Read Online We Interrupt This Date by L.C. Evans - Free Book Online

feet to my
right, thanks to the fact that I slowed my pace until he caught
up.
    I heard him say, “I’ve found a new place you
might like. The coffee’s terrific, it’s quiet, has a lot of
atmosphere if you don’t mind checkered tablecloths and signed
pictures of celebrities from eighty years ago plastered all over
the walls. Interested?”
    I didn’t care that much about the tablecloths
or the celebrities, or even the coffee, but time with Steve away
from the chatter of the rest of the group sounded great. I opened
my mouth to say so, but then nothing came out except an
inarticulate vowlish sort of noise—which turned out to be a good
thing as I heard another voice, a sultry contralto, say, “Great,
let’s go.”
    I glanced sideways and felt my cheeks flame.
Steve hadn’t been talking to me, but to the woman on his right—a
big-chested blonde who’d joined the class last week while I’d been
busy helping Mama wrestle her broken refrigerator into
submission.
    They both looked at me, no doubt wondering
why I’d made such an odd sound. For a few seconds I felt like an
insect pinned on a display board. Then Margaret meandered up on my
left. I clutched at her arm. “There you are, Margaret. I’d love to
talk with you about that afghan you’re crocheting.”
    She blinked at me in confusion. Steve and the
blonde headed in another direction. So much for my hopes of getting
to know him better. Why had I agreed to help Mama last week instead
of going to class? She’d have been fine for a few days.
    Margaret squiggled her face up until she
looked like an ape wondering why it was in the zoo. “I’m not making
an afghan. What did you mean, honey?”
    “Margaret, ah, you remind me of my mother and
I just wondered if you’d like to go somewhere besides Starbucks so
we can have a friendly conversation without the whole group
chattering away and interrupting.”
    “How sweet of you, but I’m going straight
home tonight. My husband’s kidneys have been acting up and I need
to make sure he takes his pills. Clyde wouldn’t remember to eat if
I wasn’t there to put food in front of him. But there’s a nice
place just around the corner.” She pointed. “It’s that way if you
just want to be alone.”
    “Sure. Thanks, maybe some other time,” I
called as Margaret shuffled away.
    It might not be a bad idea to be alone.
Solitude was exactly what I needed right now. A huge jolt of coffee
wouldn’t hurt either, though it would do bad things to the serenity
I’d found in class. I walked in the direction Margaret had
indicated, turned right, and found myself standing in front of a
mom and pop diner that could have served as a set for any movie
from the forties. A handwritten sign on the door advertised
homemade pecan pie.
    Though I’d lived in the Charleston area all
my life, I’d never been to this place, tucked away on a side street
that was almost an alley. I opened the door and went inside. The
black and white tile floor was scuffed and worn, but freshly
mopped. There were only four tables, none of them occupied, and a
long lunch counter hosting a couple of old men sitting next to each
other. They were arguing over their choices for our next president,
and I suspected they ate here often. Probably had for years.
    I seated myself at the last table in the
back. The waitress, a perky teenager with dark brown hair pulled
back in a ponytail, bounced over and handed me a menu. Her nametag
said she was Emmie.
    I left the menu in front of me on the table.
“Coffee, please. Strong.” My bruised feelings were already healing.
It wasn’t as if Steve and I had been an item. He was a nice person,
a guy I’d developed an interest in simply because I’d sort of
decided I was ready to start dating. Then he’d found someone who
interested him more than I did. End of possibilities.
    At my age, maybe the whole event was a wake
up call. I mean, a few nights ago I was so lonely I was actually
daydreaming about making love with