Page 37 of Estranged Heart
“You come here a lot?” He slowly flips through the menu, glancing down.
“Not anymore. I used to come with a few co-workers from my old job but haven’t since I was last here. That was days before the accident.” I shift in my seat uncomfortably. I hate calling it an accident when I know it wasn’t one, but I don’t think telling him my husband was murdered by traffickers is appropriate lunch conversation. The news didn’t report everything. I asked them not to. At least not until I buried Landon. I didn’t need his funeral being swamped with reporters or for everyone there to focus more on what happened than on mourning him.
“I’ve never been here before but I have passed by a few times. I haven’t been to many restaurants in a while, never felt well enough, and I’m still getting used to going places on my own.”
“Looks like you’re getting by okay. You went to my bookstore and the lake.”
“Yeah. I guess I did.”
“Not to mention you were parked across the road watching me yesterday.”
“I’m sorry about that. I wanted to go in, and was going to, but—”
“Didn’t know how to get out of the car?”
Nodding, he fumbles with a napkin on the table. “Something like that. I shouldn’t have gone.”
“You’ve already said that.”
“Yeah.” His bottom lip slips between his teeth and his cheeks hold a slight pink tint. “I shouldn’t be here either.”
“Why are you then?”
“Are you going to keep asking me that?”
“I will as long as you keep saying you shouldn’t be here.”
The waitress interrupts us, setting down our drinks. “You two ready to order?”
“I am. What about you?” I point the menu at Sunshine.
“Yeah, I’ll uh, take the chicken-strip basket with fries and gravy.”
“And I’ll have the street tacos.”
“Great.” She collects the menus from our hands. “I’ll go get those orders put in for you.”
As soon as she walks away, his eyes are back on me. “I like hanging out with you.”
“You’re not so bad yourself,” I say back.
Sighing, he scratches the side of his head. “We can always try being friends. I really am in short supply of those these days.”
“Thought we were already friends. At least, you had established as much at the lake.”
He laughs and it’s music to my ears. It’s good to see him looking like himself again. “I did, didn’t I? We can continue being friends then.”
“Does being friends include more experiments in the future?”
Shaking his head, he lifts his cup and sips his water before setting it down. “No. At least I don’t think so.”
“Yeah, I figured as much. Not sure they work so well anyway.” I grin and his shoulders drop, the tension lessening from his face.
Our food arrives and we eat in mostly silence, occasionally commenting on how good everything tastes. He reaches for his wallet and then remembers he left it in his car.
“I’ll get it, friend. You get the next one.”
“Okay.” He doesn’t argue and I set my card on top of the bill. After we pay, we head back to the car and he walks there fine on his own. Too bad. He was warm and smelled better in my arms. When he smiles at me before exiting the car at the lake, the guilt I’ve been carrying on the drive dissipates and my heart races. “See you later, friend.”
