“I’m perfectly fine.”
“Well, I’m not. Plus, I’m starving.” She smiled at Frida. “Can I have my usual, please?”
When she wasn’t at the Whispering Bay Gazette, Allie worked part-time for Frida at The Bistro. According to Allie, the small town paper was just beginning to turn a profit, the result of a lot of hard work done by Allie and Roger. But Mimi knew that profit wasn’t enough to allow Allie to work exclusively at the paper. Working for Frida helped Allie make ends meet. So did freelancing for Florida! magazine.
“I’ll have my usual, too,” Mimi said.
Frida gave them a sharp salute. “Coming right up.”
The usual for Allie was the tuna melt. For Mimi, it was Frida’s turkey and Swiss on rye. Although to be honest, Mimi didn’t have much of an appetite at the moment. They sat at a table along the wall featuring the big ocean mural that Frida’s husband, Ed, a locally renowned artist, had painted. The mural was a talking point for The Bistro. It was a wall-to-wall depiction of Florida sea life, starring dolphins and manatees and flying swordfish. The tourists loved it. They also loved snapping pictures of it while waiting for their cappuccinos to brew. Those photos inevitably ended up on people’s Facebook walls. It was modern day word of mouth and the best sort of advertising you could get.
Allie let out a deep sigh. “I went to see Zeke last night. After I heard about the separation while I was in line at the Piggly Wiggly.”
Mimi cringed. The grocery store line was definitely not the place she’d wanted her sister-in-law to hear that kind of news.
“I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you in person. Zeke and I were going to tell the kids first, but, I don’t know, it all just came out at the city council meeting. Or rather, Zeke blurted it out.”
“That doesn’t sound like Zeke.”
“You’re right. It doesn’t.” Mimi rubbed her wedding band, which was securely back on her ring finger this morning. “I think he noticed I took off my wedding band and it must have set him off.”
Allie’s eyes widened. “You took off your wedding band?”
“To do the dishes. Yesterday was crazy. It was my first city council meeting and I was running around the house trying to get ready. I just forgot to put it back on.”
“And you think that’s why Zeke told everyone you were separated?”
Mimi shrugged. “I have no idea. It’s just a theory. But, regardless of why he told everyone, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s true. You know we’ve been going to counseling, but it’s not working. We just need some time apart to think.”
It had been over a year since Allie had moved back to Whispering Bay for keeps and discovered through Claire that Mimi and Zeke were going to marital counseling. Mimi had high hopes in those first few months, but instead of their relationship progressing, it had deteriorated to the point that they seemed more like polite strangers than husband and wife.
“I think being apart is going to make it all worse,” Allie said. Although she was thirty-one years old, she looked about thirteen right now. The exact age when Mimi had first met her sister-in-law. She loved Allie and she hated to see her upset.
“This sucks,” Mimi said. “Today was supposed to be about planning your wedding. Not hashing over my problems with Zeke.”
The little restaurant suddenly went quiet.
Mimi felt the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She turned in her seat to find Zeke standing by the door. He eyed the dining area and made a swift beeline toward them. “Mind if I crash your lunch?” he asked in a casually deceptive voice. As if either of them would say no.
Her heart began doing that erratic thing again. Going way too fast. Or maybe it was skipping a beat. At the city council meeting she’d chalked it up to Zeke’s presence, but it wasn’t normal to feel this way. In the beginning of a relationship, yes. But after eighteen years together? It must be a reaction to all the stress going on in her life. Yes, that was it. Seeing Zeke under these new conditions was definitely stressful. She’d have to let Doc Morrison check her out. Maybe even do an EKG or something.
Zeke took a seat and conversation in the restaurant resumed, but it was obvious the entire place was watching them.
“So, we’re here to talk about Allie’s wedding. Right?” he said.
Before either Mimi or Allie could answer, Frida practically ran to the table to take Zeke’s order. Over the top of his head, Frida gave Allie a wide-eyed look as if to ask what’s going on? Allie just shook her head. She supposed she’d have to get used to this reaction. From now on, whenever she and Zeke were together, people would begin to wonder. Were they back together? Or not? Maybe she should put a sign on her back saying Still in Time Out!
Mimi waited till Zeke ordered and Frida had left the table. “Have you and Tom set a date yet?” she asked Allie.
“The second Saturday in June. Tom’s dad is going to marry us, but that’s about all we have nailed down.”
“You’re not getting married in the Church?” Zeke demanded. Tom’s daddy was a Methodist minister but Zeke and Allie had been raised Catholic.
“Tom’s divorced, so it probably wouldn’t be appropriate,” Allie said. “Plus, I’m kind of a lapsed Catholic, so—”
“You can get married anyway you want,” Mimi butt in. “It’s your wedding. Zeke and I are here to support whatever decision you and Tom make. Isn’t that right?” she said to Zeke.
His brow shot up. “Sure. Right.”