Page 42 of Love at a 7-Eleven

"Yes, just no orange flavor. I'll take a couple. Thank you, baby. I'll get you next time."

Caleb was barely out of the car when she turned like she was going to say something to me. I was watching him walk inside, feeling proud of him and so attracted to him. I thought of going into a gas station for an energy drink, and I remembered the way we met. I was lost in thought when she turned to me with a serious expression that made me brace myself for whatever she was about to say.

"I don't know what you know about me."

I expected her to continue, but she paused looking at me like she was waiting for my answer.

"Uh, not much other than you have four kids."

She shifted in her seat, turning around, staring at me. "Well, let me tell you something… we all make choices in life. You'll make choices you regret if you haven't already. Nobody's perfect. Don't let Caleb give you sob stories about me having to leave them kids when they were little. You better keep yourself in check with how you look at me and judge me because if you don't walk a mile in a man's shoes, you have no idea what all they've been through. You don't know anything about me." She was serious and stone-faced, mad, looking like she might cry.

"Yes, yes, I agree. I would never presume to know what you've been through."

"Presume?" she said, squinting at me.

"I'm sorry, I respect what you've gone through and I don't know anything about it. And Caleb doesn't tell me… Caleb loves his family. I was and am, really, looking forward to meeting you… all." I could see Caleb coming back to the car in my periphery, but I kept my eyes trained on her.

"How long are you staying here?" she asked.

"I leave tomorrow."

She nodded at me and turned in time to see Caleb opening his door. She thanked him and said he had gotten the right thing. I didn't see what was in the bag.

Caleb turned and glanced back at me. He stared at me for a second or two, holding eye contact. I gave him a small nod and a reassuring smile.

The gas station was near the restaurant where Dani worked, and within two minutes, we had parked in the back of it, and she was getting out of the vehicle. I moved to get out of the vehicle as well. I was timid about it, but I also thought it would be awkward to sit in the back and not trade places with her. I heard him say goodbye to his mom and then I stood back and gave her space while she got out of the car.

"I will say I like the dress," she said with a nod in my direction.

"Thank you," I said, bowing my head a little at her.

She turned and walked into the restaurant's back door, and I sat in the front seat next to Caleb.

Chapter 16

Caleb

"I am so sorry," Caleb said quietly as his mom walked away.

"Don't be," Lila said, shaking her head and smiling at him.

"No, I really am. What did she say to you when I went in the gas station? Are you okay from that?" He had already backed up and was now pulling onto the street.

"Yes. I’m fine. It was good. Where are we going?"

"Where do you want to go?" he asked. "I was just planning on leaving there. I was going to find somewhere else to park while we decide what we're doing."

He pulled into the next business on the right, which happened to be a laundromat. He parked where they were out of the way, facing the side of the building. The windows were so darkly tinted that the two of them now had privacy even though it was still light out. Caleb looked at her, expecting that they would need to talk about his mom. He was going to start with a sincere apology.

But she grinned, craning her neck to glance upward, at the sign on the side of the building. "I've always wanted to go into one of these," she said, gesturing to the building and surprising him.

"A laundromat?"

"Yes."

"You've never been to a… I've been to so many of them that it's hard to imagine never going in one. Not even in college, you never?" he said, tilting his head at her.

She shook her head timidly. "I'm sure that makes me spoiled, but no. I always imagined they smelled like the hint of bleach and bubbles. I romanticized them. I think I saw a movie where a couple met in one of these. It's kind of cool, because you have to be there for a while, and there's nothing to do besides sit there and talk to each other while you wait for the clothes. You're trapped."

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