Live, Local, and Dead by Nikki Knight

Author:Nikki Knight [Knight, Nikki]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CROOKED LANE BOOKS
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

Date Night

Not long after that, I got a chance to get down with my apparently very bad self.

The Old Grist Mill Tavern in White River Junction, besides being halfway between Simpson and Montpelier, is also the nicest place to eat in the state outside Burlington, which is a real city with all that entails. If you live in southern Vermont, you’re planning a big night out, and you don’t want to drive three hours to Burlington, or about the same to Boston, you go to the Grist Mill.

I knew all of this from my first hitch, though I’d never had the money or reason to go there at the time. David and I met when he was teaching in Connecticut, toward the end of my time there. It started when Orville, hoping to get his nevvy settled with a nice girl, suggested he look me up. We hit it off, as a couple of small-town kids working for better, with a shared fondness for classic New York, and collecting stupid grammar mistakes. And yeah, those sparkly green eyes of his.

Our big engagement night out was at the Stage Deli in the city.

I still love a good knish.

Knishes were not on offer at the Grist Mill. It was full-out fancy fine dining, and honestly, a little intimidating. I had no idea what dress-up was in Vermont these days, never mind what Will might expect, so I decided the hell with it, and just did me.

That meant the black wool tuxedo pants I’d scored on sale years ago, and my good dark red suede blazer, with a lacy black tee underneath. It was, I had discovered, the only lacy thing I still owned. At the bottom of a moving box, I found some underwear that at least didn’t look orthopedic, but if this Will thing was going to continue, I needed to go online and buy some lingerie, pronto.

Too late for that now. At least I had the beauty part covered. In addition to the face mask and deep conditioner, I’d found a mini of some very high-end dark red lipstick and a perfume sample pack in the loot hidden in the back of my closet. The lipstick really was worth all the fuss, smooth and rich, making my mouth look absolutely delicious.

Perfume was less successful. I finally spritzed on something called “Dangerous Vanilla,” which sounded like an oxymoron, but also didn’t seem overpowering.

And of course the highlighter. Maeve would not expect a play-by-play of the naughty parts, but she would be very disappointed if I didn’t tell her how the makeup worked out. I dabbed a little on my cheek and brow bones, and was surprised by how much of a difference it made.

I was almost not blue for a change.

I thought about even wearing cute shoes, but decided falling in the parking lot would ruin the moment and put on the Chelseas.

They, and I, would do. I made sure the voice-tracked show started properly, and hopped into the Jeep for the forty-five-minute drive.

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