I winked at her and shut the door.
“How do you like your new rig?” Tabitha asked as soon as I put my seat belt on.
“I love it. It only had three miles on it when I picked it out. It’s just like Sam’s, but I think our interiors are a little different. How do you like your SUV?” I asked. Tabitha had a beautiful, sleek Mercedes SUV.
“I love it. It handles really well in wet weather and snow.”
“Good thing it does well in the snow since we have so much of that here in California,” I teased sarcastically. She laughed along, though.
“I know, right? When I lived in Colorado, having something safe that handled well in the snow was a must.”
“I completely get it. And yeah, Colorado’s weather would require something capable.”
We talked about our SUVs and how Southern California had some crazy downpours and thunderstorms from time to time.
“Rain doesn’t bother me. I love storms,” I admitted. “Plus, they make for great sunsets.”
“Handsome, sexy, submissive, a gentleman,anda romantic,” Tabitha said.
“I’m a hopeless romantic.”
“Mmm, I’ll buy the romantic part. Hopeless, though, I’m not sure.”
I shook my head at her playful comment. A few minutes later we pulled into the BBQ restaurant.
“This place has an amazing view!” Tabitha said as she stared at the ocean with the sun setting just beyond the parking lot.
“It’s great inside, you’ll love it.”
“I can’t get enough of the view.”
Once inside, I asked the hostess for one of the tables by the window so Tabitha could enjoy the scenery. While we waited for our table, I took Tabitha over to the wall that had the framed pictures of Josh.
“Are you kidding me? That’s Josh? Our Josh?” Tabitha closed her eyes and shook her head to regroup her thoughts. “I didn’t mean it asourJosh, just as the Josh we know.”
“Sam and Ali’s Josh.”
“Yes, that sounds so much better. That’s what I meant.”
I followed Tabitha as we trailed behind the hostess to our table.Those heels of hers were going to kill me.
Tabitha’s gaze was glued to the ocean and the orange and navy sky. I was so glad we’d come here. Especially since she’d mentioned working such long hours. Our server came right over before we even opened the menus.
Tabitha pulled her eyes away from the window to give the server her attention. You can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat people in the service industry. Elise rarely looked a server in the eyes when we went out. She had in the beginning, but that had quickly faded.
“Hello. I’m Damon, and I’ll be your server tonight.”
“Good evening, Damon,” Tabitha said kindly as she looked at him.
“Can I get you something to drink?” Damon asked and then dropped his pen.
She’s going to get a Coke.
“I’ll have a Coke, please.” She continued to give her attention to Damon—who appeared to be new and kind of struggling.
“One … Coke,” the young guy repeated her drink order as he wrote it down. “Got it. And for you, sir?” he asked.
“I’ll have an iced tea, please.”
