Action was much harder for me to take.
“Wow.” I shook myself out of my own shock. “That’s really sweet of you, Theo. But we can get something to go if you don’t want people to see.”
“We went to the farmers market already.”
I opened my mouth and then shut it. We had done that, and it came with surprisingly little fanfare. With how much this town talked, I thought we would have been found out.
“All right then. Breakfast.” I smiled at him. “Let me get dressed and we’ll go.”
He nodded and I went into my bedroom to change. For a moment, I had to stand still and take in just howhappyI was. It was one of the first times I could remember that I felt this way.
I sped through getting dressed, but took an extra moment to find a shorter floral skirt that I never pulled out. I paired that with a floral sweater and made sure my long hair fell how I wanted it to before I was running out the door to meet Theo.
When I walked into Center Point Diner, I was immediately reminded of all the ones I’d seen on TV. Pink and teal tiles were everywhere and there was a neon sign in the back. I hadn’t realized that places like this still existed. Most of the ones in Knoxville that I had enjoyed when I was a kid closed a long time ago.
This one was obviously doing well. It was early in the morning and quite a few tables were filled.
“Welcome in,” a rough voice said. A woman with dyed blonde hair walked up.
“Hey, Tammy.” Theo spoke first, and I was glad that he said her name because her name tag did not match. I would have immediately fallen for it had I walked in by myself.
“Haven’t seen you in a while,” she said, and then her eyes flicked to me. “And you must be Piper.”
“I am. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Finally trying out some new food? I appreciate it. Though, I didn’t know you two knew each other.”
“She lives above my shop,” Theo said. “And ... we know each other quite well, actually.”
“That’s good. You’re so antisocial.” She waved her hand and grabbed two menus. “Follow me.”
We were led to a small booth that overlooked the square. It was picturesque, and I paused to take it all in, knowing I would use some version of this in a book one day.
“She put us in my usual spot.”
“You have a usual spot?”
“I used to. Like she said, I’ve been busy.”
“Well, you have days off now.”
“I’m taking one day off, but yes. I do. There’s a lot I’ve been missing.”
Tammy came back to get our drink order and I wound up getting coffee. Theo gave me a look, one that told me I would regret this, but I still wanted to try it anyway. Tammy left with a nod and got our drinks.
As she walked away, I wondered what she was thinking about the two of us. I knew Theo had reservations because I was younger than him, but I knew that we were both at the same point in our lives.
But I didn’t know if some of the people in town had the same reservations.
“I’m surprised there aren’t more questions.” Theo said it lowly, tracing the lip of his cup. “Tammy always had a lot of those when I first moved here. Marjorie and Henrietta too, but they’re busy with the library.”
“Do you not see them as much?”
“Marjorie comes into the coffee shop every morning, so I see her plenty. But I’m in a diner with a woman no one knows I talk to. This should be a bigger deal.”
“Maybe she’s playing it cool and will put it in the Facebook group later.”
“Tammy never plays anything cool. She says exactly what she thinks.”
