Page 31 of Spotted at Lighthouse Bay
“I don’t mean to be rude,” Adelaide continued, “but how old are you?”
“Twenty-nine.”
Rick couldn’t stop himself from staring now. Yeah, the guy looked young. He hadn’t been sure before, but he was young. Not that Adelaide was old, but she wasn’t twenty-nine.
She laughed and shook her head. “Good old Patty.”
“Was that the wrong answer?” the guy laughed.
She shook her head. “No, no. It’s just – well, I’m forty-eight. I’m old enough to be…”
“My mother!” he said with a laugh.
Adelaide pulled back. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
Oh man. Regardless of age, this guy wasn’t mature enough to be talking to Adelaide. Rick took off his coat. It was getting hot in here with all the secondhand embarrassment.
Maybe he’d order a root beer float. Anything to distract himself from this.
Adelaide went on. “The truth is, it would be more appropriate for you to take my daughter out to dinner than to take me out to dinner. It was nice meeting you, but we don’t have to do this.”
Corey placed one foot on the ground, as though he was ready to stand. Ready to flee. “I’d hate to put you out.”
That was enough. Adelaide didn’t need to deal with this kid. Rick stood from his barstool and closed the distance between them. “Adelaide, hi.”
“Hi.” A slow smile spread across her face, her eyes darting between them. “How are you?”
“So funny running into you here,” Rick said. “Are you headed to dinner?”
She looked at her date. “I…”
“I don’t mean to barge in,” Rick said. He offered a handshake. “Nice to meet you.”
Corey stuck out his hand. “Likewise.” The guy had a firm handshake. He wasn’t handling this super gracefully, but it could’ve been worse.
Correction – it could still get worse. Best to get the kid out of here.
Adelaide turned to Corey. “Listen, you’re very polite, but don’t worry about me. You should go off and do young people things. It was nice meeting you.”
He shot to his feet. “It was nice meeting you too! Tell Patty I say hi!”
He disappeared and Rick turned to Adelaide. She’d collapsed on the shiny tabletop, her face in her arms.
“There were a lot of ways I thought this could’ve gone wrong,” she said, her voice muffled, “but that wasn’t one I’d expected.”
“Worry is rarely an effective means by which to mold the future,” Rick said.
Her head popped up, hair flipped over her one eye. “Did you come up with that yourself?”
He shrugged. “I’m not sure. Maybe I read it in a book.”
She dragged herself to her feet. “Well, my embarrassment is complete. Let’s go back to the house and pretend this never happened.”
“Aren’t we going to eat?” Rick asked. “I’m hungry.”
“It’s bad enough you had to witness that,” Adelaide said, smoothing her hair. “I’m not going to hold you hostage for dinner, blathering on about myself.”
“You know,” he said slowly, “I could stand to chat, too. Your status changed.”
