He snorted. “You can call me Dawson,” he said, and I blushed again. What the hell is wrong with me?
I only smiled and pretended to be busy. He read his paper, and I was happy to see the three older men that seemed to drink my coffee faster than I could make it, come in for their morning cup of Joe. I knew them by name because Starlight had told me, and although they were all exceptionally friendly, they never really spoke to me. I think that is why I liked them so much.
I was getting a little nervous when another group of men came in, pouring coffee and eating the pastries.
How the hell was I supposed to remember who ate what, and how much to charge each of the five construction workers? I was now alone with nine men, and for absolutely no reason I felt extremely uneasy.
I was never so happy in my life to see Lauren come bouncing in. She got a cup of coffee and sat on the stool behind the counter with me.
“I almost commented on you being up so early, but I forgot that you rise with the chickens every morning,” I smiled.
She licked the strawberry filling from her pastry.
“I have always gotten up with the chickens. My dad used to deliver the newspaper, and I was forced to get out of bed at five in the morning to learn some responsibility,”
she explained.
I laughed. “How did that work out for you?”
“Well, I suck with my money, and I tend to do things on a whim without thinking them through, but I did inherit his inability to sleep once the sun came up.”
I left Lauren to replenish the one coffee machine that the men seemed to be the fondest of. Of course it was the plain old black coffee without any flavoring.
“What are you doing after work?” Lauren asked.
Oh, no. I am not going to any more bars with you.
“I am going shopping for some clothes,” I answered.
“Really? Where you going?”
“I’m not sure. I was hoping there was something more around here than the dollar general store.”
“There isn’t. We have to go into Blain for that.
They have a really nice mall. I’ll go with you.”
I laughed at her audacity but was really quite envious of it.
Chapter 3
By noon the coffee shop had cleared out, and I found myself bored. I was anxious to get started on the much needed organization of the store, but decided to wait until Monday to tackle it. I was still getting traffic and was busier than any day that I had been there.
Lauren and I went into the much bigger town and shopped. I realized going from store to store that I had never in my life shopped for myself. When I was growing up, I wore hand me downs and things from the local church or Salvation Army. After I married Drew, my shopping was done for me, and I never got to pick anything out for myself.
I felt extremely joyful when I picked out new socks. I had spent the last six years in pantyhose or thigh high stockings. I wasn’t allowed to wear socks. They weren’t attractive enough. I was even excited about the cute little cotton panties. If I was allowed to wear panties with Drew they had to be sexy, lacy thongs that I hated.
I stood in front of the rack with my hand on the underwear with tiny pink flowers as my mind once again drifted back in time.
Thank God, Lauren pulled my thoughts away rather quickly when she noticed I was off in another land again.
“Maybe if you talk about it, it might help,” she said, touching my hand and bringing me back to the present.
I shook my head. “Sorry, I’m fine,” I lied to her and myself.
“I’m going to carry my bags in and I will be over with some beer,” Lauren said, once we were in my driveway.
I took the tags from my five new outfits and ran my hand across the leather of my new hiking boots. I thought they would support my ankles a little better when I climbed down the rocky terrain to the beach. I would have rather it been a flip-flop kind of beach, but it wasn’t, and I was starting to like it just fine the way it was. I sat on my rock and watched the waves crash against the rocks for at least an hour every evening. My new friend, John, was often there, and he and his dog always stopped to talk to me.
Lauren and I sat out on my deck and listened to country music and drank a six pack of beer.
“Levi asked me for your number,” Lauren said, propping her feet up to the adjacent chair.
“Don’t you dare,” I scolded.
“Don’t you want to start dating? I mean you have to be getting frustrated by now.”
“I am not the least bit frustrated,” I lied, but didn’t truly know that I was lying until that moment. Maybe that would help, maybe I did need some relief, but I didn’t need Levi or any other man to take care of it. I was perfectly capable of it myself.
“How long were you married,” she nosily continued.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Six years.”
“Wow. What did you do get married when you were eighteen?”
I didn’t have to answer that question or any more.
Her cellphone rang, and it was Joel telling her he was at her house, wanting to know where she was.