Man Overboard

Chapter 7

Gillian

Day 7

Brady steered our rental car into the parking lot of a boxy restaurant with a yellow fa?ade. Tall dark letters spelled out Waffle House. He put the car in park, pulled the key from the ignition, and gave me a cocky grin.

“The porter at the cruise ship terminal said this place has the best breakfast in the state.”

“It looks a little sketchy,” I said.

“This is a no judgement zone, lady.” He leaned over to kiss the tip of my nose “Come on. We need a decent meal while we plan our next move.”

The last twenty-four hours had been a whirlwind. I called Mrs. Gartner to give my notice, but she wouldn’t accept it. Genevieve had already filled her in on her son’s shenanigans, and she was furious. She gave me and Brady another two weeks off, with pay, assuring us our jobs would be waiting for us when we returned. I wasn’t sure what awaited Lyle--he was their only child, after all—but it was heartening to know the family wasn’t entirely without morals.

It was early afternoon and the diner-type place was empty. We slid into a booth with contoured plastic benches and laminated table.

“Well, it’s certainly not the Infinity Voyager,” I mused, looking around at the refrigerated food cases, heavy-duty coffee makers, and seasoned cooktop.

“It reminds me of Silverton’s, back home,” Brady said. “It doesn’t look like much, but the food is outstanding.”

We examined the menu, a huge rectangle covered in hard plastic, making our selections.

A young woman in a short-sleeve blue shirt and navy-blue apron approached, flipping the order pad in her hand to a blank page. “WhatkinIgetcha?”

“Pecan waffles. Bacon—chewy for her, well done for me—coffee, and OJ.” Brady returned the menus to the condiment rack and reached across the table for my hands.

“This is not how I expected this cruise to end.”

“Me, neither.” Our eyes locked until we both grinned. “It’s a million times better.”

“What do you want to do for two weeks?” he asked.

That was an easy question. “Spend time with you without things being overshadowed by my engagement to another man. Get to know all the parts of you. Have fun and laugh and share vanilla ice cream cones.”

“Two weeks gives us time to drive around most of the state. I’ve always wanted to see Key West.”

“Can we squeeze in a visit to the Magic Kingdom?”

“Of course.” He sat back when the waitress appeared with our drinks. She plunked down white ceramic mugs and glasses filled with liquid sunshine.

“A road trip in a compact car from Hertz is more in line with what I can offer you, Gilly. If you want another cruise, we’ll have to budget carefully to afford another trip like the one Lyle treated us to.”

“A cruise would be perfect for our twenty-fifth anniversary,” I declared. “Is that enough time to save up?”

“Dive in, folks.”

We laughed, startling the waitress, but there was no need to share the joke. It was just between me and Brady, and we were both ready to dive into our happy ever after.

Thanks for sailing into the sunset with Gillian and Brady. If you enjoyed their story, share a review on lokepub.