Page 82 of Keep My Heart
‘Too late,’ Sawyer says. ‘Once we start, we gotta finish.’ He nods toward Nick and me. ‘You two can get out of here. We got this.’
‘Thanks,’ Nick says, pushing away from the table. ‘Sorry about the beer tasting. Next time I’m home, okay?’
‘By then I’ll be doing my winter brews,’ he says as he stacks the plates.
‘I’ll be home before then.’ Nick helps me with my chair. ‘Ready to go?’
‘I think so.’ I stand up, holding my stomach. ‘I’m so full I can barely walk.’
‘You two have fun!’ Martha says as we leave.
I wonder what she thinks we’re going to do. Nick’s whole family kept looking at us like we’re a couple, which makes me think he told them something about us. But he couldn’t have told them we’re dating after telling me we’re not.
‘Where should we go?’ I ask as Nick helps me into the truck. I wore a dress, which makes it difficult to climb in.
‘Well, our options on a Sunday night in a small town are limited. Give me a minute.’ He goes around the truck and gets in on the driver’s side. ‘There’s the grocery store, the drugstore. Any of those sound fun?’
I laugh. ‘Not really.’
‘How about a drink? A congratulatory cocktail?’
‘That sounds good, but I’m overdressed for the bars around here.’
‘We could go to Clancie’s. It’s that new restaurant that opened. It’s nice, or nice for around here. It’s where I was going to take you to dinner tonight.’
‘Yeah, let’s go there. My mom mentioned that it’d opened, but she didn’t say much about it other than that it’s expensive.’
‘It’s not expensive. Well, not compared to New York.’
‘Are you looking forward to going back?’
‘Not at all. I’ll have about a million things to do when I get back to work and I’m sure the landlord didn’t fix the sink in my apartment, so I’ll have to deal with that. It takes like three or four requests before anything gets fixed.’
He didn’t list us as a reason he doesn’t want to go back, but that shouldn’t surprise me. There is no us. I’m worried we won’t even be friends once we’re back to our regular lives. People always say they’ll stay in touch, but it never happens.
‘What can I get you to drink?’ the waitress asks when we’re seated at the restaurant. She hands us some menus.
‘I’ll have a glass of merlot,’ I tell her.
‘Jack and Coke,’ Nick says. ‘And we don’t need menus.’ He hands them to her. ‘We’re just having drinks.’
She takes the menus, smiling at him. ‘I’ll be right back.
‘What do you think?’ Nick asks, looking around. ‘It’s not great, but it’s fancy compared to what was here before.’
It used to be a barbecue restaurant, but the owner retired last year. The whole place has been renovated with black-and-white tile floors, black booths and tables, and white pendant lights hanging from the ceiling.
‘The design is nice. Modern. Kind of a big city look.’
‘That’s what I was thinking. I’m not sure how popular it’ll bearound here. I’m thinking Sawyer’s place has a better chance of staying in business.’
‘Is he going to serve food?’
‘Not right away. He’d like to eventually, but for now he’s focusing on the beer.’
The waitress returns with our drinks. The hostess must’ve thought Nick and I were on a date because she put us at a table near the window that looks out at the downtown. It’s a small but nice downtown with little shops and a few restaurants.
‘I had a great weekend.’ I take a sip of my wine.
