“A meet-cute. Someday, you’ll be able to tell your children about the day you met and threw wood stain all over the love of your life.” She laughs. Cackles is more like it.
“Fuck you.” I frown. “That’s not funny.” Nothing about my love life is funny.
“Stop.” She places her hand over mine. “I was teasing you. I know how much you hate all this romance crap.”
I don’t hate romance. I’ve never experienced it for myself. I take that back. I thought I had something that resembled romance, but that turned out to be an illusion.
“Keep going.”
“He showed up this morning with some of your treats and coffee. I showed him around the house, after which time, he asked me out.”
“Finally. A man who appreciates a hard-working woman.” She nods at me. “An amazingly talented woman.”
“Uh. Huh.” Now, she’s merely stroking my ego after the teasing.
“Where’s he taking you?”
“Norma’s.”
“Norma’s? Why?”
I shrug. “I picked it.”
“You should go to Excelsior, to arealrestaurant.” Excelsior is a larger city about a half hour from here. “A restaurant where everyone won’t be staring at you trying to eavesdrop on your date. People who won’t try to get into your business.”
I think about her words and frown. “I should have… but I needed to be done with the date by seven. Besides, tonight is meatloaf night.” I love Norma’s meatloaf.
“You’re going to eat meatloaf in front ofthatman?”
“Yes.” I’m absolutely eating meatloaf in front ofthatman.
Bella laughs as she stands. “Well, if you’re going to eat meatloaf, at least you should look extra hot doing it.”
Ugh. Here we go. I see the gleam in her eye, and I know exactly what that means. Bella’s in makeover mode. “Don’t make me look like a clown.”
“Never.”
Leading me out of her tiny office, she turns the light off. “Charlotte, will you lock up for me?”
Charlotte is one of her two employees. She happens to be a retired high school math teacher who works every afternoon and Saturday mornings. “Sure, boss.”
“Let’s run to my house first. I’ve the perfect dress.”
“A dress?” I whine because I hate dresses. “Come on, Bella….”
“Yes. A dress. You’ll like it. I bought it for your birthday, but since that’s not until October, you’re getting it early.”
“Fine.” Why do I let her do this to me?
* * *
Staringat myself in the mirror, I remember why I let her do this to me. “Wow.” I twirl around in circle as the dress swings with with me. When it stops, it lands right below my knee, which is good because I’ve got a wound on my left knee thanks to my fall last night.
Stupid pile of wood.
“Told you,” Bella says, sounding extra smug. “That dress is perfect for you.”
She’s right. It shows off my best parts, hiding the ones that I’m not happy with.
