for herself.
Filled with purpose, she explored the closets and found a vacuum cleaner and plenty of supplies. She’d start in the kitchen, getting ready for her first cooking experience. She opened a kitchen cupboard. Yuck. Dustunder and over the plates and glasses. She emptied the cupboard, cleaned it out thoroughly and ran water in the sink for washing its contents. With a stack of plates in her hands, ready to deposit them in the sink, she suddenly felt lonely.
How silly. She was thrilled to be alone after years of roommates, after two days of feeling guilty around her mother, wasn’t she?
And she’d barely reinstated her friendship with Mike. Missing his presence in LaRocque, yes, but lonely for him? Absurd.
She had no intention of enduring the feeling until late afternoon when she’d start her shift at the diner. Examining her options, she decided that a person she wanted to get to know was Lilah Foster, and she really did have a number of questions about the benefit.
She looked up the number and dialed. “Lunch?” Lilah said, sounding rushed but delighted after Allie had introduced herself. “I’d love it. I need a break, too. You have no idea what it’s like around here in the mornings.”
“Oh, yes, I do,” Allie said. “I babysat Daniel’s kids once years ago. Just two days, but when it was over, I went home, put my feet up and didn’t move for another two days.”
Lilah laughed. “I’m amazed you survived at all. But back to the subject, lunch would be great. Let’s see, where should we go?”
Allie actually giggled. Maybe she’d survive this low point in her life, too. “I hear great things about Mike’s Diner,” she said.
“No kidding. Okay, see you there—when? Straight-up noon?”
“Perfect.”
It was early September, but the first frost had alreadyappeared on the pumpkins, so to speak, and the air was pleasantly crisp. Just as Allie reached for the door of the diner, a sparklingly pretty woman slipped up behind her, dressed in a blue turtleneck that matched her eyes. Allie held the door open, and the woman smiled. “Since I don’t recognize you, you have to be Allie.”
“Our minds were certainly running along the same lines,” Allie said, following her into the warmth of the diner. “You must be Lilah. This is some town, right? To be able to recognize people by the process of elimination?”
Colleen bustled up to them, bearing menus. “Table by the windows?”
“Great. Thanks,” Allie said.
“What’s your favorite thing here?” Lilah studied the menu, although she, like Allie, must have memorized it.
“The chocolate meringue pie,” Allie confessed, “but I guess I have to address the major food groups first.”
“Not necessarily.” Lilah gave her a mischievous look. “I’m discreet.”
“Unfortunately,” Allie said, “I’m hungry enough to have both.”
“Me, too,” Lilah said, settling back with a deep sigh. “It’s bad enough now. When school starts next week, by the time I’ve done the get-off-to-school-do-you-have-your-homework-lunch-money routine, I’ll feel as if I’d built a barn with my own two hands.”
“Omigosh,” Allie said, “that time I babysat, I didn’t ask about lunch money.”
“I strongly doubt anybody starved,” Lilah said, and then added, “although the population at our house shifts constantly, so for all I know, some poor, starved boywandered the wilderness for years eating fruits and berries, a pathetic bag of bones before—”
“Before Daniel found him and gave him his lunch money,” Allie said. She really liked Lilah.
“Exactly,” Lilah said, “so back to favorite things, I’m almost evangelistic about the grilled cheese with bacon and tomato, and my absolute favorite dessert is the coconut layer cake, so whatever you order, I’ll match you calorie for calorie.”
“The grilled cheese is my thing, too,” Allie said.
“We’re soul sisters. I knew it.”
Colleen appeared, not looking at all
Filled with purpose, she explored the closets and found a vacuum cleaner and plenty of supplies. She’d start in the kitchen, getting ready for her first cooking experience. She opened a kitchen cupboard. Yuck. Dustunder and over the plates and glasses. She emptied the cupboard, cleaned it out thoroughly and ran water in the sink for washing its contents. With a stack of plates in her hands, ready to deposit them in the sink, she suddenly felt lonely.
How silly. She was thrilled to be alone after years of roommates, after two days of feeling guilty around her mother, wasn’t she?
And she’d barely reinstated her friendship with Mike. Missing his presence in LaRocque, yes, but lonely for him? Absurd.
She had no intention of enduring the feeling until late afternoon when she’d start her shift at the diner. Examining her options, she decided that a person she wanted to get to know was Lilah Foster, and she really did have a number of questions about the benefit.
She looked up the number and dialed. “Lunch?” Lilah said, sounding rushed but delighted after Allie had introduced herself. “I’d love it. I need a break, too. You have no idea what it’s like around here in the mornings.”
“Oh, yes, I do,” Allie said. “I babysat Daniel’s kids once years ago. Just two days, but when it was over, I went home, put my feet up and didn’t move for another two days.”
Lilah laughed. “I’m amazed you survived at all. But back to the subject, lunch would be great. Let’s see, where should we go?”
Allie actually giggled. Maybe she’d survive this low point in her life, too. “I hear great things about Mike’s Diner,” she said.
“No kidding. Okay, see you there—when? Straight-up noon?”
“Perfect.”
It was early September, but the first frost had alreadyappeared on the pumpkins, so to speak, and the air was pleasantly crisp. Just as Allie reached for the door of the diner, a sparklingly pretty woman slipped up behind her, dressed in a blue turtleneck that matched her eyes. Allie held the door open, and the woman smiled. “Since I don’t recognize you, you have to be Allie.”
“Our minds were certainly running along the same lines,” Allie said, following her into the warmth of the diner. “You must be Lilah. This is some town, right? To be able to recognize people by the process of elimination?”
Colleen bustled up to them, bearing menus. “Table by the windows?”
“Great. Thanks,” Allie said.
“What’s your favorite thing here?” Lilah studied the menu, although she, like Allie, must have memorized it.
“The chocolate meringue pie,” Allie confessed, “but I guess I have to address the major food groups first.”
“Not necessarily.” Lilah gave her a mischievous look. “I’m discreet.”
“Unfortunately,” Allie said, “I’m hungry enough to have both.”
“Me, too,” Lilah said, settling back with a deep sigh. “It’s bad enough now. When school starts next week, by the time I’ve done the get-off-to-school-do-you-have-your-homework-lunch-money routine, I’ll feel as if I’d built a barn with my own two hands.”
“Omigosh,” Allie said, “that time I babysat, I didn’t ask about lunch money.”
“I strongly doubt anybody starved,” Lilah said, and then added, “although the population at our house shifts constantly, so for all I know, some poor, starved boywandered the wilderness for years eating fruits and berries, a pathetic bag of bones before—”
“Before Daniel found him and gave him his lunch money,” Allie said. She really liked Lilah.
“Exactly,” Lilah said, “so back to favorite things, I’m almost evangelistic about the grilled cheese with bacon and tomato, and my absolute favorite dessert is the coconut layer cake, so whatever you order, I’ll match you calorie for calorie.”
“The grilled cheese is my thing, too,” Allie said.
“We’re soul sisters. I knew it.”
Colleen appeared, not looking at all
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