Page 104 of Falling Backwards
Luke touched me—my face, my scar—and he was almost tender about it, and every moment stirred me.
God, I can feel it coming on in earnest now: the desire to lie here and just think some more.
As I’m adjusting my twisted-up pajamas so I can get more comfortable, a knock lands on my door and Joy calls out the idea to go get caffeine and food.
After a few moments of serious deliberation, I decide not to pass that up.Sustenance is important and letting my mind wander in circles around Luke is…precarious.
There’s a great local coffee shop not far from home.Soon, we and Emma are huddled at a table next to a window.Our drinks aren’t ready yet, but we’ve all started on our food: bacon breakfast sandwiches for me and Emma, a jalapeno-and-cheese kolache for Joy.
Across the table from me and Joy, Emma groans around a bite.“So good.”
I nod big while I chew my own.
Joy agrees, “I know.Freaking love this place.”Then she gently elbows me.“Wanna take any coffee to Luke?”
I contemplate it, but the huge clock on a nearby wall makes the decision for me.“He’s probably asleep.Even after he wakes up, I don’t think we’ll have time to catch him before he goes to work.”
“Aw, okay.Well, I’m so excited to have an easy morning with my girls!”
Emma smiles.“Me too!It’ll give me the strength to deep-clean my room later while you two are gone.”
“Sure will,” I say.Then I perk up.“Joy has a fun night planned for after she gets off work!”
Emma gasps, remembering like I have.
Joy sets down her kolache and claps her hands together.“Yes!My blind date with Asher!”After a beat, she frowns and tilts her head.“Wait….”
Now Emma looks at her with amused puzzlement.“I thought you said his name was Axel.”
I burst into laughter.
Giggling, Joy turns wide eyes on me and clutches my arm.“Oh my God, Maggie, what’s his name?Do you remember?’Cause I actually don’t think it’s AsherorAxel!”
I shake my head because, no, I don’t remember.She told us last night while we were enjoying that bottle of wine after our long days.And she doesn’t have the guy’s contact information, so she can’t check that; her boss set them up and gave the details verbally because the lady claims to be good at this kind of surprise-romance thing.
Emma has been staring at Joy with her mouth open, and now she bursts into laughter too.“Oh, hell!Are you serious, Joyful?You can’t think of his name?”
Joy puts her hands over her mouth and cracks up.
“Let’s hope this isn’t an omen for the date going badly!”
I gasp.“No, it’s the opposite!It’s the start of their memorable how-we-fell-in-love story!”
“Oh,yes!”
Joy claps again.“Yep, that’s the one we’re going with!”
Our names start getting called from the front counter, so we all joke that she’ll remember who she’s going on a date with after she gets some caffeine in her system.
Well, even after ten or fifteen minutes of relishing her latte, she doesn’t.
At least the coffee is invigorating against the dreary morning.
A bonus morning-brightener is that none of us spot anyone who resembles Kyle…although, to be honest, the idea that he could appear at any moment does leave an immovable weight in my stomach.
But if I’m not seeing him anywhere, I don’t want to get hung up on possibilities.So I choose to enjoy this outing.
Outside the window, the wind is shifting the rain here and there, and I remember how it felt to hurry out of that when we arrived.Shocking though the chilly wetness was on my face, it, too, felt invigorating in a way.
