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“Iced tea, too, for me...” I chimed in.
“Same.”
Abbie and I headed out the archway and stepped into a slightly shaded patio. A handful of wooden tables ran along the space. We took one off to the side, and I held the chair out for her. Abbie sat down with a grateful sigh.
I took a seat across from her.
There were about half a dozen other tables out there. An older man sat at one reading the paper and drinking a coffee, but other than that, it seemed to be a bit of a quiet time outside anyways. Looked like we’d lucked out a little.
Abbie put her phone down on the table, tucked her cross-body bag beside her on the chair, then propped her chin on her hand as she looked around us. I could see her taking in the beautiful pastel-colored buildings all around. I’d tried to do a little studying up on the plane rides so I could sound like I knew a few things as we walked around.
A young waitress in jeans and a T-shirt brought us out our drinks and read off the daily special while she set the two paper menus in front of us. I hadn’t realized how starving I was until that point.
“What’s quickest?” I asked with a smile.
The waitress laughed. “Pasta’s probably the quickest. Salad to start?”
“Garden?” Abbie asked me as she glanced at the menu again.
“Garden,” I agreed with her.
“Two spaghetti and meatballs...a bottle of wine and...” Abbie scanned down the menu again, tapping her nail against the paper. “Garlic bread. A very large order of garlic bread.”
The waitress smiled easily. “What about dessert?”
“You just said the magic word,” I said, and the waitress laughed.
Abbie chuckled, rolling her eyes. “We might as well order that after the meal?”
“I’ll bring your starters in a few minutes.” She took our menus from us.
“Thank you,” Abbie said.
The garden salads arrived shortly after, and for the first time in my life, I had to admit I was looking forward to salad. Clearly, I was hungrier than I thought.
Abbie took a few bites of her salad then leaned back in her chair, smiling as she looked around.
“At least eat before you run off.”
She laughed, her eyes twinkling.
“I’m not leaving ’til my stomach’s full. Did you not smell the food in there?” She gestured towards the building. “That was worth the flight alone.”
I grinned. “Amazing.”
“If it even tastes half as good as it smells.” She smiled with a small shake of her head and went back to her salad, targeting her spinach leaves with her fork.
We ate in silence. A few more people streamed out of the restaurant to join us outside, and I could hear more chatter in there, as well. Apparently, we’d beaten the rush, for which I was glad our order had already been put in. I didn’t think I’d survive long on salad alone.
Abbie finished off her salad in record time and went back to her phone, scrolling through the few photos she’d already snapped. I could see her post them to her social media accounts before putting the phone back down. It was nice to see her so happy, so glowing. I hadn’t seen that look from her in way too long.
I took a sip of my iced tea and leaned on the table. “How are you liking it so far?”
“Ten out of ten.” She smiled at me. “Thank you for inviting me. I know when you brought the idea up, I was a little—”
“Dead set against it?”
“I like routine.”
