I am very excited to announce my next book, set to release this summer! Thank you so much for your support—your generosity makes it possible, and your enthusiasm spurs me on when it gets hard.
Phil and I renewing our wedding vows on horseback —author photo
Here is a peek at a story from my first draft. As you will soon see, we were not off to an auspicious start!
Couples Stock Illustration / Pixabay.com
Being a single mom brought its own set of challenges when it came to going on a date. Not having a regular babysitter, my solution for doing anything away from my young son Josh was to do so during working hours, because I would be able to enjoy the experience much more, knowing he was safe in his regular day care. So, when Phil asked me out on a date, I suggested we go on my lunch break. We agreed on Friday and in a fit of optimism we also discussed taking my son to the zoo on the following day.
One advantage of being an engineer is that my lunch time was very flexible; I could go when I wanted and take as long as I wanted, as long as I didn’t abuse the privilege and my work was caught up. Phil agreed to pick me up from work, and for my part, I made sure all of my co-workers knew who I was going with and where we were going. Not knowing Phil very well, I wanted to make sure the calvary would come if things turned out badly and I was kidnapped, so that Josh would be cared for…that is what a mother does…
Lunch time approached and I stood out in the parking lot, wondering what type of vehicle Phil would be driving. I knew he was from West Texas and being a country girl at heart, I was looking for my cowboy to drive up in a pickup truck. Imagine my surprise when my handsome suitor arrives, in a Nissan Axxess van!
Phil, being a gentleman, gets out of the car to open the passenger door for me. We engage in small talk as we head to a nearby Chinese restaurant, Shandong China in Carrollton. I don’t remember how we got on the topic, but Phil mentioned his cat had an unusual ability to open doors.
Portrait of Cat, European Short Hair; courtesy Nennieinszweidrei / pixabay.com
A cat! First, a Nissan van, and now, come to find Phil is a “cat” person. Now, I have nothing against cats personally, but I am a dog person and never imagined myself dating a man with cats. My German Shepherd hated cats. I took a breath and told myself to give him a chance.
This was the first date I had been on since I became a single mom. The waiter seated us at a table and being a buffet, we got up and walked over to the enticing food area filled with a wide variety of salad choices and Chinese food to make our selections.
I chose to fill two separate plates, one for my salad and a second one containing my entree choices. Phil had one plate piled high with his selections. We made our way back to our table and set our plates down. I hesitated, spying the waiter, and smiled at him.
“Would it be okay if we changed to a booth?”
The waiter nodded solicitously and grabbed one of the plates on the table.
“Sure, follow me, I have one here,” he replied, walking toward a booth in the corner.
We got to the booth, and the waiter set the plate down. Phil and I placed the plates we had been carrying onto the table and slid into the booth, across from each other. We thanked the waiter who nodded and smiled, leaving us to our lunch.
I started with my salad plate, and we both began to eat as we chatted. The conversation moved to our goals and what type of relationship we were looking for. Phil had come out of a marriage of many years a few months prior and informed me that his plan was to “date around” for a year and just have fun, before thinking about anything more serious. It soon became apparent to me that we had very different goals, but I was determined to enjoy the lunch regardless. It was nice being out on a date, having adult conversation that didn’t entail work.
Plate of Beef and Broccoli with Fried Rice and Egg Roll; courtesy Eddie Ortiz / pexels.com
I finished up my plate of salad and reached over to the other plate on the table that still had food on it. I dragged it in front of me, lifted my fork, and aimed it toward the mix of entrees. My hand froze in mid-air as I gazed curiously at the sprouts, breaded meat and some other mysterious selections in front of me.
None of them was what I had chosen!
I glanced over at Phil’s plate, wiped clean. He had already consumed every morsel that had been on it.
I looked at Phil and started laughing.
“You do realize you ate my plate of food?”
Phil looked from the plate sitting in front of me loaded with his selections and back to the empty plate in front of him. His face reddened in surprise as he realized what he had done. Obviously, he was not paying much attention to his lunch!
I returned to the buffet to try again and brought back my choice of entrees (broccoli beef, fried rice, and an eggroll) to the table. Rather than prolonging the awkwardness, we were able to laugh about what happened and then turn the conversation to our trip to the zoo the next day. I had some misgivings since our relationship goals were not aligned, but I had already told Josh we were going to the zoo, and I didn’t want to disappoint him.