Five Minutes Late (14 page)

“I brought a bottle of wine, if you don’t mind the waiter opening it.”

“That sounds wonderful.”

Jim grabbed his bag from the floor, stuck his hand inside, and pulled out a bottle of wine, handing it to the waiter.

The waiter smiled. “You’re aware of the corkage fee?”

“Of course,” said Jim.

“Great.” The waiter opened the bottle.

Ellie shrugged. “Sorry, I don’t know much about wine. Even though I do enjoy it, I usually just get whatever the employee at Costco recommends.”

“Not a problem. I took the liberty of pre-ordering the tasting menu for both of us when I arrived. I hope you don’t mind. We’ll get to sample a variety of things from the chef. Should be fun and tasty.”

“That sounds wonderful.”

She liked that Jim was a take-charge kind of guy and not indecisive like most men she knew. He seemed like a nice guy too, not too many issues. Heck, they’ve made it this far and he only had one strike against him.

They raised their glasses and Jim smiled. “To life and love.”

“Very nice. Cheers.” Ellie clinked his glass and raised the glass to her mouth, but Jim obviously wasn’t done with his toast.

“Love is patient. Love is kind.”

“Ain’t that
the truth?” Ellie raised her glass again to her mouth.

“It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud.”

“Why would it be?” She was seriously ready to taste the wine.

“It is not rude. It is not self-seeking.”

“Thank God!” Were they in Bible study? Can a girl get a sip?

“It is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs.”

Ellie kept no record of anything. She was still trying to find some receipts she needed for this year’s taxes. But there might be a record of Jim’s death if she couldn’t have some wine and food soon. She tried to distract him from continuing. “I’m surprised the food isn’t here yet. Where’s our waiter?” She pretended to look around, but then lit up when she saw the waiter actually walking their way with appetizers. “Speak of the devil.”

Jim raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry.”

The waiter set the platter down on the table and pointed to the first two items. “Scallops over puff pastry with saffron and cream cheese, paired with our tortellini with garlic, cream, and porcini mushrooms. Enjoy.”

“Oh we will!” Ellie reached for the spoon to serve herself, but before she could get her fingers on it, Jim grabbed her hand.
 

“First let’s pray, Ellie.” He bowed his head and closed his eyes.

She had nothing against prayer, but…in the middle of a romantic restaurant?
 

Strike two!

“Dear Father, Lord Jesus, you are my light, my savior, my love, my life …”

Ellie reluctantly closed her eyes and felt guilty, thinking she hadn’t been to church since the sixth grade. Who knows when her last confession was? Maybe this was her punishment.
 

Payback is a bitch!

“Thank you for bringing us together on this absolutely perfect evening. It never ceases to amaze me, your daily miracles. I know I’m a miracle. Ellie is a miracle too.”

Ellie was sure it would be a miracle if they got a chance to sample the food before midnight.

“Please bless this food and use it to nourish our bodies.”

I could use some of that nourishment right now, God. I’m starving over here!

She opened her right eye slightly to peek at the platter on the table while Jim continued his mini-sermon. Her stomach growled and she placed her free hand on her stomach, as if such a gesture would actually stop the noise. Nice try, the growling got louder and louder.

“You are the master, the messiah, the mediator, the minister, the messenger …”

She couldn’t take it any longer.
Ellie opened her eyes and quickly used her free hand to grab one of the puff pastries, jamming it in her mouth. She chewed quietly, but at a good pace. How divine, how delicious. She tried to chew faster since she had a feeling Jim was wrapping up his evening service and would be passing around the collection basket soon.
 

Just a few more chews, a swallow, and … done.

Wonderful.
 

And there it was … complete satisfaction. Incredible.
That should hold her off for a few more minutes. She smiled and enjoyed the wonderful taste in her mouth.

“In Jesus’ name … Amen.”

“Amen!” Ellie clinked his glass, took a sip of wine, and piled the food on her plate. At least if things went anymore south from here, she would have been able to enjoy something.
 

Jim smiled. “You like food, that’s good. One day, God willing, you’ll be eating for more than one.”

She nearly choked. “Yes.” She stabbed the next pastry puff with her fork and wondered if this was another guy obsessed with having babies. Was he related to Chuck the Buck?

“I saw in your profile that you were never married, which is great.”

“Oh? Why is that?” She wanted him to continue to talk while she stuffed her face.

“I recently realized that marriage was important to me. I quit the priesthood because I found out that I did not want to take a vow of celibacy after all.”

She nearly choked again on her food, this time more violently, and had to bang on her own chest to get some of it to go down. “You were a priest?”

“Yes. Are you all right? You’re turning red.”

“I’m fine.” She chewed the rest of the food in her mouth and then drained her glass of wine. “Please continue.” She held out her glass, knowing he’d be smart enough to get the hint. He grabbed the bottle of wine and filled her glass.
 

“I put in a lot of time with my studies. Eight years with the seminary after high school. Then six months as a deacon. Once I was ordained, I thought I was where I was supposed to be in life. Something was still missing, though. And when the bishop saw me at a weekend retreat looking at a woman’s behind after she dropped her pen, it was over. I was never placed with a parish. Everything happens for a reason, and I now believe the reason was … I needed to have a woman in my life. I’m hoping that woman is you, Ellie.”

“Wow, that’s … amazing.” She eyed the tortellini. “Especially after you dedicated so much time.” She forked three pieces of tortellini and put them in their proper place. Her mouth. She wanted to eat as much as possible in case she had to make an abrupt exit.

“I was attracted to your profile when I saw your picture, Ellie, but also saw you were never married.”

“No. Never.” She forked more tortellini fearing strike three was rapidly approaching.

“Never felt the need or never met the right person?”

“Never met the right person.”

“Good, good, good. No long term boyfriends either?

“No.” She wondered where he was going with this.

He smiled. “Good, good, good. Look, I need to ask you something very important.”

Oh God, please no. I have a bad feeling about this. Please don’t ask me anything. If you do, it will probably mean strike three. Can’t I at least get to the main entree on a date? Can’t you see how skinny I am? I want to eat more food.

“Ellie?”

She held her breath. “Yes?”

“Even though I gave up the priesthood, I still have certain values, so I need to know.”

“Yes?”

“Are you a virgin?”

Strike three!

“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. But before we proceed any further with things, I hope you won’t be offended if I have my doctor check your hymen. You know, just to make sure everything’s still intact.”

It certainly was a sight to see. Too bad there wasn’t anybody there to capture it with a camera; it would have easily made one of the top videos on YouTube.
 

Wine shot out of Ellie’s mouth and nose like a geyser, spraying the table, the food, the flowers, the floor, the curtains, the passing waiter, and Jim’s Armani suit.
 

She grabbed her napkin and jumped up to pat dry his face. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t do that on purpose.”

“I hope not.”

“But if you must know, I’m not a virgin. I’m thirty-one years old and it shouldn’t be a surprise to you.”

“I was just hoping.”

“I’m going to go. I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

Twenty minutes later, Ellie was at home on the couch in her pajamas with a cup of tea in her hand, thinking about the disaster that was her dating life. She had come to the conclusion she was trying too hard.

Way too hard.

From now on, she wasn’t going to force things. Wasn’t going to be so picky with that damn list. In fact, she was going to tear it up, but she’d wait and give Grandpa Frank the honor. Maybe this was happening because she was supposed to give Cedric a shot.

Of course. Her thoughts returned to
him
.

Damn him.
 

Even when she was on dates with other men, she had thought of him occasionally. That had to mean something.

The phone rang and Ellie grabbed it from the coffee table and checked the ID. Grandpa Frank must have ESP; he always knew when she needed to talk.

“Hi, Grandpa.”

“Hi, sweetie. Are you doing okay?”

“You knew I needed to talk!”

“… Of course.”

“Well, it was another bad date, but it’s not the end of the world, right?”

She waited for a response from him.

“Are you there?” she asked.

“Yes. It’s just … you didn’t check your messages?”

“No. I saw the light blinking, but I wanted to get out of my clothes and … why?

“I’ll be right over.”

“Okay.” She was confused. “See you soon.”

Ellie hung up and stared over at the answering machine. Grandpa Frank didn’t sound like his normal jovial self. Something was wrong.

She stood and walked over to the answering machine where five messages awaited her. She rarely had messages on her home phone. What was even odder was the first four messages were hang-ups—the person or persons didn’t even leave a message. The fifth and final message would explain everything.

“Hi, Ellie, this is Ranger Warren Viders from Yellowstone. I tried calling a few times today, but was unable to reach you live.”

Now she knew where the hang-ups were from, but Ellie didn’t like the tone of the man’s voice. Something happened.

“I feel bad leaving this information on your machine, but you needed to know as soon as possible. Your brother, Derek, ran his car off the road and crashed into a tree.”

Oh God. She backed up slowly, leaned against the wall, and stared at the machine.

“And … he didn’t make it.”
 

Ellie felt a painful tightness in her throat as a tear fell, landing on her slipper. She slid down the wall until her butt hit the floor, continuing to stare at the machine.

“Derek and I had become good friends over the last couple of years and I’m in shock right now. I can’t imagine how you are feeling, and it pains me to call you and tell you this with a message. I left a message for your grandfather as well, since Derek had listed you both as emergency contacts. Please call me when you can so we can make some decisions. I’m so sorry, Ellie.”

A minute later, Grandpa Frank entered, his eyes red. “My princess,” he said, holding out his arms for her. Ellie jumped up and fell into his embrace, squeezing him, not wanting to let him go.

Chapter Fourteen

It had been four days since “the Slap Heard Around the World.” Cedric had left Ellie four messages on her cell phone this week, but she hadn’t returned any of his calls. What she didn’t know was he wasn’t going to give up so easily. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Michael as he stood in front of the library.

“Hey,” said Michael. “I’ve only got a minute. What’s happening?”

“Oh, just staring at the front door of the library.”

“Another training?”

“No, not today. I’m here to ask Ellie out.”

“Man, you’ve got some serious balls.”

“I’m not giving up. There’s something between us. I can feel it.”

“And can you still feel that slap?”

Cedric had to admit it was a damn good slap—it was a surprise he didn’t have a permanent hand-mark on his face. But he knew the truth and how she felt. “She kissed me back. She leaned into me and enjoyed it just as much as I did. Well, okay, maybe not as much. That was the best kiss of my life.”

“Then why did she smack you?”

Cedric had wondered the exact same thing. He’d replayed the scene over and over again in his head. “Good question. I think it has something to do with her boss, who walked in on us during the kiss. Maybe Ellie didn’t want Peggy to think she initiated a kiss at work.”

“That’s a good possibility. Look, I have to run. Stop by for dinner on Sunday and you can fill me in on the latest. Sam and Lucie are coming over and I’m going to fire up the barbecue. Six o’clock.”

“Sounds good.”

Cedric pocketed his cell and entered the library, looking for Ellie. He stood at the information desk for a moment, tapping his fingers on the counter. A body popped up from underneath the counter and scared the hell out of him.
 

Julio.

Cedric jumped back. “Whoa, nice trick. Can you also pull a rabbit out of a hat?”

“I’m not sure what you mean. Is that the same as kissing someone between the rabbit ears?”

“Uh …” Cedric was positive that Julio was referring to something sexual, but he didn’t want to go there.
 

“What can I do for you?” asked Julio.

“I just wanted to speak with Ellie for a moment.”

“Didn’t get enough abuse the last time you saw her?”

Julio knew about the slap.
 

“Don’t look so surprised. Ellie tells me everything.”

“Of course. Makes sense.”

“Anyway, she’s off today.”

There goes that plan.

“I thought she worked Wednesday through Saturday.”

“Normally, she does, but …”

Cedric waited for Julio to finish the sentence. Maybe he needed help.

“But?”

“I guess I can tell you. Ellie’s brother died. The memorial is today.”

No wonder she didn’t call him back. She had bigger things to deal with.