13. Chapter Thirteen #3
“Here.” I hand her a plate and she crosses the kitchen. We open the boxes; my favorite supreme pizza and a plain cheese one for her. She picks a few pieces out and drops them on her plate before heading to the table.
“So,” she says quietly, “you were right when you said Osborne boys are no good for you. I wish I’d never gotten involved with Jake at all.”
“Oh, honey.” I sit down beside her at the table. “I should have asked more questions before. If I had known your date was with him, I never would have let you go, and this wouldn’t have happened.”
“You never did tell me how you know his dad.” Thea picks up a slice and takes a bite. “Tell Charlie thank you, by the way.”
I smile. “I, uh…” I let out a breath. “I dated his dad for six years.”
“You did not.” She leans back in her chair, eyes wide.
“I did.” I nod. “I was young and naive, and thought it was love. It was before Jake was born.”
“Just think, he could be your son,” Thea says, letting out a laugh.
“Oh, no. I wouldn’t have let that happen. I never wanted kids.”
“And now you’re stuck with me,” she says quietly as her expression turns sour.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” I say quickly. I reach for her arm. “I love having you out here, Thea. Truly, I do.”
She smiles weakly.
“James and I just wanted different things. I thought he would propose and he ended up cheating on me. Multiple times. After that, I gave up on love. It really wrecked me. I went into therapy over him. He was verbally abusive and treated me so poorly, but I didn’t realize it for a few years. Hindsight, ya know?”
“Wow,” she says quietly, stewing over my words.
“He didn’t support the diner. Wanted me to be home at his beck and call.”
“Really? But the diner is your dream.”
“He doesn’t like to see a woman succeed. Or, at least, not this one.”
“Maybe you intimidated him,” Thea says. “You and Mom are both such strong women.”
“Maybe,” I say, pondering it. I pause and add, “Your mother hated him.”
“I could see that.” She’s quiet for a moment. “What about Charlie? You never wanted to pursue that?”
I sigh. “I did. But, the timing never worked out. Until now.”
“Until now,” Thea repeats. “So, I take it your date went well? Despite me ruining it?”
“You did not ruin it,” I laugh. “But yes, I think it did.”
“You deserve some happiness.” She stares at me as she speaks.
“So do you,” I say. “Graham’s been asking about you.”
The corners of her lips turn upward at the mention of Graham’s name.
“Graham,” she says quietly as she stares at the table, her cheeks getting red.
“He seems sweet on you. How do you feel about him?”
“I think I really like him.” She looks up at me. “Like, really like him.”
“Maybe you should call him, if you feel up to it. I’m sure he’d love to hear from you.”
“Yeah,” she says, picking up her slice again. “Maybe I will.”
I’m up early the next morning, something I've grown unaccustomed to since Thea started doing all of the baking. I make a cinnamon coffee cake and some chocolate chip cookies for the diner that morning. I’m just plating them up as it’s time to open.
I’m not surprised to see that Judith is one of the first customers through the door.
“Morning, dearie,” she says as she takes her place at her usual booth.
“Good morning, Judith.” I smile and set a coffee mug down on the table for her.
“Missed you yesterday.”
Judith is a stickler about routine.
“Yes, there was a slight change in plans yesterday,” I say as I sit down opposite her. Her hair is freshly styled and her arms are covered in silver and bejeweled bangles.
“Is everything okay?” she asks.
I nod slowly, replaying the events of the last forty-eight hours. “It is now.”
Judith brings the coffee mug to her lips and eyes me over the top of it. “I heard from a little birdie that you and Charlie went on a date.”
The real reason she’s here. Judith is quite the gossip.
“We did,” I reply carefully, a sly smile tugging at the corners of my lips.
“And how was that?” she asks.
“It was…good.” Memories flash in my mind of us before we’d gotten the call about Thea. To think about how the night could have ended…
“See? My little plan was all worth it.” She smiles over her coffee mug.
“What are you talking about? Your little plan?” I ask. My attention is piqued now. “What do you mean?”
She continues smirking as she sets her mug down.
“Mmm, wouldn’t you like to know, dearie?”
“Judith…” I warn.
“Isn’t it just…rather funny how right after we started talking about you and Charlie that he got a date?” she asks. “I mean, really, when is the last time you know of that the man went on a date?”
I narrow my eyes as I stare at her. Really, the timing is impeccable. “But—how—”
“Oh, really, dearie. I’m not stupid. I see how you two look at each other. You just needed a push to figure it out yourselves.” She chuckles. “I was just…the push.”
“Judith, you did not,” I say in disbelief.
“Oh, but I did. I found a nice young lady in town and it’s amazing what people will do for some quick cash.”
“You bribed her?” I yell. I glance around to make sure no one noticed my outburst and then look back at Judith. “Seriously?” I hiss.
“I don’t like that word. It was more so…paying for the truth to come out.”
I laugh at the thought of her paying someone to go on a date or two with Charlie, just to force us to admit our feelings for one another and get together.
But I guess that was her plan all along.
“But why?” I ask her. Why be so hell-bent on investing time and money into us?
“Because, dearie,” she says as she reaches for my hands. “This old heart wanted you two to realize how badly you both wanted each other before it was too late. You just needed a—” she pauses, thinking of the right phrase, “fairy godmother.”
And fairy godmother she was.
I hear the ding of the doorbell and we both see Charlie walking in, just as he does every morning.
“You’ve made your living,” she says as she motions around the diner. She looks pointedly at Charlie as she adds, “now go make your life.”