Page 62 of The Good Luck Cafe
Moira’s palms were sweating. “No. I mean, maybe.”
“Do you have a reason for calling?”
Moira chewed her lower lip. Not a reason that she could give this woman. Not without putting her job in jeopardy. “Maybe a dog. My grandmother used to have a King Charles something.”
“Cavalier King Charles spaniel,” Beth supplied, her voice level and confident. “I love that breed.”
“Oh,” Moira said, feeling a flutter of excitement, even though she wasn’t really in the market for a dog anyway. This call was completely about checking up on the woman who’d called in distress the other day.
“We don’t get many Cavaliers in. I can put you on a list and call you if we get one though.”
Moira didn’t think that was a good idea, just in case Beth realized Moira worked at the dispatch and made the connection to why she was calling. Which she should not be doing. “I, uh, I’ll call back another time,” Moira said quickly. “Take care of yourself.”
“Oh. Okay,” Beth said. “Um, you too.”
Moira disconnected the call and blew out a breath, shaking from head to toe. Beth had sounded okay. She was breathing at least. Maybe knowing that much would take Moira’s mind off the situation. At least she hoped so.
***
For the last forty-eight hours, some part of Gil had been waiting for Moira to cancel their date. He felt like he was walking a tightrope and couldn’t allow his hopes to get up too high. He had liked this woman for what seemed like forever. And she’d been shying away from him for that same amount of time.
He pulled into her driveway, cut the engine, and checked his cell phone one last time to see if she’d canceled. She hadn’t. This was really happening. He grabbed the bouquet of flowers he’d purchased at Somerset Florist, feeling only a little bit silly for buying them. He somehow suspected Moira hadn’t been given flowers too often in her life. In Gil’s opinion, every woman deserved flowers. He picked his mom up a bouquet several times a year just because.
The bouquet he’d gotten Moira was an arrangement of wildflowers, which he thought suited her best. They were simple, yet beautiful, and they represented a mountainous countryside in nature. Gil headed up the porch steps and rang the doorbell, still halfway expecting Moira to shoot him down once she answered. Instead, when she opened the door, she was dressed in a pair of soft-looking cropped pants and a sleeveless black top that shimmered in the dwindling sunlight. Her hair was down in loose curls that bounced near her shoulders as she smiled back at him.
Gil grinned foolishly as he looked at her, relieved that she wasn’t backing out of their plans. He was also suddenly nervous that he’d screw this night up in a hot second and she’d slam the door on him.
“Are those for me?” She gestured toward the bouquet of flowers he was nervously crushing with his hands.
He held them out to her. “Oh, yeah, as a matter of fact, they are. I hope you don’t mind.”
“That you brought me flowers? Why would I mind?” She didn’t wait for him to answer. Instead, she gestured him inside. “I’ll just put these in water. Thank you. It’s been a long time since anyone has given me flowers.”
“Oh?” Gil asked. “Anyone I know?”
Moira glanced over her shoulder. “Benny Myer.”
Gil stopped walking and watched as she reached for a vase in her cabinet. “Benny Myer? You two dated?”
Moira held up a finger. “One date. We only went out once.”
“That good, huh?”
Moira seemed to be in a good mood tonight. She looked relaxed, and she was laughing easily. That boded well for their evening. She arranged the flowers in the vase, taking her time to spread them around evenly. Then she admired them for a long moment. “They’re beautiful.” She looked at up him. “Thank you.”
“You already thanked me. Are you going to tell me this Benny story over dinner tonight?”
Moira walked around the counter and headed back in his direction. “Benny talked about the resale value of my car for half of dinner and offered to take me to his used car lot in Magnolia Falls to do a trade-in afterward.”
Gil opened the front door for her. They stepped out onto the porch, and Moira turned back to lock up behind them. “If memory serves me, you’ve been driving that same car for a long time now.”
She nodded. “I turned down Benny’s offer and politely declined another date.”
They walked to Gil’s truck.
“I’m going to open your door for you because, in my mind, this is what a date does.”
Moira gave him a strange look.
