Page 10 of Grateful in Watch Hill
“Let’s have dinner.”
I cocked my head. “Dinner?”
“Not tonight, of course. Tomorrow, maybe? We can...” Seth nodded in the direction of Sam’s Deli, another well-known Watch Hill restaurant and watering hole. “We can have dinner at Sam’s.”
“I don’t know.” I glanced back at my waiting car. “I just...”
“Please.” He moved closer to me and hunched his shoulders. Nightfall had made the temperature drop a few degrees, and even I regretted not having on a thicker jacket. “It’s just dinner between two friends. That’s all.” He cracked a smile. “Besides, when was the last time that you had some of Sam’s famous beer cheese?”
“A long time,” I admitted. “Before... before all this mess.” Before when I had a real job, when my dad was in better health, when I dazzled people with my NYC lifestyle. Although, in all honesty, it wasn’t something I would have had often back then either. I had always followed such a strict diet to keep both the weight down and the energy levels up.The life of a dancer.And I once used to complain about that...
“You deserve some. We both do.” His smile grew wider and his brightened, even under the dimness of the overhead parking light. “So, what do you say? You can meet me there.”
“Tomorrow,” I agreed, pushing away my reluctance. He was right, in some ways I did deserve a treat. I’d been depriving myself of extras in the name of meeting our basic needs, but I deserved some levity and escape from that too. A person could only push themselves for so long, and I’d been doing that since I came back to Ohio. “Sounds good.”
“Seven?”
“Seven.” I moved closer to the car. “Now I really do have to go. I don’t want this food to get any colder than it already has.”
“Absolutely. Don’t let me stop you.”
I said goodbye and jumped into the SUV, thankful for an excuse to leave and the reality that the delivery itself wasn’t too far away. I’d have the food there in a few minutes, and the payment in my account soon enough. Another completed task.
But as I drove away, all I could think of was Seth’s smile.
FIVE
SETH
Icouldn’t believeit.
What were the chances of this—first hearing about Kendra from Ashley, and then actually seeing her the same evening? I supposed in a lot of ways it made sense given the circumstances, but I still marveled at it. It felt a little bit like something otherworldly willed my life to collide with hers, and I liked that. I’d never been someone who believed in coincidences—there was always a higher purpose to everything, even when it came to the bad luck that had surrounded me for more than a year.
It all pointed to something; I just didn’t know what.
Things slowed down at the pizza parlor soon after Kendra left, which made it easy for Tyler and me to close the place, once quitting time came. Every bone in my body screamed, and I was tired in a way I hadn’t been since the final days of The Frosted Heart, when I exhausted myself trying to come up with a way to save the business. Once I got home, I kicked off my shoes, changed into my pajamas, and went straight to bed, ready to fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
