I didn’t work until Monday, and it was a shame that I was in a foul mood over everything with Austin on Saturday. The man was like an open book, and it was obvious that something was bothering him the entire afternoon. He could deny it all he wanted, but I knew him from our years together. I knew him.
It was no surprise that the date ended so suddenly, but I regretted sulking about it for the rest of the weekend.
I was at work for the afternoon shift and found it nice to be there, apart from all the speculation about my relationship with Austin. Small-town women loved gossip, and since it was slow for me, I was stuck being involved in the conversation. It was clear that these women only saw the positives of his wealth and were maybe a little jealous of me.
It made me want to roll my eyes.
“How long until you quit on me and start having his babies?” Mary asked me.
I smiled patiently, not feeling that way at all inside.
“Mary, you’re jumping ahead. We are nowhere near that point, and I love working here.” Did I right now, though?
“A man with that kind of money doesn’t want you working. He can take you anywhere in the world! What if you two move somewhere like Europe or somewhere fancy like that?” Elsie was talking now, her sweet face bright with speculation. “I see that all the time on that television show, you know.”
“Elsie, I have no intention of doing that!” I assured her as I ran my hand down my ponytail.
“I remember you kids in school. You were in love. I don’t know why you didn’t go with him then, and you’d be a fool to let him go again,” another woman spoke.
I slowly sipped my coffee and took deep breaths. They didn’t know what happened and didn’t need to. Not everything was the town business. I cherished my secrets here, and for a moment, being invisible in New York sounded wonderful.
“Is it true that he flew you to Paris just for dinner?” Elsie chimed in.
I shook my head. “No, he didn’t. We went to his restaurant in Dallas, that’s all. Just an hour away!”
Everyone gasped and pressed their hands to their faces as talk of how dates at the diner and the coffee shop were a big deal to them.
I just wanted to scream that I liked the idea of those dates. I craved them. I liked the idea of simplicity more than I liked the extravagant ideas some of these women had.
“I also heard a helicopter flying above my house this weekend. I’ll bet that was his bodyguard or something like that. Maybe he even has the FBI working for him, or the CIA.”
I looked across the room at another regular and covered my mouth as I resisted the urge to laugh like a maniac. I didn’t tell her that was us, though I was certain someone knew about it.
I was a little relieved when Gertrude came in for her regular cut. I greeted her with a warm smile. She was a calm, observant woman who had lived a lot in her life. I could see it in her eyes when she spoke to me.
“Morning, Gertrude. How are you?” I asked as she sat down and looked at me with her big, dark eyes.
“I’m just fine, dear. How about you?” There was a twinkle in her eyes as she spoke.
I smiled at her. “I am doing good.” I knew it was a bit of a lie, but she could see my wry smile enough to know what I meant. “The usual this morning?”
“Yes, please.” Gertrude settled in the seat as I covered her shoulders and reached for my coffee again. Maybe I needed my own coffee stand out front that served alcohol as well as coffee. That would be wonderful.
I clipped her curls as the talk just kept moving along. Now they were discussing our wedding, and it sounded outlandish to me.
“If you had one of those destination weddings, we’d never get to see it,” Mary told me.
I raised an eyebrow at her.
“It could be televised, like Princess Kate’s,” Elsie said. “He could even fly all of us out there on some big plane, and we could stay in those beach huts. Have you seen those?”
I shook my head in defeat. I was complaining about flying to Dallas in his plane, and here they were, having me get married in the tropics somewhere.
We were all so different.
“If you got married in New York in that big church that they always show on television, that would be easier. It fits thousands, I hear. Imagine a trip to the city like that!” There were giggles and gasps, and I leaned my head down and sucked in my breath.
“What would we do for wedding gifts?” Wanda mused. “That boy must have everything the two of you would need, and if not, he could just buy it! I’ve heard of couples asking for donations towards a honeymoon these days, if it’s a second or third marriage. He could buy that, too. I’m just going to feel so useless when that time comes.” Wanda wrung her hands together as if all of this were happening right now.