He'd picked Waffle House for several reasons. It was public, so no one could complain about them hiding and she would feel safe being out in the open. He'd eaten at so many that it was a comfortable place for him -- and he was already edgy enough. Their coffee wasn't bad for diner coffee. Plus, he could get a waffle and hide behind it, if need be.
He hated to admit being scared by a girl. But he hated being blindsided even more, so admitting to it allowed him to plan for it. He told himself -- again -- that he was flattering himself to even think he had something to be afraid of.
When she stepped through the door, he felt his breath catch in his throat. As she leaned her umbrella against the jukebox and turned unerringly toward him, the part of his brain that was curled up in gibbering terror whispered, "I warned you!"
Twenty-something years did not appear to have left more than superficial marks on her. As she -- walked? swaggered? something in-between -- toward him, a half-smile quirked up the corner of her mouth in a "right again" sort of smirk. It spread into a full-blown warm smile as he stood and pulled his hat off. For a brief second, he wanted to apologize for -- what? Growing up? Gaining weight? Not being a Greek god?
He settled instead for the offered hug, giving her a light kiss on the cheek. "Hello, gorgeous."
"Hello, Jake. It's wonderful to see you."
He knew he was grinning like an idiot. "Was I that easy to find?"
She laughed as she slid into the booth across from him. "Come on, where else is a Marine going to sit? Give me a little credit."
He raised his coffee mug to her in apologetic salute. "So, give me something specific to talk about, or I'll end up babbling like an idiot."
"You think I'm in any better shape? Twenty years is a lot of time to catch up on. It'll be like getting to know each other all over again."
He sipped his coffee and thought for a moment before replying. "Y'know, after the first time Laney and I went out, I told her that being with her felt so comfortable and, well, right that it was like I had known her forever and we were just catching up on the last twenty years." He cocked an eyebrow at her. "And now, of all the cosmic ironies, I'm sitting here doing exactly that."
"So you've told me a little about her and she sounds fascinating. Tell me more about the girl who finally won your heart."
"Well, let's see. Obviously, instead of taking the tiny bit of trouble it would have been to, say, call your mom and find out where *you* were, I did like I always have -- lived looking ahead and never back." He frowned slightly. "You'd think that should keep you from getting hurt, at the time. I think we've both learned better than that. But that's a whole 'nuther discussion.
"So, instead, I moved back in with mom & dad and transferred to UL. Spring semester, summer classes, fall semester -- ended up dating my Spanish teacher that year from summer until we came back from Thanksgiving break. Apparently, the age difference of my 21 and her 29 was a bit more than she could handle. I will say making out in her office was interesting and move on." He grinned impishly.
"You are so bad!" She swatted at him with a napkin.
"Part of my charm, I hear. Just bad enough to be interesting but still safe. So the next spring, I took and archery class that was the result of nothing short of the Hand of God. See, Laney was in her third year at that point. Every semester before that one, she'd gotten the exact class-session she wanted, no matter when she got stuck registering. For that class, she went through every single PE listing that did not interfere with her other classes. Absolutely nothing available other than this one archery class. She was one of three girls in it, and one of them was a grandmother. The other girl was cheerleader-foxy and seemed really sweet -- which of course had half the guys in the class trying to go out with her. She dropped the class in a matter of weeks.
"I was working part-time at the public library and saw Laney leaving one day with a little blonde girl. So, the next time we had class, I mentioned I'd seen her. I think that was actually the first time I'd talked to her." He steepled his fingers and stared off into space for a few moments, lost in thought.
Dara sipped her coffee and watched him. It was obvious from listening to him that he was absolutely and totally in love with this Laney. And watching his face -- how his eyes softened when he mentioned her coupled with the little smile turning up the corners of his mouth -- reinforced that impression totally. A small pang caught at her as some little voice whispered, 'That could have been me causing that smile.' She covered the wistful smile on her face with a sip of coffee. Things happened and you had to take the best you could from them. She thought about her own son. Of course, sometimes the best you could take turned out to be pretty good. And then there was the man in her life that she knew brought a similar smile to her.
"Oh, sorry. Wow did I get lost. And I take it back -- we'd actually already spoken and she started it. Well, actually, no. Violet started it."
"Violet? How on earth did she have anything to do with you and Laney?"
"Well, you see -- Violet bought me this button. It read, 'Truth is stranger than fiction, because fiction has to make sense.' I'd worn it to class one day, along with all my other buttons. Laney had read most of them from a distance, but that one was too small a font to see. Well, she walked up to me, put her hand on my chest to stop me, and leaned in to read it. She looked up at me, said, 'No, it doesn't,' and walked off."
Dara clapped her hands over her mouth to stifle a giggle. "She didn't! Just walked off?"
Jake nodded, laughing. "Yes, she did. I stood there stunned, trying to figure out what had just happened to me and then, literally, ran to catch her and demand an explanation. Turns out her Spanish Lit class had just read some short piece by a modern writer that she swore made no sense. And the piece had won critical acclaim in literary circles. So yeah, we'd started talking before I saw her and this little girl.
"Being the soul of diplomacy, the day I asked about her, I said something like 'I saw you at the library the other day as you were leaving. Was that your little sister with you?' I got the funniest look from her over that. She told me later she was shocked someone our age didn't automatically assume it was her little girl. It was, but that wasn't the point. I think that was the day she asked me how old I thought she was."
Dara's eyes went wide and she reached out to touch his hand. "Wow, was she out to get you or what? That's probably the second-worst question a girl can ask a guy!"
"I'm sure I was being tested. But I was already well into chivalric mode and handled that most dangerous of questions with charming aplomb." He rolled his eyes and grinned. "I looked her square in the eye and told her that was a terrible question but that I was going to answer anyway. I said something like 'If I saw you from a distance, I'd say you were about 18. But since I'm close enough to see your eyes, I would say 22 to 24, because those eyes have seen more than any 18 year-old has.' She was 23 at the time."
Dara applauded softly. "You know that conversation right there made sure she went blind as far as ever seeing another guy was concerned? You gave her the benefit of doubt on her baby and told her she looked younger than she really was."
"I told you, I was on a roll that day. And look where it got me."
