Chapter 9

Robin

When four o’clock rolls around, I’m ready. Violet’s sitting at the counter, drinking coffee and reading the paper (which she never does) when she should be getting ready for her second job. Fannie is sticking around, too, pretending to clean something as she waits for Chuck, another night cook. Thankfully, Trent has the night off. I don’t have to worry about him coming in here when Carter shows up. Not like I should be worried about it, necessarily. But it sure simplifies things.

My tables are done. The last one, still lingering over coffee, is passed off to Elsie, who’s keeping the tip. Thankfully it’s been so slow I don’t smell too much like grease. This morning I put on makeup for pretty much the first time all summer. Not a lot. Just a little cover-up and lip gloss. I’m wrapping my tub of silverware when I hear a rumble, followed by Violet’s sharp intake of breath. Her newly manicured hand grabs the countertop.

“Lordy, Lordy.”

I already know what I’ll see when I look out the big front window. Sure enough, a bright-yellow motorcycle is turning down our road and coasting to a stop in the parking lot.

“Fannie, come look!” Violet calls, and Fannie bustles out from behind the grill.

“Didn’t I tell you? Dear God it’s beautiful,” the bigger woman says reverently, a dirty dish towel held over her heart.

I pretend that everything’s okay, but my heart is pounding and my palms are sweating. Jenni and I talked it over last night.

First, we stalked his phone number: New York City.

Next, we looked up some sign language (or ASL, since we’re in America). I learned how to spell my name. And I learned how to spell his name. I tried to learn the rest of the alphabet but I get mixed up around G and then again around P. I can say, “Hi,” “Thank you,” “Please,” “I’m sorry,” and “You’re welcome.” I’ll be the politest date ever. If this is a date.

I woke up at four a.m., realizing that I never texted him.

For a minute, I was afraid he wasn’t coming. But, as he dismounts the bike, taking off his helmet and unzipping that leather jacket, all my fear is replaced by breath-shaking, nose-sweating nervousness.

I push my hair behind my ear and look too hard at the silverware in my bucket. I hear him walk in so I look up, trying to look like this is my first time noticing him. I smile too big, I think. And my eyes are too wide. His helmet is tucked under his arm and he’s wearing jeans and a button-down with the sleeves rolled up. He looks like an Abercrombie ad. But with clothes on.

“Hi,” I sign, hoping that the lady on the video was right.

I guess she was.

His eyebrows raise as he signs “Hi” back to me and smiles.

I pat a seat at the counter, one away from Violet. I pull out my order pad. “I’ll be ready in a minute,” I write, as he sits down. “Gotta finish this bucket.”

He nods and leans forward on the counter, looking around the restaurant. Violet gives him a side-long glance and smiles, catching my eye. “Prize pig,” she mouths. She nods and indicates him with her head.

Good job, Vi. Because he can’t hear, but he can read lips. Good one.

He gives me a strange look. I pretend nothing happened.

I wrap silverware in silence for the next few minutes. There is a commercial on the radio, and some guy yelling about a mattress sale makes the seconds seem like hours. I glance at Carter. He’ll never know about that mattress sale. After rolling the last piece, I slide my full silverware bucket into the cubby under the counter and take off my apron. He stops jiggling his foot and starts to stand up, but I catch his attention and shake my head.

“I’m gonna change really quick,” I write.

He settles back onto the stool. “Okay,” he mouths, his right hand forming the two letters. I’m proud of myself for recognizing them. As I grab the tote bag that holds my clothes, he runs his hand through his hair and looks around the restaurant again, sighing.

I fake a happy skip into the dingy little bathroom and creak the door closed, leaning against it.

What was I thinking? What are we going to do? Go to frickin’ McDonalds? Trent and I just went to each other’s houses and pretended to practice, but actually made out! I’ve only known Carter for two days! He could be an ax murderer for all I know! I don’t even know his last name! He probably doesn’t know a thing about Westfield. Can two people even fit on his motorcycle? Maybe he wants me to drive! I can’t put that beautiful person in my crappy car!

I grasp both sides of the sink and look into the dilapidated mirror. “Get a grip, Robin,” I command my reflection, forgoing the usual whisper. Who the heck cares? He can’t hear me anyway. I pull the band out of my hair and grab a brush from my bag, tugging the dark waves back into a neater ponytail. Once my hair has been ponytailed, there is no way to let it down without a nasty ponytail bump.

I pull off my diner clothes and slip into jeans and a loose-fitting white lace-back tank top layered over a bright-blue tank, fixing my boobs so the push-up bra does its darn job. I untie my Vans and exchange them for sandals, exposing my newly painted coral-colored toenails. And voila! The greasy diner waitress has been replaced by a somewhat cute (admittedly very pale) girl!

I do one last check (panty line, bra line, tags in), take a deep breath, and creak open the door. Carter is thumbing through his phone. I wipe my hands on my jeans, fix a smile on my face, and tap him on the shoulder.

He looks casually over his shoulder until he catches my eye. Then he spins the stool to face me, one eyebrow shoots up to his hairline, and his perfect lips part slightly. He stares and I smile for a second. Even though he’s sitting on a diner stool, he’s still taller than I am. He smells like oranges and motorcycle exhaust and light boy-sweat. It is divine. Finally, I reach past him for the paper.

“It’s a girl!” I write.

“I can see that,” he writes back. Music pipes over the radio: “One Fine Day.” The mattress sale is long gone.

“I’m ready,” I write. “You?”

“Yeah,” he writes. “You hungry?”

I must look surprised. Most people think that if you work at a restaurant, you eat all the time. The total opposite is true. I work when everybody else is eating. Because of that, I have a bizarre eating schedule. And I’m starving.

“Or maybe you’re not… ,” he writes.

“No! I am!” I take the pen before he can change his mind.

“Good,” he writes. “You ever ride a motorcycle before?”