She pats the top of my hand with her wrinkled one. With rings on every finger, and enough costume jewelry wrapped around her wrists and neck to open a boutique, she’s the closest thing to a grandmother I have. “Breathe, honey. You’ll get through this. You always do.”
“Thank you, Betty. I mean it. Thank you.”
She smiles and hands me a basket of bread for my new table. “Not another word about it. Now, go wait on that handsome devil.”
He must be good looking to get her excited. She usually can’t stand most of the teenagers that come in here, but those she does like, she treats well.
I grab a plate of butter for the bread, and walk to my table. I almost toss the entire basket on the floor when I realize my next customer is none other than Rhett.
He looks up from his menu, just as I stop next to his table. “Hi.” I skip the rest of my normal introduction, setting the bread down before I drop it. “What would you like to drink?”
“Kinsley,” he says with a shy smile. “You don’t have to wait on me. I feel bad making you work.”
Even though I’m curious as to why he came here, tonight of all nights, I tell him, “I’m here to work. I don’t mind.”
He stares at his menu, but hands it back to me. “I’m so lame. I already ate dinner at home.” He ducks his head as he laughs, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. And then he pierces me with his gorgeous green eyes. “I was looking for an excuse to see you tonight.”
“You were?”
“Yeah, pathetic. Huh?”
I shake my head, but before I can tell him I’ve been thinking about him too, a spitball sails from a straw, pelting me on the side of my face. “Seriously?” I grumble. “Those little punks are on my last nerve.”
Rhett pushes his chair back, but before he can stand up, I hold out my arm to stop him. “I’ll handle it.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
He scoots his chair back under the table, but gives the freshmen a look so menacing, they cower in the corner of the booth.
“They’re mad at me. I guess spitballs are the only form of revenge their pea-sized brains can come up with.”
“Why are they mad?”
“For not swooning when they tried to hit on me with their pimply charm.”
He laughs and reaches into the basket for a roll. “So, I shouldn’t take any notes from them?”
“None, but I’ll stop rambling about them. Are you sure you don’t want anything? A drink, at least?”
“I’m in no rush. How about a root beer.”
“You got it.”
“Oh wait, apple pie, too. Betty’s is the best.”
“It’s my favorite.”
I’m almost certain he stares at my butt the entire way to the kitchen where I hand his order to the cook. I load my tray with the hooligans’ food along with Rhett’s drink and pie, and as I was expecting, they’re all laughing when I get back to their table. They think they’re clever changing seats to try to mess me up. Thankfully, unlike them, I have a brain between my ears. “Do you boys need anything else?”
“I’m still waiting for my side of you,” one mumbles. “You’re smokin’.” He takes a quick sip of his drink before setting the glass back down over the ring of condensation left on the placemat. He sucks on a piece of ice, but as he tries to do some ridiculous trick with his tongue to impress me, it shoots back his throat.
He claws at his neck, almost throwing up on the table right in front of me. His face is bright red from coughing so violently. “Jesus, don’t hurt yourself.” I wait a few seconds to make sure he’s not going to die on my watch, and when I see his color return to normal, and he’s able to catch his breath, I walk away.
Rhett watches the entire exchange, and he doesn’t look happy about it. He motions for me to come over, and I do. “Do you always get treated like shit?”
“Not every day, but most. We get a lot of traffic from the high school.”
“That’s bullshit. Does your manager know what goes on in her restaurant?”
“Rhett, really. I’m used to it. If she kicked out every kid who gave me a hard time, she’d be out of business in a week.” I look down at my hand, not even realizing it’s on Rhett’s arm, as I’m pleading with him to let their behavior slide. “Sorry.”
Before I can snatch it away from him, he stops me. His warm skin against my cold hand takes the chill away, instantly. “Don’t be, sorry.” He lets me have my hand back, but not before his eyes roam across my face, settle on my lips for the briefest of seconds, and then find their way back to my eyes.
“Your car wasn’t in the parking lot. I wasn’t sure you were even here.”
“Brian took my car.” My voice cracks, and my mouth is suddenly so dry, it hurts to swallow. Rhett hands his cup to me, offering me a sip. “I’ll get in trouble. I’m okay.”
“Kinsley, take a drink.”
I hold his cup up to my lips, and swallow a little bit of his root beer. I drink it all the time, but sharing it with him, it tastes better than it usually does. “Thank you.”
“Who’s Brian?”
“He’s a new cook here, but he’s also a mechanic, so he offered to help with my car.” Rhett nods his head, and I can tell he has more questions. “What is it?”
“I didn’t think you had a boyfriend.”
“I don’t. Brian’s thirty-five and very married.” The relief in his eyes can’t be mistaken, and it gives me a little boost of confidence.
“How are you getting home tonight without your car?”
“I’ll catch a ride with someone.”
Rhett stares at the placemat in front of him, picking at the soggy corner from the dripping condensation on his glass. “I hate it, Kinsley.”
“What do you hate?” I wait for him to look at me, and it takes a few seconds, but he does.
His eyes are intense yet sincere as he says, “That you’re all alone. Your brother was a pain in the ass when it came to you, warning us all to stay away, but at least I knew you were in good hands when he was around.”
Now it all makes sense. I’m a pity date. “Is that why you’re here? You feel sorry for me? Because if it is, I manage just fine.” I turn to walk away, but he grabs onto my apron string, pulling me back to his table.
“That’s not why I’m here. I’ve wanted to ask you out for two years.”
“Two years?” He’s not making any sense. If he’s wanted to, why hasn’t he?
“Yes, for two long ass years I waited for your brother to go to college. Like I said, he warned us you were off limits. I knew I couldn’t fight him on it—he would have kicked my ass and ruined any chance for us. So, I’ve been biding my time, waiting until the right moment before I approached you.”
“Yet you’ve gone out with other girls, Rhett. You’ve been to dances, on dates, to parties. I may not have been there, but I hear all the gossip at school.”
“I know, and I shouldn’t have done that. I was too worried what everyone else thought of me. If I could go back and do it all over again, I would have taken a chance and stood up to your brother. I wouldn’t have gone out with the other girls.”
I shake my head. “You went out with a couple of them more than once. How do you explain that?”
He takes a sip of his drink before continuing. I watch his lips the entire time they’re wrapped around the rim of the glass. “None of my relationships ever worked out, Kinsley. There was a reason for that.”
“This is high school, Rhett. They’re not supposed to last forever.”
“Says who?”
“Me, I guess. We’re eighteen, and forever is a lifetime away. How could I possibly know what I’ll want when I’m fifty? Sometimes, I struggle with deciding what I want for lunch.”
He listens, but with confidence he says, “They didn’t work out because they weren’t you, Kinsley. Every time I was with one of them, I thought about what it would be like to be with you instead. Before long, I realized it was better being with you in my head, as a dream, than it was being with any of them in reality.”
I never realized Rhett was so poetic or that he was a romantic. Then again, I wouldn’t have known considering we’ve spoken more today than the last eleven years of our lives combined. “That’s intense.” I reach in front of him to take his empty plate, but he stops me with his hand on mine.