She left out the part where her mom had mocked and shamed her at the worst moment in Lily’s life, getting petty revenge for all the times teenaged Lily had berated her mother for the men she chose. Oh, I’m the one who makes bad choices, huh, Lily? I’m the terrible mother in this family?
She shoved that thought away. She’d learned to stand on her own two feet, and there was nothing to be done about the rest. She found herself staring forlornly into her empty margarita goblet.
“If you want to have another, I’ll be happy to drive you home,” he suggested.
“I can’t. Everett is at dinner with a friend, but he’ll be home soon.”
“So no sopapillas either?”
“Oh,” she responded, mouth actually watering at the idea. She hadn’t had sopapillas in years.
Alex winked. “Sopapillas it is.” He immediately flagged down the server, though she noticed he did it politely, like a man who’d worked in food service at some point. He seemed like an all-around great guy. Cute and polite and smart. She felt a little sad looking at his smile.
“This was nice,” she said. “Thank you for asking me.”
“Thank you for saying yes.” His eyes crinkled so perfectly when he smiled.
When the sopapillas arrived, she drizzled on too much honey and took a huge bite. “You’re a genius,” she said with an impolite mouthful of food. “So good.”
Alex was describing a documentary about privacy in the internet age when her phone buzzed with a text. As she quickly wiped off her hands, her mind flashed to Everett and that invisible low-level worry in every parent’s mind when a child was out. But when she flipped her phone over, it was a text from Barbara. The kids wanted to stop at the library, so I’m giving them thirty minutes to browse; then we’ll head home.
Lily sent back a thank-you with five full exclamation points, then looked up to find Alex’s lips curved up. She realized she was grinning. “Sorry. Everett and his friend are out for burgers and they wanted to stop at the library. I’m just feeling very pleased about that.”
“That’s pretty damn cute. I absolutely adored the library when I was a kid.”
“It was like a wonderland, right? I still remember when my library started carrying DVDs. My God, the thrill. Now it’s all online.” She winced. “Sorry, that must be a sore spot for a newspaper reporter.”
“It’s a bit like being a carriage driver when cars came along, I’m sure. But raging against automobiles didn’t make them go away. We adapt or we die. I’m figuring it out.”
“Gonna start a podcast?”
He barked out a laugh. “Don’t think I haven’t considered it.”
“You have a nice voice.”
His eyebrows disappeared beneath his hair again. “Thanks. So do you.”
“Oh yeah?”
“You sounded cute that night you were telling me to get the hell off the property.”
They smiled at each other until the server dropped off the bill; then they both reached for it. “Let me get this,” he said, but she shook her head.
“We’ll split it.”
He protested for a few more moments before finally laying down cash for his half. “And I’ve got the tip,” he insisted.
She agreed, and they walked slowly out to the street before starting their goodbyes.
“Can I talk you into another meal sometime? I’m really tired of my own company.”
She hesitated, meaning to say no, and somehow saying, “I don’t have much free time,” instead.
“I’ll check back, then, if that’s all right.”
Was it? Maybe. Maybe it was, but only because he was passing through Herriman and not staying. And it gave her something fun to think about. She gave him her number, and he texted her so she’d have his.
When they paused next to her car, Lily wasn’t sure if she should offer a hug, but Alex reached to shake her hand; then he pressed his other hand over the top of hers. “Thank you very much, Lily. I had a wonderful time.”
She felt like melting into a stupid puddle at that and could only give a strange little wave before she spun and fumbled with her car door like a flustered teenager.
She pulled away from the curb before she let herself sigh at the delicious sparks of excitement floating inside her chest.
It hadn’t been a real date. It was more like a tiny crush on a stranger, really. Still, she just felt . . . light. A pure anticipation she hadn’t felt since she was young. Frankly, she hadn’t thought she had anything that fun and fizzy inside her anymore, and the sensation soon faded into a strange sadness. Something like nostalgia, maybe. Or perhaps it was just that she was driving back toward her home and all the worries that waited there.