“These coffee shops down here where all the students go are probably pretty safe. Right?” he said.
Abby shrugged. “I don’t know. You never know who you might see.”
“I’m guessing this Randall is a little older. Right?”
“Uh, yeah, a little,” she said. Twenty-five years or so.
“And he and his friends are not exactly hanging out in areas like this anymore?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Relax. You’ll be safe. He’s not going to find you here.”
“I guess you’re probably right,” she said, though she didn’t feel so sure about that. The Bigger Burger was one thing – she could explain that away by saying she’d been shopping downtown, stopped for lunch, and he’d just shown up. But how would she explain this? She didn’t even have her car nearby.
“What about Mikayla’s Coffee House?” Charlie suggested.
“That place sounds familiar,” Abby said.
“Familiar how?”
“I don’t know.”
“They have a nice area in the back where we could sit and talk.”
“That sounds nice, but Randall and I met years ago when I worked at a coffee shop. I really don’t think he hangs out at places like that anymore, but I wouldn’t put anything past him.”
“But he’s at work right now?”
“Yeah.”
“Come on,” Charlie said, parking his truck in an empty spot on the street. “You need to learn to loosen up a little bit.”
“I’ll try,” Abby said.
Charlie jumped out and came around to her side. He opened her door, extending his hand to her, taking her hand in his own. They walked like that, hand in hand, into the coffee shop. Abby’s heart was racing over his touch and her own boldness. She felt a little like she was having an out of body experience.
Inside the shop it was cool and dark.
“You go and sit down in the back and I’ll get our drinks. What do you want?” he asked her.
“An iced tea.”
“Okay. I’ll be right there.”
She found the area he was talking about. The shop wound back and back like a many-chambered cavern. Four rooms in all. By the time she got to the farthest room and settled onto the yellow velvet sofa she felt pretty safe. An old Beth Orton song played up in the front section of the shop, but back here she could barely hear it. There had been a few students reading and working on their laptops, but in this far corner it was deserted. She breathed in the smell of mustiness and coffee. It was like being on another planet.
“Here you go,” Charlie said, returning and setting her iced tea in front of her. He had a regular cup of coffee. He sat right next to her. Very close. Very bold. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of banana bread wrapped in plastic wrap. It looked homemade.
“Did you bring that from home?” Abby asked, an unexpected falling feeling taking over her stomach. If he had, it meant he had a girlfriend.
“They always wrap everything in the day-old basket in plastic wrap,” he said.
“So it’s from here?” she asked, far too relieved.
“Yeah.” He unwrapped it. “Want a bite?”
“Sure.”