What Happiness Looks Like (Promises) by Lenfestey Karen

Author:Lenfestey, Karen [Lenfestey, Karen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-10-29T04:00:00+00:00

White-haired Connie waved as Kate and Mitch entered the diner and selected a table. The place had a large picture window, which allowed diners to watch Foxworth’s citizens marching up and down the sidewalks, perusing the local businesses: Whitman’s Shoes, Howell’s Hardware, Noble’s Cards. Maroon vinyl cushioned the booths and the tables had silver trim like those from the 1950s.

Connie sent a young waitress with a tiny purple braid in her black hair over to their table. She immediately started reciting the day’s specials.

When the woman finished relaying everything from the soup of the day (cream of broccoli) to dessert (hummingbird cake), Kate tried not to stare at the purple braid. “We’ll have the usual—”

Mitch cut her off. “No, I really need a change.” He smiled flirtatiously at the twenty-year old waitress. “Sometimes you need to shake things up, you know what I mean?” The girl nodded with a smile.

Kate couldn’t believe her ears. They always ordered the same things—she had the giant Cobb salad with homemade rolls and Mitch ordered shepherd’s pie. He said it was like getting two meals in one—stew and mashed potatoes. Suddenly he was bored with what he ate and worse yet—maybe with whom he ate it.

He perused the menu before looking up. “I’ll take steak and eggs. Rare. I hate it when the steak gets tough.”

Biting her lower lip, Kate wondered if Mitch thought she was too tough. Had their failed attempts at a family and her unwillingness to compromise driven him away from her? Even if they adopted Lily’s baby, had the damage already been done?

He closed the laminated menu and watched the waitress take it away. Something in his mannerisms reminded her of Jake, the ladies’ man.

A shiver prickled her skin. She needed to win him back. “We have an anniversary coming up. Would you like to go away somewhere?”

Shaking his head, he watched a lithe woman and her dachshund prance by the front window. “Not really. I can’t schedule more vacation time at work.”

She waved her hand in front of his face to get his attention. Not very subtle, she knew. “What do you want to do to celebrate then? Have a party?”

He furrowed his brow at her. “No. It’s not one of the major ones anyway.”

“It’s our fifteenth.”

“Right. I think we should wait for at least our twentieth before we can justify a party.”

“Are we going to make it that long?” she mumbled. She waited for reassurance, a flash of his dimple, his warm hand patting hers. But she got nothing.

“We’ll see.” He stood. “I’m going to go wash my hands.” He headed for the back of Connie’s Diner.

Her hands rubbed against her goose bumped arms. She and Mitch had enjoyed a brief honeymoon period after they prepared the nursery and he moved back into the master bedroom. But he already seemed to be pulling away again. Her gaze landed on the cell phone that he’d left on the Formica table. She’d checked once and found nothing, but it couldn’t hurt to make sure.

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