16. Lucie
Moonlight caught in his dark hair as he walked around the front of the Jeep with a confidence Lucie dreamed of.
She sat there for a second, trying to tell her heart to calm down before it beat out of her chest.
Was he actually about to kiss her? She wanted to. She thought he was going to. Her fingers curled around her seatbelt. She’d dreamed about him kissing her for weeks now.
Now she was here with him on a date!
Wow. His car was clean. There didn’t seem to be a speck of dirt in it. It even smelled like him, minty and fresh. Yum.
Finn opened the driver’s door and slid in, glancing over at her.
“Ready to go see the edge of the world?” he asked.
Lucie laughed, breathless and bright. “I think so.”
And with that, he pulled his keys out of his pocket. The keys were adorned with a little blue surfboard keychain.
The seat under her rumbled as the engine started to life.
He put his arm behind her headrest, and he backed up, and she felt his closeness down to her toes. Why was it so hot when guys did that? He glanced down at her, the dim dashboard lights casting shadows on his impossibly long eyelashes.
Rembrandt, eat your heart out. Nobody could have painted them better.
“Hope you don’t mind, but I thought we’d make a quick stop,” Finn started.
Was this the secondary location the documentaries warned her about?
Lucie glanced at the door handle and the pepper spray in her bag.
They were still going pretty slow. Maybe she could jump out before— “My favorite breakfast burrito place is still open, and well, I figured we could grab something before hitting the road.”
Lucie’s eyes widened. Oh.
“I mean, we don’t have to do that,” Finn stumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. “I did bring snacks.” He motioned to a bag filled with the best kind of road trip food. “I just thought maybe licorice and chips wouldn’t?—”
She gently touched his arm to stop him from spiraling. His eyes lit up at her touch. But maybe she was just imagining that. It must have been the overhead lights on the road.
“That sounds wonderful. I am a little hungry,” she said, giving him a small smile, and noticed she was still holding onto his arm. Finn noticed it too and looked down to where her hand was touching his tattooed arm.
Immediately, she pulled back. Oops. She bit the inside of her mouth. She was bad at this. She was going to be the worst date ever, and they still had a three-hour car ride. She should have just thrown herself out of the car to spare him the aggravation.
Lucie had been so worried about him not actually showing up that she didn’t take into account what to say when she was with him. She had no time to think of flirty questions or prepare cool responses.
“Well, you’re going to love it. My friend Charlie and I come up over here to get food after some of our missions.
It’s open 24/7, which is convenient for our line of work .
. .” Lucie waited for him to go on about his job.
Something about it still felt like a half-truth.
“. . . and they’ve got this bacon and egg burrito that I swear is life-changing. ”
The silver band on his wrist glowed. She’d never seen anything like it; the workmanship seemed fine. Without a second thought, he looked at the message, tapped his wrist, and the glowing stopped.
“Missions?” she chuckled, getting hung up on the word. “What are you, a secret agent?”
“Yeah, it’s my day job,” Finn said, winking at her.
Lucie laughed at his joke. “Good one.”
Flipping up his blinker, Finn turned into a small, unassuming spot, where its neon “Open 24 Hours” sign flickered in the midnight surroundings. She had never been here before. And it was so close. This whole time, Finn and she had been so close to each other.
In her mind, the little romantic version of herself sighed and swooned dramatically, throwing an arm over her forehead and flopping onto an imaginary bed. It must have been fate.
Finn jumped out of the car first, going over to open her door and reaching out a hand to help her down.
“I can do it myself,” she gasped, looking up at him through her eyelashes.
“I know,” Finn said, his voice low, almost like he was sharing a secret. “But it gives me an excuse to hold your hand.”
Swooning now.
Finn led her inside, still holding onto her hand like they were together. I mean, they were together, but?—
As they walked into the restaurant, the bell over the door jingled as they entered. The bell here sounded different than the one they had at her shop. This one sounded as if it was happy to be here, as if it loved welcoming guests and ringing again as they left as friends.
The smell of hashbrowns and bacon wrapped around her, making her stomach growl.
The cafe reminded her of the famous painting, Nighthawks, by Edward Hopper.
Inside, the space was bathed in warm, amber light that softened around the edges of the evening.
The decor was a charming blend of retro and rustic, with a long, polished counter that curved around the open kitchen.
The counter was lined with worn red stools.
Behind it, the cook worked with practiced ease, his movements punctuated by the occasional sizzle of the grill.
The walls were adorned with vintage posters and old photographs, their colors bleached by the sun.
In a corner, a jukebox played soft tunes; the host bobbed his head to them. The booths were cozy, with red-and-white vinyl hugging the seats and square tables topped with checkered cloths.
The staff looked up, faces breaking into smiles of recognition at Finn’s arrival.
The waitress, the host, and the cook. And he knew all of their names. Heather. Jim. Reggie.
“Ooo, Vega’s never brought a girl here before,” the cook, Reggie, called out to them. “Who’s the lucky lady?”
Lucie tried not to think about that sentence too much. But she knew she would dissect it in bed later after their date.
“Yeah, guys, this is Lucie,” Finn said, giving her a gentle nudge, introducing her with quiet pride. “I told her about the Heartbreaker burrito, and we decided to come and try it.” The crew waved at her, saying their hellos and how-are-yous.
Lucie blushed, suddenly aware of the friendly eyes on her as she gave them all a meek wave.
“Hi, everyone. Nice to meet you,” she said, grinning back, trying her best to feign confidence.
Finn and his friend were regulars here, and now she was a part of it. Just for a moment, and she wanted to soak it all in.
Heather, the waitress, grabbed two menus for them and led them to the counter, where Lucie sat down on one of the red cushioned seats.
The TV in the corner played reruns of an old sitcom while she glanced at the menu.
There was so much food.
“Everything here is good,” Finn said, not touching his own menu. “This is where I got your burger.”
“What was that burrito you were talking about?” she asked, biting her thumbnail, looking back and forth between the omelets and the breakfast burritos.
“The Heartbreaker.” He pointed to one of the burritos on her menu. “Is that what you want?” he whispered, looking at her through the curls over his eyes. Was she drooling?
“Yes, that sounds amazing,” she whispered back to him.
“Two of your Heartbreaker burritos and coconut horchatas to go, please,” Finn said, holding up two of his fingers.
Heather didn’t even pull out her pen to write down their orders; she just gave them a wink and said it would be out soon.
Reggie stuck his head out of the window to talk while he worked on their orders.
“Haven’t seen you before. Where did Finn find someone as nice as you?” the man asked, giving her a happy grin.
The cook’s smile took up most of his face; his dark hair hardly covered any of his head, but he had the kindest eyes she’d ever seen on someone.
“He just came into my family’s shop one day, and I don’t know.” Lucie caught Finn smiling at her. “My life’s been more exciting ever since.”
Oops. Was that too much? His eyes smoldered with intensity. Nope, just the right amount.
“Ooh, I know that look, kid; you’re in trouble,” Jim, the host, said, coming around to serve himself a cup of coffee.
Finn threw a sugar packet at Jim’s head, which he caught with ease, promptly tore open, and poured the contents into his mug.
“I can’t believe I’ve never been here before. It’s amazing,” Lucie said, twisting back and forth on her chair, wanting nothing more than to join in on their camaraderie.
Reggie bowed his head. “Thank you very much.” Then worked on frying some potatoes on the grill.
“Reg here owns the place,” Finn confirmed, sticking his hands in his shearling-lined denim jacket.
“Bought it from my ole’ man when he retired,” Reggie said proudly, moving the food around on the blacktop with a metal spatula. “It was always my dream to own the place.”
“What a beautiful dream,” Lucie said, her face hurting from smiling so much. “I’ll have to come here on my breaks from now on. I work at the shop around the corner.”
“Wait a second—” Reggie looked her over and squinted his eyes. “You’re Annabelle’s girl, aren’t cha?”
Lucie’s smile faltered for a split second, not expecting to hear her mother’s name, but she quickly recovered, nodding politely. “Yeah, that’s me.”
The cook beamed. “I thought so. You look just like her at that age.”
The fragment of her mother made her feel as if she had found a fleck of gold in the river. Eureka!
“You knew her?” Lucie asked, with such a quiet reverence.
“Shoot—I dated Annie in high school,” Reggie explained, “but mostly we were just friends. She was somethin’ special. Helped me apply to some colleges. Got my degree ‘cause of her encouragement. We used to sit in that booth over there and work on homework together.”
Lucie whipped her head to the round corner booth the man was pointing at.
“She’d order a Philly cheesesteak and a strawberry milkshake. Rain or shine, she always got a milkshake. Annie was even here on my opening day.”
Jim pointed to a picture by the jukebox. In the photo, a group of happy people was frozen in time, surrounded by falling confetti. Lucie stood up and walked over to the jukebox to inspect the photo.
At once, she recognized a much younger, skinnier Reggie cutting a red ribbon. And right next to him was her mom. Pregnant. Lucie had never seen her so happy, cradling her belly with one hand and raising her other in celebration of her friend.
Reggie came out of the kitchen with an overflowing brown bag.
“I was real sad to hear about her passing. I swear half the town showed up to her funeral.”
The memory came back to her in waves. Lucie remembered how sunny it was outside. How wrong it felt to bury someone on a seemingly happy day.
Reggie chuckled softly, lost in the past, looking at the photo of her mother. “Nicest person I ever knew.”
Finn walked beside her, grabbing onto her hand, and she was glad for it, or she was sure she would’ve been seeing the checkered flooring from another angle.
The cook smiled. “Well, don’t you worry. This one’s on the house.”
Lucie’s cheeks warmed, and she squeezed Finn’s hand a little tighter.
“My good luck charm.” He beamed down at her.
Lucie’s eyes welled up just a bit.
“Thank you,” she said to the cook, going in to hug him.
The cook’s face brightened, hugging her back. “Anytime. Now, if you want to come back and hear some more stories of your mom, I’d be more than happy to share. It’s on me then, too.”
They pulled back.
“That sounds wonderful,” she confided, her cheeks warming.
“Annie’d be proud of ya. I know it.” He handed Finn the bag with a kind smile and a pat on the back. “Enjoy, you two.” The cook gave Finn a pointed, though joking, look. “Now, you be careful with our Lucie.” Our Lucie. “She’s a special one.”
The words stuck in her mind in an instant replay. Savoring the moment. If this were all the date would be, it would already be perfect.
“Sheesh, Chucky boy and I’ve been comin’ here for over a year, and we’ve never gotten free food. And we’re your best customers,” Finn said, putting the bag of food under one arm. Lucie took the drinks.
“I would lose my business if I gave you and Charlie free food,” Reggie scoffed.
“You wound me,” Finn said, his free hand over his heart.
“Don’t worry, Finn’s a good one. As good as they come,” he said with a wink to her. “Tell Charlie I said hi, next time you see ‘im.”
Finn gave him a little salute, “Will do, boss.”
“Ah, get outta here,” the cook said, waving him off and adjusting his grease-covered apron. “You’re both young. Enjoy the night.”
Lucie looked back at the cook, who had been here all along.
There was a piece of her mother she didn’t know about, and for a moment, she imagined this kind man with a sweet, cheeky smile as her father.
Instead of working at the shop, she spent her days drinking milkshakes and proudly displaying her report card on the kitchen refrigerator.
Guilt pooled in her stomach.
Worse things were happening to other people. She had a good life. She didn’t need to complain.
But Reggie had shown her a moment of kindness after something her mother had done over thirty years ago, and she silently hoped that maybe someday she would be that pillar for someone else. A light in the abyss.
What kind of beautiful acts of kindness had her mother performed that were so powerful that even all these years later, the universe was still paying her back? That kindness changed the world.
Crickets, cicadas, and frogs became their symphony once again as they left the restaurant. The world was different outside those doors. More magical. Like maybe there was an invisible string connecting her and her mother in her life. Maybe she was still out there watching out for her.
Fireflies danced around as Finn opened the passenger door for her and helped her into the Jeep.
Her head fell back on her headrest.
“Thanks, Mom,” she whispered.
When Finn got into the car, the small space filled with the delicious smell of bacon.
Finn reached into the bag and passed her a foil-wrapped football-sized burrito.
Finn watched her as she took a bite of the burrito.
Her eyes widened. Savory eggs, crispy bacon, buttery potatoes, melted cheese, with a green sauce oozing between the cracks filled her senses.
She shoved another bite into her mouth. Finn was right; this was the best food she’d ever tasted.
Reggie was a miracle worker—a true artist who specialized in comfort.
“Okay, this is seriously good,” she said, her mouth full.
Finn took a bite of his own burrito, practically devouring half of it in one go.
“Told you.”
Lucie laughed, feeling the last of her nerves fade away. Today was going to be the best day of her life—so far.
She hoped for more days with the man sitting down next to her, singing along to the radio, and eating breakfast burritos made by old friends.