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“You don’t know. Sometimes life can surprise you,” I say.
“Brianna!” the manager calls, interrupting our moment together.
“ I’ll be right there,” she sweetly calls over her shoulder. “Let me know if you need anything else,” she tells me before walking off with her coffee pot.
Shark looks back at me then places his head on the cold cement. I can’t put my finger on why I find her so attractive, but there’s something about her that gets me going. She lights a fire inside of me, one that I want to explore. I catch glimpses of Brianna from time to time as the café fills up and she helps people. When she smiles really big, her dimples show, and I love the freckles that scattered across her nose. She’s beautiful, in a way where she doesn’t try too hard and looks confident but isn’t afraid to say what she means. Women like this are few and far between.
About ten minutes go by before my sandwich arrives and gets delivered by a food runner. I’m somewhat disappointed because I was hoping the two of us could finish our small talk.
“Rueben,” he says, placing it in front of me.
“Thanks,” I reply.
The Reuben is just as good as it was the first time and I’m glad I didn’t order anything else. The sandwich disappears quickly, and only a few fries remain. I feed a few of them to Shark then move my plate out of the way. Brianna notices I’m done and makes her way over to my table. The restaurant has somewhat cleared out, and I’m hoping this’ll give us the opportunity to chat more.
“So, how long have you lived here?” she asks with a cheeky grin on her face. It was thrilling. She didn’t want to make small talk about coffee or refilling my water; she was diving right in.
“Not too long. Almost two years now,” I reply, placing my napkin on my plate. She notices, grabbing my dish and holding it.
“I’m just surprised I’ve never seen you,” she sheepishly admits, and I’m thinking the same thing.
“I don’t come into town much. I’ve also been spending a lot of time working on the place.”
“I see,” she says. “So where are you from?”
Her questions keep coming, and I gladly welcome them.
“I was born and raised in Chicago.”
“You left Chicago to come to Whitefish?” She eyes me, and I can tell she wants to know more.
“What’s so surprising about that? Whitefish is a beautiful place. With beautiful people.” My eyes meet her, and I see blush hit her cheeks. I’m happy she got the hint.
“Yes but—” she says, looking from side to side. “There’s nothing to do here!”
Our conversation moves to a more playful one. “You can’t be serious. There’s a ton to do here. I find the days aren’t even long enough for me to do everything I want.” It’s the truth. Between working on my house and the surrounding property, fishing, hiking, skiing during the winter, I find that there’s more than enough to do.
“Okay. I get your point,” Brianna says, “but still, you must miss city life.”
“Not a bit,” I answer her too quickly.
She narrows her eyes at me.
“Have you ever been to Chicago?” I ask her.
“No,” she replies.
“Then how would you know?” I ask, teasing her. I can tell that she likes the teasing because she places a hand on her hip in protest and tries to think of a response.
“I don’t know,” she replies. “I watch a lot of TV, I guess. Seems busy and fun.”
“Really, that’s the best you got? You watch a lot of TV?” I say, knowing that I’ve won the argument.
“I’m not talking to you anymore,” she says playfully crosses her arms over her breasts and gives me a wink before she walks away.
Instantly I miss her company and wish she’d come back, but I notice she’s tending to another table. I watch the way she speaks the guy and wonders if she treats all of her guests the same way she’s treated me. Is she naturally flirty and am I reading too much into this?
As I watch the patio fill up with people, I don’t want to bother her by asking for the bill, so I place some cash on the table and get ready to leave. I put a generous amount of money on the table, and I worry she might be offended, but it feels good to help her out, plus she’s made me a happy man. She deserves to get a big tip for putting a smile on my face.
