Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
The chicken pot pie on Rita’s plate was steaming hot. The pastry flaked perfectly on top of the creamy sauce filled with chunky vegetables and delectable pieces of chicken. The side was a garden salad.
“This looks great,” Rita said.
“I think so too. Would you like me to add it to the menu?” Cathy had a clipboard on the table in front of her, a pen poised above it.
She’d lost a little weight, and her usual fluorescent outfit wasn’t straining as hard across her hips as it had in the past. She wore a matching headband and looked as though she’d stepped directly out of an eighties workout video, but with a black apron tied over the top.
Rita took a bite of the pie, and the flavour burst across her tongue. She gave a nod. “Yes, please. Customers will love this. Especially as we head into the cooler months.”
“I thought we might exchange the salad for steamed vegetables around Labor Day.”
“We can talk about it. Are you going to eat?”
“Yes, mine’s coming. Oh, here it is.” A waitress placed an identical plate in front of Cathy. The steam from the pie drifted toward the cafe’s rafters.
The Honeysuckle Café was quiet at that time of day.
It was mid-afternoon, and the perfect time for meetings.
She was as shocked as anyone at how well Cathy had adapted to the café’s routine, structure, and pace.
She’d never seen her cousin work a paid job a day in her life, but since her divorce had been finalised, she’d become a different woman.
Much more patient, kind, and easy to get along with.
Besides that, she’d taken on more responsibility at the café, which was a godsend for Rita, who had slowed down a lot after her cancer diagnosis.
Rita ate in silence for a few minutes. Cathy always indulged in a steady stream of one-way conversation, and Rita had come to enjoy it. She liked that she could sit quietly and listen to her cousin. It was soothing, in a way.
“You said you were going to get back into dating. Have you done that yet?” Rita asked.
Cathy chewed and swallowed a bite of pie, then took a gulp of sweet tea before responding. “Have I ever! I’m on the apps. Do you know about the apps?”
Rita sipped her tea. “You mentioned you might do that.”
Cathy nodded. “It’s the Wild West out there, Rita. And I’m not exaggerating.”
“I can’t even imagine.”
“You don’t want to. Honestly, the stories I could tell you.”
“I’m listening…”
“Well, to start with, my first match was with Gareth.”
“Your ex-husband, Gareth?” Rita laughed. “Lord have mercy!”
Cathy laughed along with Rita. “I know, right? I was so nervous and excited about matching with someone, and then his profile picture came on the screen, and I about had a heart attack.”
“I hope you blocked him or whatever you do on those apps.”
“I did something. I can’t remember exactly what. I’m still figuring it all out. Anyhow, the next man I matched with wanted to get together in person. So, we set up a date. He said we should meet outside my apartment so he could take me somewhere special.”
“That sounds nice,” Rita said hesitantly.
“Yeah, it sounded real nice. But then, when it came time to meet him in the parking lot, he stood there in a pair of shorts and a stained T-shirt with flip-flops. His hair looked as though it hadn’t been combed in a year, and I don’t know how long he’d gone without shaving.
He definitely didn’t match his profile picture. ”
“Oh, yikes.” Rita took a bite of pie, enthralled by Cathy’s story. She’d considered getting back into dating herself years ago, but she’d never wanted to badly enough for the effort it would take. And besides, she’d always been too busy.
“Then we introduced ourselves, and he looked around like he was searching for something. He said, ‘Sorry, my car is in the shop. Do you mind driving?’”
“Oh wow,” Rita said.
“I didn’t mind, really. It was no big deal, and my car was right there. I asked where we were going, and he said he thought it would be romantic to go the store, buy some wine, cheese, and crackers, and we could lay on a picnic blanket under the stars.”
“That does sound romantic. Maybe a little too… much for a first date with a stranger, though.”
“You’re already better at this than I was.
Naively, I said, ‘Wonderful. Let’s do it.
’ And I drove us to the store. When we were standing in the checkout line, he patted his pockets and then announced that actually, he’d forgotten his wallet.
So, I paid for the wine and snacks. Then I drove us to the middle of nowhere in the complete and utter darkness, and he waited while I pulled my picnic blanket from the back of my car, carried everything to a picturesque spot by the lake, and set it all up.
Then he plonked himself down to eat and drink, and he talked about his job for the next two hours. ”
“I’m sorry, honey.”
Cathy sighed. “When we got back to my parking lot, he was tipsy and asked if he could come in. Then he tried to kiss me.”
“Heaven’s sakes!”
“Of course, I told him no and said he should call an Uber. Before he could ask for cash for the Uber, I shut the door in his face and had blocked him on the app before I made it into my apartment.”
Rita stifled a laugh. Picturing her cousin slamming the door in the man’s face was more than she could take. She covered her mouth with her hand before gathering her wits to speak again. “I hope things got better for you after that.”
“Oh, no, they didn’t. That was my first experience. The next time I went on a date, he said we should meet at a Mexican restaurant. That seemed like a better plan than the previous date, so I agreed. When I arrived, he had also forgotten his wallet.”
“There’s an epidemic of lost wallets…” Rita grunted. She didn’t mean to make fun, but really, Cathy’s stories were so ridiculous, it was hard not to.
“Who could have predicted it?” Cathy rolled her eyes.
“So, then he asked if we could order the food to go. I was feeling a little beat down at this point, so I said, ‘that’s fine.’ The other reason I was okay with ordering to go was that he was young.
And when I say ‘young,’ I mean, much younger than I would ever date.
I honestly wondered if he was a college student, but I tried not to think about it too much.
All I wanted to do was order my burrito, give my apologies, and head home alone. ”
Rita thought she might burst from holding in her laughter. There were tears in her eyes and she pressed her lips together hard.
“Thanks for your compassion, by the way.” Cathy huffed. “Anyhow, we were placing our orders, and he asked for one hundred hard-shelled tacos.”
“He what?” Rita’s eyes widened in surprise.
“That’s right… one hundred of those suckers.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope. So, at that point, I said I didn’t need the burrito I’d ordered. And I had to pay for one hundred hard-shell beef tacos.”
“How do you even carry all of that?”
“In bags. They bring it out in bags. So, he grabbed the bags and headed out to his car. He asked if I wanted to come. Can you believe that? We’re supposed to be on a date, and he’s asking if I want to come with him.”
“How polite. He was a well-mannered young thief, then?”
Cathy grunted. “So, I said, ‘No, thank you. I’m going home.” I grabbed a taco from the bag, turned on my heel, and stalked to my car. He called out after me, ‘My roommates are gonna love these. Thanks, ma’am!’”
“Bless your little old heart.” Rita guffawed loudly at that—she couldn’t hold it in any longer. Cathy laughed along with her until the two of them were crying tears that rolled down their cheeks.
“At least you fed some starving college boys. That’s a good deed right there.”
Cathy shook her head. “This is dating? I’m not sure I’m cut out for it. In fact, I’m certain I’m not.”
“Are you gonna give up?”
“No, not yet. Surely there’s someone out there who’ll give me a chance. Someone closer to my age who actually owns a wallet and a vehicle.”
“I have no doubt there’s a wonderful and handsome man who’s just waiting to meet his future wife. But you may have to kiss a lot of frogs…”
“Ugh, there’ll be no kissing. Not when I can’t even get through the appetiser without them giving themselves away.”
Rita arched an eyebrow. “At least you’re weeding them out quickly. That’s something, I guess. But it makes me so glad I’m not on ‘the apps,’ as you call them.”
“You’ve got to play the game to win,” Cathy said as she finished the last bite of pie.
“That’s very true. And honestly, I’m kind of in awe that you’re doing it. You’re much braver than I am.”
The café door swung open and the little bell above the door tinkled, grabbing Rita’s attention. It was Tyler and Brian. They were speaking animatedly with one another as they walked in, then looked around and spotted Rita and Cathy. They both approached bearing broad smiles.
Tyler bent to kiss Rita’s cheek. “Hey, Mom. Hi, Auntie Cathy. You finished lunch already?”
“It’s late. I thought you’d be here an hour ago,” Rita replied.
“Hello, Tyler. It’s so nice to see you back home again. I know your mom is glad.”
“Thanks, Cathy. Can we sit here, Mom?”
Rita pulled two additional chairs to her table. “Yes, sit, sit… I’ll get you some chicken pot pie. It’s a new menu item, and it’s divine.”
She returned to the kitchen with Cathy as they each cleared dishes, and Cathy leaned toward her to whisper, “Who is that with Tyler?”
Rita looked back over her shoulder at the pair. “That’s Brian. He went to school with Tyler. He’s a lovely boy. Or man, I should say. He’s not a boy any longer.”
“No, he’s not. He’s gorgeous. Is he single?”
Rita glared at her cousin. “What is wrong with you? He’s less than half your age.”
Cathy shrugged. “I look good for my age.”
Rita chuckled. “Honey, you’d better leave the young guys alone. Didn’t you learn your lesson with the tacos? Besides, Tyler would be so embarrassed if you asked his friend out. Behave yourself!”