He pushed open the door and walked in. Announcing his arrival, a little bell above the door jangled, sounding to him as loud and portentous as Big Ben. The place was a single room. Three of the little tables were occupied. One by Caroline.
When he spotted her, his turncoat heart stuttered and stalled. Jesus, she was beautiful. Absolutely, positively, breathtakingly as beautiful to him as the last time he'd seen her.
Being the only person in the place with testicles, he felt about as agile and inconspicuous as a woolly mammoth as he walked toward her. She stood as he approached and stuck out her right hand.
Well, that was one question answered: There would be no hug. Not even a long time, no see one.
'Dodge, thank you for coming.'
Even though he hadn't immediately recognized her voice on the telephone last night, probably because it would have been the last one he expected to hear, the years hadn't altered it. Though now it had a flutter, like maybe she was just as nervous to see him again as he was to see her.
'I was afraid you wouldn't,' she said.
'I started not to.'
She released his hand immediately after giving it one firm shake, then resumed her seat. He pulled out the chair across from her and sat down. Then for a time they just looked at each other.
Her hair was lighter than he remembered. Maybe she was using blond to cover up strands of gray. Whatever, he liked it. It was still that rich cinnamon color that he'd never seen on anyone before or since.
Sherry-colored eyes. Once, when he'd waxed poetic--poetic for him, anyway-- about her coloring, she'd laughed.
He'd bet he could still encircle her waist with his hands. A strong wind could blow her away. Upon closer inspection, he saw a few fine lines at the corners of her eyes, and there was a slight softening of the skin along her jaw, but her complexion was flawless and appeared as soft as ever, and looking at her made him ache all over.
He sensed that this lengthy perusal was as painful for her as it was for him. Painful for him because he couldn't gobble up the sight of her fast enough, and painful for her because she was seeing in his face the corrosive effects of the life he'd lived since she'd last seen him.
She cleared her throat. 'How was your drive?'
'Fine.'
'Traffic?'
'Not too bad.'
'No problem with my directions?'
'I got here.' He tried to smile, but his lips felt stiff.
'Welcome to Mabel's. What can I get y'all?'
Dodge hadn't realized the waitress had approached. Feeling helpless, he looked across at Caroline for guidance. She said, 'I'll have Darjeeling, please.'
He had no idea in hell what that was. Forcing his lips to move, he asked if they had regular Coke, and when the lady said yes, he ordered one.
'Anything to eat? Our apricot scones are worth the calories.'
'Nothing for me,' Caroline said.
'Me neither, thanks.'
She left to get their drinks. Dodge didn't know then, or remember later, what the server looked like, if she was young, old, tall, short, skinny, plump, if she was disappointed that they hadn't tried the apricot scones or if she didn't give a flip and only wanted her shift to be over so she could get out of there. He was functioning in a vacuum.
Caroline must have sensed his uneasiness. 'I chose this place because I've never been here. I know a lot of people in town, and it's a friendly community. I thought our first meeting should be where it was unlikely we'd be interrupted.'
He wanted to ask what would have been wrong about meeting at her house, but he already knew the answer. She would want to meet in a public place, where a scene was less likely to occur.
'This is fine. Just awfully...' He glanced around. 'Frilly.'
She smiled, and that made him relax a little.
'I don't know where to start,' she said. 'I don't know anything about your life in Atlanta.'
'What do you want to know?'
'Why there?'
'That's where I ran out of gas. Thought it was as good a place as any.'
'You joined the police force?'
'Fulton County Sheriff's Office. They had an immediate opening. I started as an investigator. Good job. Good benefits. Stayed with it for twenty-five years. But the city grew, mostly in self- importance. The office got very button-down. I was getting sick of all the rules and regulations.
'Then I solved a case and had to testify at trial. That's where I met Derek Mitchell, attorney at law. He cross-examined me. We were on opposing sides, but we impressed each other. He asked if I would be interested in working for him as his firm's investigator.'
'Less button-down?'
He shrugged. 'It's been all right so far.'
'It was very generous of Mr. Mitchell to let you leave to come here on such short notice.'
'As bosses go, he's okay.'
She rearranged her legs beneath the table and took great care with smoothing the napkin in her lap, keeping her eyes down. 'Do you have a family?'
'No.'
She raised her head and looked across at him. 'You never married?'
He replied with a guffaw. 'Don't I wish.'
She appeared on the verge of giving way to natural curiosity and asking about his marital status but didn't. Wisely, he thought.
Instead, she said, 'You didn't know until last night that I was a widow.'
'Nope.'
'I'm still in real estate. Did you know that?'
'Figured as much.'
'I thought you might have. ... I mean, your being an investigator by trade, I thought you would have--'
'Kept track of you over the years?'
'Frankly, yes.'
'Frankly, I did. For a while. Then I ... stopped.'
'Lost interest?'
'Lost hope.'
He sounded pathetic even to his own ears. Practically growling, he said, 'I don't suppose smoking is allowed in here.'
