Page 30 of Goose

9

Goose

Isat down at the same booth Ally and I were seated in the day we officially met. As I studied the menu, the waiter approached.

“Did you see the board?” he asked.

I looked up. “Specials?”

“No.” He gestured behind me, toward the back of the restaurant. “There’s a note for you.”

I glanced over my shoulder.

A white board with elegant blue handwriting on it was mounted on the wall.

We’re done with our fish %^$#!&$ tacos…

It’s time to reevaluate the situation.

Scared?

I’m not.

Meet me at 6:00 pm

Reading it brought a smile to my face. “When did she write that?”

“This morning. Well, around noon, actually.”

It was just past five thirty. “Could you bring me one of those burgers she eats all the time? The one with the jalapenos and bacon? That’ll hold me over until she gets here.”

“Sure? Anything to drink?”

“Coffee, please. A pot of it if you’ve got it.”

“I’ll bring a carafe.”

Twenty minutes later I was done with the burger and had consumed half the carafe of coffee. I gazed out the window, trying to decide what I was going to do about the nosy detective. Ally’s ratty rust-colored Volkswagen came to a stop across the street.

She slung a backpack over her shoulder and sprinted across the street. Wearing a sleeveless button-up dress and weathered white Converse, I saw her resemblance to Ghost’s fiancé, Abby, for the first time. An odd warmth filled me upon making the connection.

She pushed the door open and made a beeline for where I was seated. She tossed her backpack into the booth and sat down. “I’m famished.”

Her bubbly ‘no bullshit” personality was absolutely adorable.

“Nice note,” I said with a laugh.

“I had to do something.”

“Why don’t you buy a phone?” I asked. “Hell, I’ll buy you one.”

“Why don’t you buy a car?” She cocked her head to the side. “Hell, I’ll buy you one.”

I laughed. “Point taken.”

She fidgeted with her backpack for a minute, and then looked up. “Do you think I’m pretty? Attractive, or whatever?”

The question took me by surprise. “I uhhm. Yeah, you’re attractive. Pretty. Why?”