Page 44 of Pity Play

My second stop is the paint store where I pick up color samples. Anna suggests giving the bedrooms each their own colorbut to make them light and refreshing. The rest of the house can be one basic shade of beige. I didn’t tell her but I’m considering having the upper kitchen cabinets painted navy blue. I’ve always loved that classical nautical look and the way I’m going I may never have the chance to do that in my own house. I might as well enjoy this process as much as I can.

I wind up spending most of the afternoon out. After getting all the supplies I went for, I drive around town looking for rental places. According to the Elk Lake website, there are a couple apartments available above shops in town. The one that caught my eye is above the Yarn Barn, which seems fortuitous. According to the pictures online, it small but cute and feminine looking.

While I’m not going to rent something today, I’d like to check out the locations of what’s available. As in, I prefer not to be located behind a gas station or convenience store. I’ve seen way too many true crime shows to know that never turns out well. But life above a yarn shop feels like a sweet romcom, so I put it on the top of my list to go see.

When I’m finally on my way home, I realize that I missed lunch and it’s almost supper time. I could either go home and microwave a frozen meal, or I could stop at Pop’s and take Luke up on his offer to order meals as compensation for letting him stay with me. Of course, if he keeps feeding me breakfast, there’s really no need to supply my suppers as well. But now that I’m soon to be on my own, I decide to get all the freebies I can.

After parking in front of Pop’s, I walk inside and find the mean hostess from the other day. She glares at me. “Let me guess, you’re meeting someone, and you want to sit by the window.” She looks as pleased as she sounds.

I force a smile, wondering what has turned such a young girl so bitter. “I’m alone but I still want to sit by the window.”

She snorts so loudly I’m sure she’s about to tell me that won’t be possible, but then Luke walks up behind her. “Lorelai! I’m glad you came in.” He sounds happy to see me, which means he’slikely trying to compensate for this morning’s conversation. The one where he made it clear he doesn’t want to date me.

“Luke, hi.” I wave in such a way that it might be misconstrued as a seizure.

“I’ll seat Lorelai,” Luke tells the hostess. Chloe rolls her eyes in response.

I hurry to catch up with him as he leads the way to a booth by the window. When we get there, he asks, “Mind if I eat with you? I’ve got a forty-minute break and I’m starving.”

He wants to eat with me? I’m not quite sure how I feel about that. If he’d asked me yesterday, I would have been all for it. But now that I know there’s no chance for us, I’m not sure. Although maybe now that there’s no pressure, I can relax and be myself. I finally decide, “That would be nice.”

Luke looks relieved. “I’m going to get myself a soda. You want one?”

I ask for a Sprite. As he walks away, I realize that it’s too bad our timing isn’t better. But what’s the point of falling for him all over again only to have him go back to Chicago?

Luke comes back with two glasses. He puts them on the table before taking the seat across from me. “You know what you want?” he asks.

“Cheeseburger,” I tell him. “With onion rings.”

He gets up again and walks across the room. When he gets to the counter, he fills out a ticket and passes it through the window leading to the kitchen. When he returns, he says, “I ate cheeseburgers here at least three times a week when I was growing up.”

“I don’t know what the secret is,” I tell him, “but I’ve never had them as good as your dad makes them.”

He puts his pointer finger up to his lips before telling me, “We slip an ice cube into the patty before cooking it. That ensures the burger stays juicy.”

“Your secret’s safe with me,” I tell him.

Mrs. Harry, an older volunteer from the Humane Society, walks through the front door with a goldendoodle on a leash. Thedog spots me immediately and breaks free of her walker’s grip. She runs right up to me and jumps into the seat next to me.

“Penelope!” I say excitedly while scratching behind her ears. “Looks like you’re on a field trip.”

“Who’s this?” Luke asks, laughing.

Mrs. Harry hurries over. “I’m sorry about Penelope, Lorelai, but you know how much she likes you.”

I turn to Luke and explain, “Penelope is one of the dogs from the pound. Her owner died two months ago and she’s looking for her forever home.” He raises his eyebrows in question, so I add, “I go in and walk her a couple of times a week so she can remember what life on the outside looks like.”

Luke’s face crumples. “That’s so nice and so sad.”

Shrugging, I tell him, “It’s life, right?” I add, “I would love to have a sweet girl like this, but I won’t be able to keep her in an apartment.”

“Are you moving?” Mrs. Harry wants to know.

“My parents are selling their house,” I tell her. “So, I’ll be moving into an apartment soon.”

“That’s too bad, dear. We all thought that you and Penelope were meant to be.”

So did I but I’ll start crying again if I think about it. “I’m sure she’ll go to a nice home with little kids she can grow up with.”

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