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Alanna glanced at the wine list. “I’ll try the Rose Petal flight.”
“Wonderful choice,” Dylan gushed. “One of our most popular. And the gentleman?”
Sully scanned the wine menu. Everything seemed to contain a light flourish of raspberry notes or deep, satisfying flavors of oak. The prices were outrageous. He tried not to gulp. He could afford it, of course, but spending so much money on so little was galling.
“Just a glass of the cabernet sauvignon,” he managed.
“Very good, very good,” Dylan said. “I’ll get those right out.” He disappeared, though his cologne decided to stick around.
Should I have worn cologne?Sully wondered. He’d assumed a thorough shower and a little woodsy aftershave was sufficient.
“Is it just me or does it feel like your butt’s hanging off the chair?” Alanna asked.
“Yeah, did they not realize people were going to actually sit in these things?” Sully shifted again, causing his chair to squeak.
“Too many consultants,” Alanna answered. “Happens all the time. They get obsessed with a certain motif and forget about butts.” She looked around the patio. “Nice view, though.”
Twinkling lights ran around the overhang and spiraled up pillars, casting a dim glow across the tables. Looming mountains rose in the distance. It was a beautiful vista, indeed, but Sully couldn’t take his eyes off a different view. The diffused light washed down Alanna’s long, pale neck and played in the gullies of her throat. The slight hint of her cleavage taunted him.
Talk. Say something,his brain urged him. That’s what people did on dates, after all.
“So, um, how is Dede doing?” he managed.
The smile fell from Alanna’s lips, and she glanced down at the table.
“What is it?” Sully leaned forward, suddenly concerned about the older woman with the infectious smile.
“You probably noticed that she has some trouble gripping things with her hands,” Alanna said, her voice soft.
Sully nodded. He’d noticed.
“She saw a specialist earlier this week and the doctor suggested cortisone injections, but that’s only a stopgap.” Alanna set her chin in her hand and gazed at the small candle in the middle of their table. “Eventually, she’ll need surgery where they fuse the joints. It’ll help with the pain, but she’ll never have full use of her hands again.”
“God. I’m so sorry.”
Alanna sighed and gave him a sad smile. “I probably should have just said, ‘She’s fine.’”
“No.” Sully reached over the table and put his hand on hers. The need to touch her, comfort her, felt completely natural. “I’m glad you told me the truth.”
She gazed at their hands but didn’t pull back. “My mom loves to garden,” she said, then shook her head. “I’m not sure she can be happy without working on her rose bushes for at least an hour a day.”
There wasn’t anything Sully could say. His heart hurt for Dede, a woman so full of grace and kindness. He absently brushed his thumb across Alanna’s knuckles as he racked his brain for a new, more positive, convo topic.
Ah-ha!“How’s your cat doing?”
Alanna winced. “Strike two.” She tried to laugh, but it sounded forced. “Actually, I, um, just lost her.”
“Shit,” Sully groaned. Her cat had died? What had happened? The pain in Alanna’s eyes told him not to press the matter.
“I still can’t really believe she’s gone,” Alanna admitted, her voice morose. “I keep thinking one day I’ll look out the window and she’ll be there, but…” she trailed off and took a long sip of water.
“I’m so sorry,” Sully murmured. Soooooo, he definitely wouldn’t be showing her the 101 Sheba pictures that were crushing his phone’s storage.
“And here we go.” Dylan the waiter and his cologne had returned. He set a frosted wine glass in front of Sully and a bendy metal structure on the table in front of Alanna. The structure held five stemless wine glasses. Sully barely paid attention as Dylan waxed poetic about each wine in the selection. This was, possibly, the worst date in the history of all dates. Apparently picking garbage conversational topics was his new superpower. What was he going to do next, ask her about her last bout of food poisoning?
Icebreakers.The word popped into his head like a crude wooden raft in the middle of shark-infested waters. While Dylan extensively detailed the provenance of each wine in Alanna’s flight, Sully frantically unlocked his phone under the table and pulled up his search browser.
As Dylan left, Sully hit a random link on his screen that promised101 Icebreakers to Get to Know Someone Better.
