Chapter 18 #2
Dawson moved past the others sitting or standing to give his name to a hostess, and she consulted the tablet in front of her. Caroline felt like a movie star on his arm, every cell in her body glowing with an unnamed energy.
The hostess picked up two menus with leather covers, handed them to someone, and said, “Diamond, two-twelve.”
The other woman took the menus and smiled heartily at Dawson. “This way, sir.”
“Thank you,” he said diplomatically, and he nodded to the hostess before he went with the other woman.
Caroline almost stumbled after him, as she’d been expecting to be told they’d have to wait a half-hour before they could be seated.
After all, there were at least a dozen people waiting for tables, and everywhere she looked, she saw patrons already eating.
Baked potatoes. Potato chowder. French fries. Latkes. Hash browns—and Caroline’s heart tumbled to her toes and rocketed back into its rightful place in her chest.
“Those look amazing,” she said, her eyes glued to someone’s crispy, browned, hash browns on their plate. Her mouth watered, and she’d never been so glad to be hungry in her life. “Dawson, did you see those?”
“I see ‘em, darlin’,” he said, still tugging her along through the maze of tables and chairs. The woman in front of him led him to a short flight of three steps, and up they went. She opened a glass door and led them past one, two, three empty tables.
“Would you like the window open and the heater on?” she asked as she indicated the last table on this narrow strip that was elevated above the rest. “It’s the best atmosphere, and we can always close the window if you’re too cold.” She smiled at Caroline, who looked at Dawson.
“Window down or up?” he asked.
“Down,” Caroline said. “Please.” She turned to see the floor-to-ceiling windows did have a pane that could be lowered to let in fresh air. Her heartbeat settled like a deep bass drum in her soul when she saw the view. “Dawson,” she breathed out. “Look at this.”
“Menus here,” the woman said. “I’ll get your window down and your heater on, and Candice will be your waitress tonight.” She left while Dawson came to Caroline’s side, the two of them admiring the gorgeous view of Three Rivers and then the wilderness beyond.
“See that street lamp at almost eleven o’clock?” he asked. “A bit out there. Past that strip of lights on the right.”
Caroline searched in the near distance, finding the strip of lights and then moving further south. “Yeah,” she said when she found it.
“That’s the turn to Seven Sons Ranch,” he said. “Hidden Hills is another twenty minutes past that.”
“Can we see my house from here?” she asked, suddenly scanning the pricks of light in the town. “I need a picture of this. It’s incredible.” She whipped out her phone and took a few shots of the town while Dawson told her that her house sat to the west, and no, they couldn’t see it.
“If we eat at Cagney’s,” he said. “The Teppanyaki place next door, we probably can.” He took his seat at the table, and Caroline joined him on the adjacent side.
The square table had been situated so that the point of it reached the wall, with a slanted seat along each side.
No chairs waited for a party of four, as this was obviously a booth for two people to sit side-by-side and enjoy the view of Three Rivers.
“Dawson,” she gushed as she joined him. “This is so amazing. I love this so much.” She’d never felt so sparkly and full of light.
“Wait’ll you see the menu,” he said as he lifted up the slim volume and handed it to her. Anticipation and excitement threaded through her, mirroring the way she’d felt during the drive up to his house a few weeks ago for their proper New Year’s Day breakfast together.
She flipped open the menu, hardly daring to hope for all the potatoey things she loved best. The first word at the top of the menu had cartoon potatoes dancing all over it, with the two As made entirely out of a potato with a carved oval in it for the hole in the letter.
brEAKFAST.
The best word in the English language.
Caroline looked over to Dawson, who’d buried himself in the menu he claimed to have memorized. “This is the best date I’ve ever been on,” she blurted out, causing Dawson to lower his menu.
“Yeah?” he asked. “We haven’t even ordered yet. Maybe it’ll be gross.”
Caroline almost felt like crying she was so excited. She set down her menu and held his gaze. “Thank you for bringing me here. Will you order for me?”
He swallowed but said, “Yeah, of course,” as if he’d been planning to order her food for her tonight all along. Glad she didn’t have to decide, Caroline sighed happily and looked out the window again. It had been lowered, and a distinct hint of heat came in from an appliance she couldn’t see.
Yes, this was the best date ever, and she decided it didn’t matter if the food was good or not. Dawson had thought of her and planned something for her, and that was worth more than the taste of a really great plate of perfectly crispy hash browns.
Oh, yes, it absolutely was.