28. Garrett
28
Garrett
“ I think he’s in love with you,” I tell Emma.
“The feeling’s mutual,” she says, scratching behind Ron’s ear as he stares up at her with big hearts in his eyes.
Despite the fact that she’s wearing a nice dress for our date tonight, Emma dropped to the floor the minute she saw Ron and started showering him with affection. If the whole thing wasn’t so adorable, I might actually be jealous of my own dog.
“I brought you something,” she coos at him while reaching into her bag. She pulls out a little red plaid dog with big, floppy ears. When she squeezes the middle, it lets out a sharp squeak. Ron’s eyes go wide, and his little tail goes wild. Emma hands him the toy, and he gently takes it in his mouth then goes trotting off.
“Did you make that for him?” I ask, recalling her story about axolotls in the cave.
“I did,” she answers. “And those squeakers only come in packs of one hundred, so don’t be surprised if more toys start turning up around here.”
The persistent squeaking sounds echo down the hallway in the distance as Ron makes his way to his favorite spot in the house with his new toy.
“I don’t think he’ll mind,” I say with a smile.
I hold out my hand to help Emma up from the floor. She stands and brushes her palms over her dress, smoothing it back into place. Once she’s done, I pull her to me and wrap my arms around her back. Her arms lace around my neck. Our lips meet for a slow kiss.
“Are you finally going to tell me where we’re going for dinner?” she asks, smiling up at me.
“Nope.”
Thirty minutes later, we arrive in Aurora. We’ve driven past every nice date spot and now we’re in the land of half-abandoned strip malls. Emma seems unfazed by the change in scenery and even more curious about my choice of restaurants. When we make our final turn and the sign comes into view, Emma gasps and whips her head to look at me.
“No way! Are we really going here?”
“Yep,” I say. “I called ahead to let Doris know. She said she would be here.”
Emma is still smiling from ear to ear when she steps out of the car. She stares up at the small, plain-looking building like I flew her to Paris for dinner. I close the car door behind her, and we walk hand-in-hand up the sidewalk. As I reach for the door, it swings open almost violently and Doris appears.
“I knew it!” she says. “I knew it all along!”
The older woman’s safari gear is replaced by a light blue shirt tucked into a pair of those beige polyester pants with the stretchy waistband that only grandma’s ever wear. Her hair has grown out into a bunch of tight gray curls.
“Hi Doris,” Emma says. “It’s good to see you again.”
“Well, get in here and give me a hug, the both of you.”
Emma steps forward first. Doris practically yanks her down, giving her a few sharp pats on the back. When it’s my turn, I opt for an awkward side hug, which earns me two solid thwacks to my kidneys.
“I saved the best table for you two,” Doris says, grabbing two menus off the hostess stand. “Follow me.”
We weave through a few wooden bistro tables, all occupied by couples. The booths lining the wall are filled with larger parties. For being in such a quiet part of town, Manetti’s seems to do great business.
“I love your restaurant,” Emma says as we pass through an outdoor trellis covered in fake grapes.
“Thanks,” Doris hollers over her shoulder. “Decorated it myself.”
The back room is much quieter. The lights are dimmed, and the tables are covered with white linens instead of red checkered tablecloths like the others we just passed. Doris leads us to a table in the corner. On one wall, there’s a window overlooking the quiet street. On the other, an abstract painting of a fruit bowl. I pull out Emma’s chair first, then take a seat across from her.
“I’ll bring you two a couple of waters,” Doris says. “Anything else right now?”
I flip the menu over and scan the back. “Maybe a wine list?”
“We just do it by color here. Red or white? We’ve got one of each.”
I raise an eyebrow and look to Emma for an answer.
“Red would be great,” she says.
Doris nods her approval. “I’ll have Vanessa bring it over. My arthritis is acting up today, so I don’t feel like opening the bottle.”
For some reason, Emma’s eyes flare at this little bit of information. She’s either very excited for wine, or very interested in Doris’s arthritis.
Once Doris is gone, Emma leans forward and whispers, “I told my dad about this place because it’s close to his house. He’s been coming here a lot ever since. At first, I couldn’t figure it out, then I realized he keeps mentioning this waitress named Vanessa.”
Her mouth snaps closed and her posture straightens when an attractive woman in her fifties rounds the corner with a bottle of wine. The waitress beams a smile at the two of us.
“You must be Garrett and Emma,” she says, uncorking the bottle. We nod. “My Aunt Doris has told us so much about her trip, and about the two of you. I hear you’re both CIA operatives.” Vanessa gives us a sly smile.
“Something like that,” Emma says with a laugh.
“Well, I’m happy you’re here. Doris has been excited about it all day. It was nice of you to come see her.”
“We’re excited to see her as well,” Emma replies.
Vanessa smiles and sets the wine bottle down between us. “She’ll be back in a few minutes to take your order. It was nice meeting you both.” Turning to Emma, she adds, “Tell your dad I said hi.”
Once her back is turned, Emma gives me an ‘I told you so’ look.
“They’re getting married,” she guesses, flashing a playful smile as soon as the waitress is out of earshot.
“Will you be related to Doris then?”
“Probably. I mean, if Vanessa becomes my stepmother and Doris is her aunt, that would make Doris my…” She pauses, crinkling her eyebrows together.
“Waitress?” I ask with a laugh.
Emma laughs but waves off my suggestion. “I’m just going to call her Auntie D after the wedding. She won’t mind.”
We both laugh, our eyes connecting across the table. My chest expands when I think about how far we’ve come from when we first met Doris at the airport. Literally and figuratively, Emma and I have climbed mountains to get to where we are today. And now that we’re here, there’s no going back – at least, not for me. She’s it for me. After a year of ignoring my attraction to her, I’ve finally realized why it was so difficult. It was more than attraction. It was my heart clawing at my chest every time she entered the room, telling me to pay attention because this is someone important. I’m so glad I finally listened.
Emma lifts her wine glass, holding it towards the center of the table.
“What should we toast to?” I ask.
She ponders for a second then says, “To adventure.”
“To adventure,” I repeat with a smile, clinking my glass against hers. We both take a sip. “Do you think you’d ever do a trip like that again?”
“I hate to say it, but…yes.” She pauses for a second, taking another sip of her wine. “I think the great outdoors broke me. Sitting in an office all day just feels so weird now.”
I couldn’t agree more. This past week has been brutal. Not only am I stuck in the office all day dealing with shit I’d rather not deal with, but Emma’s been busy catching up on orders from her online clothing store most nights, so we haven’t seen much of each other outside of work. I know things will go back to normal eventually, but right now, returning to reality feels a lot like plunging into unexpectedly icy water.
Then there’s the fact that Emma might be leaving soon. Just thinking about not seeing her at the office everyday makes the icy water seep all the way down to my bones. I know it’s for the best though. It’s not the end of our relationship, I keep reminding myself. And that’s what really matters.
“Any news on a new job?” I ask reluctantly.
Emma shakes her head. “Not yet.”
Doris returns to take our order. Afterwards, she sticks around a while and chats with us about the rest of our trip. She tells us a few stories about the restaurant and her late husband. Then she tells us that she’s still not convinced that Emma and I aren’t either domestic or foreign spies.
I laugh and shake my head. “I hate to break it to you, but I really do just own a chain of outdoor recreation stores.”
Doris eyes me suspiciously, as if she doesn’t buy it. “What’s it called?” she asks, her tone almost combative.
“True North Outfitters.”
Recognition flickers in her eyes. “I’ve seen those around. Never been inside one though.”
“Me neither,” Emma laughs.
My gaze cuts over to her, and she gives me a little shrug.
Doris disappears with the napkin she wrote our orders on. More specifically – my napkin.
“Is that true?” I ask.
She shrugs again. “I never really had a reason to shop there. I’ve been outside a few stores for the grand openings. I might have even used the bathroom at the Boulder location.”
“We’re going to fix that after dinner. Before you leave my company for bigger and better things, you need to at least step foot inside one of our stores.”
“Alright, fine,” she relents. “We can do a quick stroll through the flagship store in Denver after dinner.”
After finishing off two plates of pasta plus some free cannoli that Doris delivered with a wink, Emma and I say our goodbyes and promise to visit again soon.
We pull up to the flagship store twenty minutes before they close.
“Just a quick tour,” Emma reminds me, giving me a look that makes me want to tear her clothes off right then and there.
“It’ll be quick, I promise.”
The automatic doors part with a mechanical whoosh, and a blast of cold air conditioning fills the space around us. Emma and I are caught up in each other as we step into the store hand-in-hand, making thinly veiled innuendos about what we plan to do to each other once we get home. She giggles over something I said, turning her face away from me.
Then she stops. Her eyes widen and her chest rises with a silent but sharp intake of air.
Prying my eyes away from her, I look up to find the eyes of no less than two dozen taxidermy animals staring back at me.