits and leather briefcases. You know, the ones who think their shit don’t stink.”

He’d just described my father, and the thought of him made my stomach take a nosedive. I’d talked to my father multiple times since I’d arrived in Little Rock, but he’d never once mentioned his money struggles. I wanted to believe that Preacher had been wrong, but my gut told me otherwise, and it hurt my feelings that he hadn’t been honest with me.

It was those hurt feelings that had me replying, “Yeah, I know exactly who you are talking about, and no. That’s not my type at all. I’m not sure I even have a type.”

“Okay, so we’ve established that. What else can you tell me about yourself?”

“What do you want to know?”

“I don’t know.” Goose gave me one of his infectious smiles, and it was impossible not to smile right back at him. “How ‘bout you start with the basics?”

“Okay. Easy enough.”

The coffee shop was a cozy little place tucked away on the bottom floor of the hospital. It wasn’t very crowded, which made it easy for us to place our order and find a place to sit, but it made it feel a little too intimate for just a friendly cup of coffee.

Once we were seated, I told him, “Well, I live in Memphis and work at Melbourne and Jones Law downtown.”

“A lawyer, huh? That’s cool.” He gave me a nonchalant nod, then said, “Memphis is a cool town.”

“Yes, I like it there a lot, but I don’t plan to be there forever.”

“Oh, really? Where would you go?”

“Not sure. I guess it would depend on where my work takes me.”

“Okay.”

I could see the wheels turning in his head and wondered how long it would take him to piece things together. I figured it was time to turn the tables on him, so I asked, “What about you? Were you born and raised in Little Rock?”

“No. My father was in the military, so we were all over the place—mainly up north. I hated it. The nomad life just wasn’t for me, so as soon as I turned eighteen, I split and migrated south.”

“Ah, so that’s why they call you Goose.”

“More or less.”

“Well, the name suits you.”

“Glad you think so.” He cocked his brow as he said, “Now, back to you. What do you do jobwise?”

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