She looked up and nodded. “It’s really beautiful.” The window was composed of different shapes of faceted glass like stained glass windows in church, but all clear. The only color was the metallic outlines in the design. “There’s a real atmosphere here.”
Avery started to search for the door, but Wayne beat her to it and opened it for her to step in first.
It took some doing to regulate the speed of her steps, so she didn’t drag him through the door with her, but she did it and smiled at the subtle warmth of the room around them.
The woman who met them inside reminded her of June Cleaver in ‘Leave it to Beaver,’ a show she’d watch with her grandmother when Judge Judy wasn’t on TV.
She had a delicate strand of pearls around her neck and a pair of cute kitten heels on her feet. The dress she wore was a cheery red that had wide white collars and a thin belt around her waist.
“Good evening, you two!”
The older woman reached out, and Avery felt her hand on her arm. “Don’t you look lovely!”
Avery had heard many women give her disingenuous compliments in her time, but she didn’t hear that tone in theother woman’s voice. Instead, her words made Avery stand a little taller. “I love your hair.”
The woman, who had menus in one hand lifted her free hand to her hair and gently gave her hairdo a pat. It was a miracle of hairspray and curlers, truly complimenting her features.
“They say gray is the new black these days.” Then she followed it up with. “We’re happy to have you two here tonight. We have a nice quiet table in the back if that’s okay with the two of you.”
Avery opened her mouth to reply, but Wayne beat her to it.
“Perfect.”
She turned her head to smile at him and saw him smiling at her.
Avery nodded. “I agree. Perfect.”
Chapter Four.
WAYNE
Dinner moved along quickly. The food was incredible, but what kept his attention was the woman seated beside him at the square-top table. Avery was beautiful but she was also funny and wicked smart.
“How do you know all of these things?”
Avery leaned into the table and held her wine glass by the delicate stem. “Reading. Lots and lots of reading.”
Wayne took a sip of his beer to give his lips something to do because he wanted to take that glass out of her hand and taste those fingers of hers. One at a time against his tongue.
“I know it seems... strange, but-”
“Strange?” He set his glass down after almost choking down the last swallow. “How so?”
She shrugged and her shapely shoulders made it harder to breathe. “When people find out that I’m a firefighter, I get a lot of those looks.”
He nodded. He’d been on the receiving end of those looks, too. When people found out that he was an athlete, they would nod and ‘ah’ at that as if being a talented athlete made him less apt to be intelligent, too.
“What books do you like to read?”
Her smile deepened and she sat back a little, the draped neckline of her dress dipping lower. “A little bit of everything. When Aiden was younger and started to read, we’d go to the library for story hour and then borrow some books to take home for him.”
Wayne watched as her gaze drifted across the tabletop and fixed on the delicate golden candleholder at the corner.
“I had a better memory with his books than my own. I’d forget to bring my books back and end up with late fees. One day the librarian at the desk made an offhanded comment about the books they had on the table in the entryway. Those were old books that they’d removed from the library lending catalog and were selling them for a dollar a piece.
“Well, money was tight, as it always is with me and Aidan. So instead of borrowing books, I’ll pick up a book for a dollar every time we went to the library.” She swirled the wine in her glass although Wayne wasn’t sure she knew she was doing it. “I don’t know what it was, but when I bought the book, instead of setting it aside during the week after Aidan would go to sleep, I’d read. And started reading so much more than I had before. It was crazy, but I enjoyed it. I still enjoy it.”
“I’d love to see what books you have at home.”
