My smile is a Texas mile wide my entire walk back to my house.
CHAPTER 14
Ellyn
“I’m so glad we finally got a chance to have lunch together this week,” Wanda says as the hostess of the Texas BBQ place shows us to our seats.
Wanda had something come up the week before, which meant she had to postpone the lunch date we’d scheduled.
“How is Tom feeling?” I ask.
Wanda rolls her eyes as she takes her seat in the booth across from me. “Threw out his back again,” she says. “He’s better now, but still sore. I keep telling him to take his butt back to the physical therapist.”
“She really helped him with his pain last time, right?”
“She did, but he got lazy and stopped doing the exercises she taught him. Maybe he needs to hire a trainer. It always motivates him when he spends money on something.” She chuckles. “Oh, I think I just figured out his Christmas gift.”
I laugh. “You can’t give that man physical therapy sessions as a Christmas gift.”
“Why not?” She gives me a sideways glance. “It’s practical. Something he needs, and honestly, in the long run, it’ll cost usless money. At the rate he’s going, if he keeps this up, he’ll end up needing surgery if he further injures his back.
“Who knows what recovery from that will be.”
I shiver at the thought. “I’m so glad I didn’t end up needing surgery from my fall. I got off easy.”
“Still, you need to be careful. You got lucky that fine neighbor of yours was around to help you out.”
I know I don’t hide the blush that fills my cheeks when Wanda brings up Joel.
“What’s his name again?”
“Joel,” I answer. “And I know you already knew that.”
She giggles, covering her mouth at the same time our waitress comes to our table for our orders.
We start off with a couple of diet colas and then order a side of string beans, steamed cabbage, mashed potatoes, and an order of beef brisket to share.
“I did,” she admits. “I just wanted to see your face when you said his name.”
I raise an eyebrow.
She shrugs. “You got the look.”
“What look?”
My best friend gives me a conspiratorial grin. “Has it been that long since you’ve actually been in love?”
“Inwhat?”
“You heard me,” she says before taking a casual sip of her soda.
“I’m not in love. We haven’t even gone on our first date.”
“But you are going this weekend.” She leans in. “Have you decided what you’re going to wear?”
Wanda knows my buttons because I immediately launch into the rundown of the outfit I’ve decided on for my date with Joel.
“We’re going dancing afterwards, so I wanted something that I could move in,” I tell her while holding up a picture of the long, white and floral printed pleated dress that I plan to wear.
