3. Charlotte #2
Amy teased, “Thinking about him again, huh?” You could say that, Charlotte thought, but remained silent. “I agree, he’s worth daydreaming about.” Yes, he was. “Anyway,” Amy continued, “I was asking if you want to get a corn dog before we go to the beer garden?”
“Sure,” Charlotte replied distractedly, “I’ll text Isobel and see if she wants one.” Their ride concluded, she hopped from their bucket, sweeping a glance around the area, but he was nowhere in sight. Sighing softly, she followed Amy to the nearest corn dog truck.
Armed with three gigantic corn dogs, Amy and Charlotte dodged the crowd in the beer garden, looking for Isobel.
Amy nodded to a door that led to the back, and they found her sitting at a picnic table talking to a man around her daughter’s age, maybe a couple of years older.
“I see Issy isn’t wasting any time,” Amy observed.
“Though I doubt the poor man will get very far.” Charlotte nodded in agreement.
Isobel, always reticent with men and relationships, was career-oriented, with many goals she wanted to accomplish before she met “the right one”.
Charlotte supposed that having her parents marry a month after graduating from high school was not the love story she had wanted for herself. Join the club, kid.
Isobel smiled warily as they approached. “Mom, Amy, meet Boyd.” He stood, tipping his head at the women while touching the brim of his cowboy hat. “He was just telling me that he owns a grocery store in…was it Clover Lake you said?”
Boyd nodded. “Pleasure meeting you all. I’ll leave you ladies to it. Isobel, I’ll look for you inside?”
Charlotte watched her daughter’s cheeks turn pink as she nodded unenthusiastically.
“Here,” Charlotte told her as she handed her a corn dog with ketchup drizzled on the outside.
Charlotte bit into hers, her teeth crunching on the salty-sweet coating, and she closed her eyes in bliss.
Nothing was better at the fair than a freshly fried corn dog, in her opinion.
“So who was the dude?” Amy inquired.
“Oh, he sat down without waiting for an invitation. I mean…who does that? What if I wanted to be alone? He was nice enough, I guess, but he kind of had a general ‘ick’, if you know what I mean?” Isobel said.
“Yeah, like both of my husbands,” Amy agreed. “Best to avoid the ‘ick’ at all costs. Otherwise, you might need a prescription for penicillin.” Finished eating, Amy said, “I think we need some drinks to wash these down.”
“Sorry, I had a beer when I first got here,” Isobel motioned to the empty bottle in front of her, “and was planning on having some ready for you, but then Boyd showed up. I didn’t want him to, like, think we were going to drink together.”
“No problem,” Amy told her, “I’ll run up to the bar and get us some.”
“No, you stay here. Drinks are on me, since you paid for the tickets tonight,” Charlotte insisted.
“Well, keep them comin’, mama, because I’m thirsty, and the tickets weren’t cheap,” Amy laughed.
Chuckling as she made her way through the crowd that had amassed since they had arrived, “Proud Mary” serenaded her as she nearly collided with someone coming from the opposite direction. A hand on her elbow steadied her, and she looked into a grinning female face with shining blue eyes.
“I’m so sorry, I wasn’t paying any attention. Trying to remember everyone’s orders.” The other woman raised her voice above the music and tucked a strand of grey-streaked dark hair behind her ear.
“No, that was absolutely my fault,” Charlotte declared. “You at least have one up on me. I didn’t take any orders, so now I have to guess what my daughter and my friend want!”
“Well, you’re in luck, since your choices are beer, light beer, or beer.
My problem is, I’m not sure how I’m going to carry all of mine back to my group.
I have two brothers with me, my sister-in-law, and her best friend, who,” the woman conspiratorially confided, “I don’t really care for. Is this TMI?”
Charlotte chuckled. “Not at all. I love gossip, even when I know nothing about anyone involved.”
Fanning herself with her hand, the woman lowered her voice.
“Well, I really need to get over my grudge against her. The thing is, she broke my baby brother’s heart years ago, and if you knew him, you’d understand the tragedy.
” Before Charlotte could comment, the woman stuck her hand out.
“I’m Beatrice, by the way, but you can call me Trixie.
All my friends do. We have time to get to know each other.
From the looks of this line, we’ll be here for a while. ”
“I hope not! We have tickets to the show,” Charlotte informed her. “Nice to meet you, Trixie. I’m Charlotte, but my best friend has always called me Lottie, so I extend that honor to you.”
“Wow, and we only just met. I’m honored,” she said with a small bow. “We’ll be at the concert, too. My older brother got one of those VIP tables this year, so we get to enjoy the show in style. I’m so excited. So, Lottie, where are you from?”
“Originally Sioux City, but I moved to Beverley after my divorce a couple of months ago. Do you know it?”
“Know it? Absolutely love Beverley! My younger brother lives there.” Eyes gleaming, Trixie started, “You know what? I think you would-” but her ringing cell phone cut her off.
“Oh, this is my husband. Hello?” Turning her head to give some privacy, a movement across the crowded beer garden caught her eye. Him. Again.