Page 44 of Just Trouble

I pull out the agreement, those butterflies doing a mad tango that I do my best to hide. She reads it through, earning my respect, then puts out her hand for a pen to sign it. I exhale when she does, then witness the signature with my own and date it. Luke already signed all three copies, though his signature is tough to decipher. That’s maybe a good thing. I take one copy, fold it and put it in an envelope, then present it to Meredith.

“The other two?”

“Your patron and my files.”

“All official.”

“Pretty much.”

She makes a note of the address on her phone, and I guess that she’s checking the GPS. Then she nods approval.

“I’ll be there tomorrow,” she says.

So fast! So comparatively easy!

What will Luke say?

What will he do?

I can’t wait to find out, but I keep it business-like. “Give me a call when you’re on the way and I’ll meet you there. My office is right across the street.” I hand her the keys to the diner, not missing how her grip closes around them. I remember that satisfaction when I got the keys to my house.

“You’d better call me Merrie,” she invites with a smile that makes her look like a demon leprechaun. “Everyone else does.”

We introduce each other again and shake hands. She looks down at the keys and I watch her smile as she fingers them. It’s as if she can’t believe it. I know that feeling, too.

“What are you going to call the restaurant?”

Her smile broadens. “The Carpe Diem Café,” she says, as if she’s been dreaming of this place for a lifetime. Maybe she has. “A Farm-To-Table Bistro.”

“Seize the day?” I translate.

“That’s it. Call it my philosophy.” She laughs a little. “And I’m following it today.”

“I like it.” I pack up my briefcase and stand. “I might be one of your first customers.”

She suddenly snaps her fingers. “Wait. How did you get here?”

“I drove my dad’s car.” I gesture to the sedan parked at the curb and her eyes light. I’ve no idea why my car is so welcome until she speaks, and then it’s obvious.

“Take some stuff back for me?”

An hour later, I’m back in the Benz, the trunk and back seat loaded with saucepans and dishes—even I know she would never trust me with her knives—before I remember I need to text Rafe. It’s almost four-thirty. The 401, that fat snake of a highway that runs across southern Ontario, is bumper-to-bumper heading west, stop-and-go, all eight lanes of it. It’ll be like this through Milton, if not Guelph or Kitchener, but because I only have to do it this once, I don’t mind. It gives me another reminder of why it was good to leave the city.

As I come full-stop in the gridlock, I text Rafe. His reply is a thumbs-up emoji, repeated over and over again. Looks like I’ll have a houseguest soon.

I send another text to my dad to let him know I’ll be late and why. Then I load up my tunes and settle in.

I can’t help thinking about Merrie’s philosophy. Seize the day. Leap and believe the net will appear. Take a chance. Not my speciality, but maybe it’s time for a change.

If I take a chance on Luke and his pursuit of more, what’s the worst thing that can happen? He already turned me downand I survived. He might seduce me. I might seduce him. I can’t believe I’ll regret either option.

Maybe it’s worth taking a chance on what you want, just to see what happens next.

Maybe it’s time to find out.

I could stop at the Maple Leaf Motel on my way home, but I decide on a shower and change of clothes first. Maybe I’ll wear my hair down. Maybe I should stick with the underwire bra, though. You only get to seduce a man for the first time once, after all.

And the prospect of that makes me smile.

---