Page 45 of Remembering You
Hell, it was probably the latter.
It was that moment, the door chimed and swung open. I gulped, sliding deeper into my booth and holding my menu up to cover my face as Jim entered the diner. Dammit. I thought I had at least another thirty minutes before he’d be coming in.
Maybe I could leave a dollar on the table and slide out of here unnoticed?
Unlikely. Elsa would probably call me out before I made it halfway to the door. Not to mention, I’d have to walk right by Jim in order to get to the door.
“Hey Jim,” Jack said. “What can I get you?”
“Two coffees,” he said.
Two? Was he getting one for me? My heart sped up at the thought. An apology coffee maybe?
“Sure thing,” Jack said.
“Make one of them as an Americano, though. No nutmeg or cinnamon.”
No nutmeg and cinnamon? But I liked Elsa’s additions to the coffee. There was only one person I knew…
Oh, God. My heart nearly stopped as the door chimed again and this time Sheila entered the diner.
No. Oh, crap. Whatever was happening here, I didn’t want to see it. I didn’t want to be a part of it. Desperately, I looked around the diner from behind my menu wall, hoping to find a way out where neither Jim nor Sheila would see me.
Sheila crossed to Jim and gave him a weak smile. “Hey,” she said.
“Hey.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek.
A sharp ache panged in my chest at the sight. I might throw up, which would not bode well for my stealthy attempt at an escape.
“What the hell are you doing here with her?”
Elsa. Oh, God. I forgot about Elsa.
“Well, hello Elsa. Good to see you, too,” Sheila said.
Jim cleared his throat. “I, uh, I ordered you an Americano.”
“Thank you,” Sheila said. “I’m just going to run to the bathroom really quick.” She took off down the hallway, but not without giving Elsa another narrow-eyed scowl along the way.
As soon as she disappeared, Elsa looked at me, still peering over top the menu. “What the hell is going on?” she asked. “I thought you and Marty were dating.”
Jim looked taken aback and as Elsa gestured at me, still hiding like a coward behind my menu. His gaze swung to mine, and his spine stiffened. Seemingly, he was startled to see me. “Marty?”
I cleared my throat, lowering the menu back to the table and sliding out of the booth carefully so not to tweak my injured foot. Jim’s glare deepened. “Where are your crutches?”
I rolled my eyes at him and pointed to the new boot on my foot. “I have this for the next week. No crutches needed.”
“Wait… are you twonotdating?” Elsa asked.
“No,” we both said in unison.
Elsa glanced at me curiously with a look that said we’d be talking about this later. But in the meantime, she kept her mouth shut.
I glared back at Jim. “But apparently, he rebounds quickly. Unless…” I looked to Elsa, exaggerating my tone. “Does it count as a rebound if he’s going back to an old girlfriend? Or if it’s a rebound of a rebound?”
Jim glanced over his shoulder to where Sheila disappeared. “I know what this looks like, but it’s not what you think.”
I shrugged and hiked my purse higher onto my shoulder. “It’s really none of my business to have any thoughts on the matter. We had one date, Jim. That’s it. You owe me nothing in the way of an explanation.”
