Chapter 24 #2
“That settles it, then,” Harper said, standing up. “Off we go to The Brick Oven. Sounds like a perfect girls’ night out.”
“Oh no!” Penelope said.
“What?” the other three women asked her at once.
“I don’t have my leather pants that I bought for our next girls’ night out,” Penelope said.
Laughing, they made their way to the front door. Michelle felt her heart beat faster in her chest as she thought about listening to Theo’s band.
It wasn’t anything she hadn’t done before, but she’d never listened without pretending she didn’t really like it before. She had a feeling that if she let herself like Theo’s music, she was going to like it so much it would take her breath away.
They walked to The Brick Oven, breathing in deep gulps of the crisp autumn air. The lights in the houses surrounding them glowed, and when they reached the main street, they got a wonderful view of the twinkling lights that Elaine had taken Shep to see.
“I don’t see them anywhere, do you?” Harper whispered as they walked along the sidewalk toward the restaurant. “Are they here? Maybe we beat them to it.”
“There they are!” Michelle said, pointing ahead of them. “They’re on the other side of the street, walking the same way we are.”
“Where?”
“They are?”
“Oh, now I see them!”
“It’s a good thing they’re walking ahead of us and they have their backs to us,” Audrey said with a laugh. “Otherwise, I’m sure they would have noticed us craning our necks to look at them like a bunch of meddlesome giraffes.”
“Hey, we just want to make sure Elaine’s hat is staying on all right,” Penelope said with exaggerated pretend innocence. “We’re her stylists, after all.”
Michelle leaned over a little to get a better view. “She looks great, doesn’t she? And look at that! Shep is talking! You can tell by the way he’s gesturing.”
All four women slowed down to a halt to view the incredible scene before them.
“A miracle,” Harper said, shaking her head and laughing. “Elaine has worked wonders with that man.”
“He’s worked wonders with her too,” Audrey said warmly. “She’s been so much happier ever since he’s been paying her special attention. She’s got this light in her eyes that hasn’t been there since my dad was alive.”
All four women were quiet for a few moments. Michelle felt the cool night breeze ruffle against her face and she found herself wondering if she would ever fall in love like that. Would she ever have the same light in her eyes that Elaine had for Shep?
They reached The Brick Oven and pushed open the heavy wooden door. Inside, the lights were warm and dim, and the air was packed with the delicious smells of garlic, tomato sauce, black olives, crusty bread, and sizzling meats.
“My stomach is thanking me for being here already,” Audrey said, laughing. “Where should we sit? As close to the stage as we can, yeah?”
“Definitely,” Penelope said, looking straight at Michelle and smiling slyly. Michelle felt herself flush as she wondered what Penelope was thinking. Her expression seemed to say, “Michelle is going to be staring at Theo the whole time, so we should get her a good seat.”
“Look, there’s a table just one row back from the stage,” Harper said, pointing. “It’s kind of in the corner, but it looks cozy, and it should give us a good view of the performance.”
“Perfect,” Audrey said. “Excuse me,” she said to the teenage hostess. “Is that table over there available?”
“In the corner? Totally.” The hostess smiled. “You guys got here just in time to get the last good table before the band starts playing.” She led them over to the table and handed them all menus. “Your waitress will be here in just a little bit.”
They all began to peruse the menu, but Michelle felt jittery and found it hard to concentrate on deciding what to order.
“What’s everyone thinking?” Audrey asked after a couple of minutes.
“Hmm, I’m thinking wine,” Penelope said, and Harper and Audrey laughed.
“Good by me,” Harper said. “What do you think, Michelle? Should we get a bottle?”
“Huh?” Michelle looked up. “A bottle of what?”
“Wine, Miss Distracted,” Penelope said, her eyes dancing mischievously. “Do you want some?”
“Yeah, sounds great.” Michelle smiled, wondering if she was about to get teased about how distracted she was.
Thankfully, Audrey changed the subject right away. “How about we order three pizzas and split them?”
“Love that,” Harper said. “Anybody have super strong feelings?”
“What?” Michelle stammered.
“About the pizza.” Harper chuckled.
“Oh. Yeah. Can we do Hawaiian?” Michelle asked, wondering if she looked as bright-red as she felt.
Their waitress arrived at the table shortly after, and they ordered a Hawaiian pizza, a sausage and green pepper pizza, and a pepperoni and black olives pizza.
They chose a bottle of pinot noir, which Penelope said felt ridiculously fancy as a pairing with their greasy, high-school-friendly pizza choices.
They had all just taken the first couple of sips of their wine when a sudden hush came over the restaurant guests. Michelle looked up with a feeling of anticipation, and sure enough, Theo and his band were stepping onto the stage.
“Wow, Theo looks really handsome, doesn’t he?” Penelope said with a gleeful grin, her eyes right on Michelle as if she was only talking to her. “I love that leather jacket he’s wearing.”