Page 6 of Lawson & Jill

“Do you feel like surprising me, or would you prefer I choose?” Jill asked.

“Do you like creamy or tart?” The waitress was clearly getting into the game.

“Creamy.”

“I’ve got you covered.” She turned to Law. “How about you? Want me to set you up, or do you have your heart set on something?”

“I’m with Jill; I trust your judgment. I’m in the mood for pie.”

“Well, you came to the right place. Are you out of Camp Pendleton?”

Law nodded.

“You had the look. It was either that or we get some of the guys from San Diego. I’ll bring it out to you and top off your coffee.” She left with a spring in her step that wasn’t there before.

“So, do you live at Camp Pendleton?”

“I’m too old for that. I have a house off base. What about you, where do you call home?”

He watched as Jill’s face clouded. “I inherited a house in Laguna Niguel from my cousin less than a year ago.”

“Now it’s my turn to ask, do you want to talk about it?”

“To tell you the truth, I’m kind of talked out,” she said as she took another sip of her coffee. Headlights flashed from outside through the diner window and glinted on her hair. The shiny black strands looked rich and silky and he wondered how they would feel running through his fingers. It took a moment for him to catch onto what she was saying.

“I’ve gone to the group sessions on and off for five months. I talked a little, but mostly just listened. I took a job transfer out here so I could move in with Lorraine and be with her while she needed me. After she passed, I realized that besides the people at work, I didn’t know anyone but Lorraine, so I thought the grief counseling sessions might help me as well as let me meet some folks who would be on the same page.”

“How’d that work out?”

“After the first three months, I’d pretty much come to the conclusion it’s not my thing. What about you? I saw you on the stairs with that boy Kevin from the art class. He’s always making a run for it.”

Law chuckled. “His name is Kenny. He’s a hoot. I swear, he almost had me convinced to go to his mother for comfort. He was telling me how unloading on her always made him feel better, and he offered her services to me.”

Jill let out a shout of laughter, then immediately covered her mouth and looked around to see if anyone else had heard.

“Oh. My. God. That’s priceless. I want him to come to the next Grief Session. He’d be perfect. But I’m not sure that I’m going again.” Jill sighed.

The waitress approached the table, carrying a tray with two plates. She slid a slice of pie in front of Jill. Law had no idea what in the hell it was, because it was completely blanketed with whipped cream. As a matter of fact, it could be just whipped cream. Jill cooed. She looked up in delight. “Doris, what is this? I’m in heaven.” Law noticed Doris’ nametag for the first time.

Doris preened at Jill’s words. “Banana cream pie. It doesn’t happen often, but Sophia, she owns a catering company now, brought this by this morning. I got you the last piece. You’re going to think you died and went to heaven when you try this. This is homemade whip cream, too. None of that canned stuff.”

Jill dipped her finger into the cream and swirled it around, then licked it. “You’re right, this is heavenly.”

“Told you.” She set the second plate in front of Law. “As for you, young man. You get a hot apple pie ala mode.”

Law grew up with a mother who made French pastries, so this was a treat. “Apple pie. You nailed it, Doris.”

“That makes my night. Let me know if I can get you anything else,” she said as she topped off their coffee.

As much as the pie interested him, Law was still more enthralled with Jill’s reaction to the whipped cream. Thank God she wasn’t making any more moaning noises because then he would really be having a hard time. Literally. As it was, just watching the euphoric expression on her face made his blood hum. He picked up his fork, looked down at his pie, and took a big bite.

“This is wonderful,” Jill said around a mouthful of cream. “However, I’m going to have to go to yoga at least three times this week to make up for the splurge.” Her voice melted over his senses like the ice cream melted over his tongue.

Law took a sip of coffee so he could clear his throat. “So, you know that I’m a Marine and grew up with two brothers. What do you do for a living?”

“It’s boring. I’m a clinical services trainer for systems that do remote heart monitoring.”

“Like RF cardiac equipment?”