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Rob was grinning like a dope as she walked away, and he had an uncomfortable sense that Keith could read his mind.
“Well, obviously you’re into her more than ever,” Keith said once she was out of earshot, “but you haven’t had much luck interesting her.”
“She likes me.”
“Sure—just like she likes Trey and Ernie over there. She hasn’t said yes to a date yet, has she?”
“Not yet. But I haven’t asked.”
“You might as well give up. She’s never going to fall for someone like you.”
Rob knew his friend was joking, trying to rile him up, and he knew he shouldn’t fall for it. But he felt defensive anyway. “You don’t know that.”
“She’s used to dating rich guys who can buy her yachts and shit.”
“She doesn’t want a yacht. She wants mulch for her yard.”
“Right now, maybe. But a girl like that…” Keith nodded toward Allison, who was bringing two plates out from the kitchen for the indecisive couple against the wall. “She’s going to get tired of mulch and eventually want a yacht.”
Rob didn’t respond, but he didn’t think that was true. Allison was different. She enjoyed simple things. She wasn’t a snob like she might have seemed initially. She actually tried to get to know the people who came into the restaurant, and she was happy with her little house.
She might be beautiful and elegant and more sophisticated than the people around her, but she didn’t belong on a yacht.
She wasn’t a mistake—the way the women he’d hooked up with before had been. She wasn’t going to humiliate him or turn him into a fool in the eyes of the town. He wasn’t going to feel powerless with her, the way he had in his previous relationships.
Allison was different.
Rob wanted her more than ever, and he wasn’t going to give up after just a couple of weeks.
10
“I’m goingto go ahead and take my break,” Allison told Trey, ducking her head into his micro-office and catching him scratching his crotch.
“Sure. Go ahead. Just be back by eleven.”
The lunch crowd—mostly the seniors—would start coming in soon for early lunches. She was hungry, and her feet were hurting, but it hadn’t been a particularly difficult day. Chelle and Gus always went behind the building for their break, so they could smoke in peace, but Allison headed for her car, where she’d left a pack of crackers this morning.
She liked to be alone during her breaks, so her car was pretty much her only option.
She waved at Ernie, who liked to sit in a chair on the sidewalk across the street while he did his clothes in the laundromat. “Leaving early?” he called out.
“Just taking my break.”
“Nice day, isn’t it?”
It was a very hot day with humidity so thick she felt like she had to push through it, but she smiled and waved again as shecontinued to her car at the back of the parking lot next to the building.
She couldn’t believe she’d worked at Dora’s for a whole month now. She knew all the regulars. She knew whether to ask them about their kids, grandkids, dogs, or horses. Every day, when she looked in the mirror, it was like looking at a stranger. She kept telling herself that this was what it looked like to be independent, but it was still a disorienting visual. She had a ponytail and comfortable (not very attractive) shoes, and even the cigarette smell that wafted in with about half the customers didn’t make her sick like it used to.
A year ago she never would have thought she could be content in this life, but she was happier now than in that last year married to Arthur. At least she could decide what she wanted to do for herself. At least she could eat a bowl of ice cream without feeling guilty about putting on a pound. At least she didn’t have to listen to his lectures.
Last night she’d been standing on a stepladder on her front stoop, trying to change a bulb above the front door. The fixture was old, though, and the bulb had broken with part of it still stuck in the fixture, so she hadn’t been able to get it out. After fifteen minutes of working on it, Rob had come over from across the street. He’d pulled out his little multitool and had the piece of lightbulb out in about two minutes.
He’d lingered, asking her about her day and telling her about a funny guy who had come into his store that day. He’d looked like he wouldn’t mind being invited in for a beer, but Allison didn’t have any beer, and she was worried about having Rob over in the evenings.
She might do something she’d made a decision not to do.
He’d never invited her over to his house. She had no idea why, unless he had a wife hidden away in the attic or he didn’t want to put away an embarrassing porn collection.
