“I was waiting to be invited inside.”
Rosie wrinkled her nose before she realized Shay was doing as she’d suggested and treating this as a real first date. “Please come in.” She pulled a vase from a cupboard and half filled it with water. When she placed the flowers inside, she noticed a single orange tulip nestled in the center of the red ones.
“That one’s from my momma,” Shay said. “She would’ve loved you, especially because you opened my heart again.”
A bubble of emotion rose from her chest and emerged as a gasp.
“Are you okay?” Shay asked, reaching out.
Rosie nodded and pushed away the intrusive comparison to her own mom. She definitely didn’t want to think about her right now. “It’s just the way you talk about your mom; I wish I could’ve met her.”
Shay placed her hand over Rosie’s. “Me too.”
“Do you think I’ll get to meet your dad?”
“Hey now, that’s at least fifteen to twenty dates down the road,princess. Don’t rush this,” Shay said and winked. “So are you ready to go?”
“Yeah. And this is really what you want me to wear?” Rosie motioned at herverycasual outfit of jeans, sneakers, and sweater.
“You look perfect. Shall we?”
Rosie took Shay’s hand, and they went downstairs to her car. “You’re still not going to give me any clues about where we’re going?” she asked when Shay had been driving a few minutes.
“I thought you liked surprises?”
“I usually do.”
Shay glanced at her briefly. “Do you trust me?”
“Of course.”
“Then relax and enjoy the ride.”
Along the route, Shay updated Rosie on her dad’s condition. He was back home after making a faster than expected recovery, and the rest of the family were pitching in with caring for him.
“Aaron’s cracking the whip,” Shay said. “Even Matthew’s spending time with him, although that’s ended up with Daddy being addicted to Candy Crush. Now they’ve both got their phones surgically attached to their hands. Has Janie made any progress with your mom’s debt?”
Rosie huffed. “God, I hope so. She’s getting the details of the whole application process so I can match the same times to my schedule and show I was nowhere near Lancaster. It looks like the ID used was fake too, and they’ve got CCTV in the bank. It shouldn’t take long to prove I had nothing to do with it.” That didn’t stop the anchor of anxiety weighing heavy in her gut at the thought of all that money they were trying to get her to pay back.
“Yeah, but you don’t need that extra worry, do you?”
“Definitely not.” She squeezed Shay’s arm, grateful for her understanding.
Shay took the freeway toward Chicago, which didn’t give Rosie any clue as to where they were headed. They fell into general conversation, mostly about their mutual desire to see America’sfirst Black female president elected in a couple of months. Time slipped past along with the miles until Shay pulled into a parking lot outside a small brick building Rosie thought she recognized but couldn’t recall why. A giant freedom flag hung in the second-floor window.
“What is this place?” Rosie asked as she stepped onto the gravel, thankful she was in sneakers and not nice heels that would instantly be scratched up and ruined.
“You’ll see.” Shay took her hand and led her inside.
The double doors opened into a corridor, and while Shay signed them in at the reception desk, Rosie took the opportunity to investigate. A nearby table was filled with stacks of leaflets on every kind of neglect and abuse, all manner of STDs, and details of nearby health clinics offering free services. The rainbow theme continued, along with pamphlets on counseling and gender reassignment. It was all worthy work, but Rosie was struggling to see how it was first-date location material. A sign on the wall pointed to accommodation, and several signs pointing to the right indicated the canteen, break room, library, and offices. On the back wall, a brightly colored sign in graffiti-style said, “Homeless, not hopeless.”
Shay put her hand on the small of Rosie’s back. “This way.”
“Kudos for originality,” Rosie said. “I’ve never gone on a date to a homeless shelter before.”
Shay smiled. “I hear the food at this restaurant is Michelin-worthy.”
She opened a door that led into a large gymnasium-type room crammed full of tables, which in turn, were overflowing with kids who seemed to range from about thirteen to early twenties.
