Page 71 of The Twelve Months of Christmas
“I think we should,” she said.
He grinned. “Friday night?”
“Friday night sounds great.” A date! After all these years she had a date!
“All right, then,” he said.
“Give me your phone,” she said. He did, and she added her number to his list of contacts.
“I’ll call you,” he said, then left.
It was the first time he’d ever come in and not bought so much as a stamp. No more excuses needed to see her. She smiled.
She wasn’t smiling, though, when she remembered she was supposed to be going to Chuck E. Cheese for pizza with Ava and Paisley that night. Hopefully Reggie would be up for rescheduling.
“No problem,” he said when she called him. “But I have a better idea. How about I take you all out for pizza?”
“Oh, Reggie, I couldn’t make you do that.”
“Nobody’s making me do anything. I’d like to. And I’d like to meet your daughter. If we’re going to be spending time together—and I hope we are—I think it would be good to know your family.”
That felt a little soon, but she went ahead and agreed.
“We have an extra body joining us,” she said when Ava checked in.
“Sunny?” Ava guessed.
“No. It’s none of the Christmas gang.”
“Who then?”
“One of my post office friends. Well, customers.”
“Oh.”
“You don’t mind, do you?”
“No, that’s fine,” Ava assured her.
“Good,” Molly said, relieved. “We’ll meet you there at six.”
“Great,” Reggie said when she talked to him. “I’ll pick you up at twenty till.”
When he did, it was clear that Reggie, indeed, lived on a tight budget. His car was not old enough to be classic or even vintage. It was simply...old, with a dent in one fender and a crack in the windshield. She wondered how long that had been there.
“What hit you?” she couldn’t help asking.
“The windshield? A rock from a gravel truck. Don’t worry, the window won’t break. I’m not bothering to repair it cuz old Martha’s going to get replaced pretty soon.”
“Martha?”
“Martha Washington,” he said with a grin. “She’s been a good old car, but it’s time for a hybrid. Guess I’ll have to get that fender fixed, though, if I’m gonna sell her.”
Who would want her?
“She still runs like a champ.”
Was he really going to get a new car or was he just making that up to save face? “Maybe it is time for a replacement,” she ventured.
