I will myself not to cry. “Did he tell you that?”
“No, but I’m really old, Norma, and I’ve had six husbands. A woman with my experience senses things.”
Despite all my attempts not to cry, my throat gets thick with emotion, and my nose starts to run. Bark hops onto my lap and licks my hand. I pet him, thankful for the distraction. I can’t tell Ruby about Stone and me or about my feelings for him. It’s too raw, and thankfully, she doesn’t push me for more information. Instead, she gives me another slice of the Danish, and I wolf it down like I haven’t eaten in days.
***
“Look at this. Look at this,” Marcy exclaims with glee, showing me the local paper. “Stone captures Rock,” she reads. “You’re in there, too. We should frame it and put it on the wall. Don’t you think so?”
Almost a week has gone by, but the story of the escaped bank robber, the home invasion, the golf cart chase, the shots fired, and Stone’s powerful left hook has lived on. The diner has been packed to the rafters because the townsfolk want to talk to me about my harrowing experience. I meet their questions with surprise. I’ve more or less forgotten all about Rock Tucker, but I can’t stop thinking about Stone. Every second that I don’t hear from him breaks my heart that much more.
“And then what happened?” John at table four asks. I’ve already told him the story six times, but he keeps coming back for more details.
“He was hiding in the bathtub. You want fishwife rice with your chicken tonight, or would you like potatoes?”
“Rice. How’d you get out of the bathroom?”
“I rammed his testicles into his abdominal cavity. We have fresh lemonade made, or do you want to stick with iced tea?”
“Into his abdominal cavity.” John whistles slow in appreciation. “I think I’ll stick to iced tea.”
It goes like that all day until my break in the afternoon. Sitting on a stool, I read a fashion magazine while I drink a cup of coffee, but when the hair on the back of my neck stands up and a shiver runs down my spine, I put my cup down.
“If a man ever looked at me like that, I’d melt into a puddle,” Marcy tells me, looking over my shoulder.
A hand comes from behind me and rests on my arm. I can feel Stone’s presence behind me, but I can’t bring myself to look at him. “You’re not going to turn around?” he asks. His voice is low and soft, a voice I’ve missed in the past week.
I shake my head. “I wish you would turn around,” he continues. “I want to see you.”
Marcy clutches a kitchen towel to her chest. “Oh my God. He’s got a light blue box in his hand, Norma.”
I swallow hard.
“I lied about why I went to visit you that night,” he says, still from behind me. His voice is impossibly low, thick with something I’m afraid to inspect.
“You lied?” I whisper.
“I didn’t come to check on you because of your brother. Yes, he told me to keep tabs on you, but that’s not why.”
I wait to hear why, while the seconds tick away in silence. The entire diner filled with people has gone quiet, and everyone is focused on us.
“You haven’t guessed? I figured you’ve known all these years,” he says.
Is he teasing me? Surely he knows that I’ve had a crush on him since I got my first training bra. Surely he knows the reason that I spill food on him every night is not because I’m the worst waitress in the world.
“I went there because I wanted to see you,” he says. “Yes, I worried about you, but more than that, I just wanted to see you.”
“Why? Were you sick or something? Did you want me to make you soup?”
“No soup,” he says, and I can hear the smile in his voice. “Can’t you guess? Haven’t I been obvious? I tried to hide it because your brother is going to kill me, but enough’s enough. I love you, Norma. I’m in love with you. I’ve been crazy for you since forever.”
“He’s opening the box, Norma,” Marcy tells me. “Holy wow. It’s a gorgeous ring. Now he’s getting down on one knee. Aren’t you going to turn around? Are you going to stare at me the whole time you’re married?”
Married.
Can this be happening? Is Stone Jenkins really asking me to marry him? Have all my dreams come true on my ten minute break at work?
“I’m afraid to turn around,” I tell Marcy.
