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“Shit. Shit, okay,” Zelda says, and I have to bite my lip to keep from smiling.
She pulls the door open, and I get my first look at her. She looks nervous, sure, but her cheeks are flushed and her eyes have a sparkle of excitement to them. She’s beautiful with her dark hair delicately curled down her back, and a soft sweep of makeup on her face that she definitely didn’t need. The effort she’s put into being ready to go out with me has me wanting to puff out my chest and crow with all my might.
She’s wearing dark brown corduroy trousers that look like they were molded specifically for her long legs and a cream colored sweater. I’ll have to remind myself often to be on my best behavior tonight.
“Hi Court,” Zelda’s daughter says, drawing my attention away from her mother.
“Hello Merritt.”
“Oooh, that voice,” someone says.
I look at the phone that Merritt’s waving in her hand to see the screen is split into two boxes showing a stunning redhead with a young girl no more than four or five in her arms. The other shows another beautiful, young brunette. Obviously, Zelda’s family decided to help her get ready for her date.
“I know, right?” Merritt smiles cheekily.
“Momma, who’s that man?” the girl asks.
“He’s Lolly’s date, bugaboo.”
“What’s a date?”
“Uhhh…” The redhead looks somewhat stumped.
“It’s a day on the calendar,” Zelda says quickly. “Now we’ve got to go. Byeee!”
She grabs her bag and an aubergine colored puffer vest and practically runs out the door as the little girl asks, “He doesn’t look like a day on a calendar to me.”
Both women on the phone and the one in person laugh uproariously as Zelda pulls the door shut. “Shall we?” she asks.
“Of course,” I reply, holding my arm out for her as I lead her to the passenger side of the SUV and open the door for her. I close it securely before rounding the vehicle and climbing into the driver’s seat. I start the engine and ask, “Where would you like to go?”
“Umm…” she stammers, sounding very much like her daughter. “Is Italian good?”
“Anything is good,” I reply.
“You can’t mean that.”
“I’ve eaten unidentifiable food stuffs from carts in the South Pacific,” I reply. “And that’s not even counting the things I ate while on wilderness survival training in the military.”
“I don’t think I want to know…”
“I don’t think you do either,” I laugh. “Now, where’s this Italian restaurant?”
“Take a left at the light,” she says, and I follow her directions to a small restaurant in a bigger town about forty minutes away.
While we drive, I keep the conversation light and my tone gentle so as not to startle her because I get the feeling Zelda hasn’t dated in a very long time. And whatever made her decide to stay away from men gave her a very compelling reason to do so.
“Wait here,” I tell her as I shut off the vehicle and climb down, walking around to the passenger side to open the door for her.
Zelda climbs down with a softly spoken, “Thank you.”
I follow her to the restaurant and pull open the door for her. A hostess smiles at us and then the expression on her face freezes into one of shock as she recognizes me.
“You’re… you’re…” she stammers before whispering, “I know who you are.”
“Thank you,” I smile gently at the young girl. “May we please have a table with some privacy.”
“Oh! Of course.” She quickly scoops up a couple of menus and leads us to a dimly lit booth near the back of the restaurant.
