Chapter Twenty-four
“It’s not about who hurt you and broke you down. It’s about who was always there and made you smile again.”
—Unknown
Girl, you look fabulous pregnant!” Courtney gave me a hug and then we headed into DC Coast for lunch. “Have you eaten here before? I heard it’s ridiculously good!”
“Courtney, I’m only a few months. I’m sure that I’ll be waddling in a couple of months and that shit is not cute.”
“Jemistry, you’re glowing. I’ve had four babies and each time I looked like all the blood was drained from my body by the end of the first trimester. Pregnancy has always been rough on me.”
“Hell, this is no walk in the park for me either.”
We gave our name for the reservation and were seated.
“Lots to choose from on the menu,” I said as I started checking out the selections. Like most pregnant women, my cravings changed from day to day. “Did you eat a lot of pickles and ice cream when you were pregnant? I always thought that was a myth but I love the combination and I’ve always hated pickles.”
“What about ice cream?” Courtney asked as she used her knife as a mirror to make sure she didn’t have any lipstick on her teeth.
“I’ve always been down with ice cream, even though I’m lactose-intolerant.”
“Aw, that’s the worst. But I feel you. I eat mushrooms and tomatoes like they are going out of style and neither one agree with me. I spend half the night on the toilet after I indulge.”
I made my selections. “I’m going to do the Heirloom Beet Carpaccio for starters, and then try out the Pan Roasted Arctic Char with squash and eggplant, and some spinach with garlic and chili.”
“Hmm, you’re going to need some acid reflux medicine after all of that. I’m keeping it simple since I don’t know what half the shit is that you just named.”
We both giggled.
“I’m going to try the chicken Caesar salad, and the crab cakes.”
“Chicken!” I exclaimed. “You could cook that at home.”
“Exactly!”
Courtney was looking for the waitress so we could place our order. I decided that then was as good a time as any to say what needed to be said.
“I have some good news and some bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?”
“I despise it when people give me that kind of choice. It’s a fucked-up situation either way.”
“How so?”
“If I tell you that I want to hear the bad news first, then I’ll be too upset to appreciate the good news. If I tell you to hit me with the good first, once you tell me the bad, the good becomes quickly overshadowed.”
“You do have a point.”
Courtney shrugged. “So you choose and I’ll deal with it. It’s either a win-lose or a lose-win.”
“Tevin and I ran into each other at BWI yesterday when I was coming back from Saint Thomas.”
“Hmm, I planned to ask you about your trip, but this is definitely going to be juicier.” She took a sip of her water as the waitress approached. After we ordered, she said, “You ran into each other and then what?”
“He was standing there waiting for the parking shuttle and he didn’t see me at first. I hesitated about saying anything, but he must’ve sensed me somehow. Next thing I knew, he was turning around and staring at me.”
“And then what happened?”
“He was happy to see me. Told me all about how he’d been searching for me and staking out my old place. How he’d called the school system but they told him to beat it.