Five

The Breakfast

Our regular booth at The Bacon House was taken. If Margo had come with us this morning it would have been more dramatic. She liked to sit in that spot only. Perfect lighting for photos. Margo’s obsession with Instagram and posting pictures of everything she does in her life could get annoying. I had no doubt she would have insisted we wait until her booth opened if she was here.

Luckily, Heath and I had no opinion on where we sat. We just wanted to eat. The moment you walked through the barnlike double doors at the entrance, the smell of bacon assaulted you. My empty stomach was rumbling with excitement. We had barely taken our seats when the round tin bowl full of small cheese biscuits was placed on our table. I already knew how delicious they were. Every bite would melt in my mouth.

“Thank you,” Heath told the server enthusiastically. He was so focused on the biscuits he missed the attractive brunette who was blushing slightly while she checked him out. This happened often. Heath was very unaware of his appeal to females. It was the main reason he typically dated controlling women. They came after him and made him notice them. The sweeter, shy girls, who would say yes to a date with him, never got any attention from him because he had no clue they were even interested. Heath wasn’t very self-confident, and I never understood why.

“What can I bring you both to drink?” the girl asked, barely glancing my way before studying her notepad.

“Coffee and a glass of water please,” I replied.

“Milk please,” Heath told her.

She nodded before giving him one last glance. “I’ll be right back.”

I watched her go and waited until she was at a safe distance before turning my attention to Heath. “She’s pretty,” I told him.

He frowned. “I thought you said you weren’t into girls.”

Rolling my eyes, I grabbed the menu that was in front of me. “She’s attractive, has a job, and she’s checking you out.”

Finally, some small spark of understanding hit him. “Oh, you mean for me?” he asked then shook his head. “I’m not dating again for a while. I need a break from relationships. We both know how badly I suck at them.”

“You suck at picking out girls to date. That’s all,” I corrected him.

He leaned back in his chair and looked at me with one eyebrow slightly raised. “At least I date.”

Our server returned, and I glanced at her name tag quickly. Brandy sounded like a nice name. She set our drinks down in front of us while smiling extra brightly in Heath’s direction. “Are y’all ready to order?” she asked me this time, but then looked back at Heath again.

“Cat? You ready?” Heath asked me. I had barely looked at the menu, but I knew what I wanted.

“Yes, thank you,” I replied, and Brandy turned to me. “I’ll have the bacon pancakes with maple syrup please.” Brandy quickly wrote that down then turned to Heath.

“And what can I get for you?” she asked him.

“The Bacon House breakfast, please. Eggs scrambled and with buttermilk biscuits.”

“Great choice,” she told him. I was sure he could have ordered a plain biscuit with unsalted grits, and she’d have praised his order.

He seemed nervous. Her interest was more obvious to him now that I had said something. Grinning into my coffee cup, I watched them both maneuver this attempt at flirting awkwardly.

“I’ll get you some more cheese biscuits. Fresh ones just came out of the oven,” she blurted out then spun around to walk quickly back to the kitchen. Two of her other tables had been trying to get her attention, but she’d missed that. Poor Brandy was going to get poor tips from them if she didn’t stop flirting with Heath. We had plenty of biscuits left.

“So, tell me why you agreed to Rathe as your new roommate when it’s obvious you aren’t really sure about him,” I said, deciding, while I had Heath alone, I’d figure this out.

Heath took a biscuit and popped it into his mouth instead of answering. I waited. He could take all the time he wanted, but I was going to get an answer. His gaze shifted to the right of our table, and he paused. His interest somewhere else. I turned my attention to see what he was looking at, and I saw an elderly gentleman eating his breakfast. The man was staring outside the window in front of him with no real expression on his face.

“That’s my America History Professor,” Heath said in a whisper. “His wife passed away recently unexpectedly. He’s not been back to class since.”

I shifted my attention to the woman beside the older man. She was smiling at him, her hand on his arm. Heath didn’t see her, no one did. Not even the man. I wished I could go tell him she was there.

“He looks so lonely,” Heath said.

He was lonely. He missed her. If he wouldn’t think I was a crazy person I’d tell him how she was right beside him with her wedding ring still glistening on her left hand. His wedding band was also still on his hand.

“He still has his wedding band on his hand. He loved her very much,” I said, wanting to say more but knowing I couldn’t.

The woman’s eyes met mine, and she nodded her head in acknowledgment. They always knew I could see them. I gave her a smile then looked back at Heath.

“I like to believe those who leave us are never really gone. We just lose the ability to see them.”

Heath frowned and said nothing as he drank some of his milk. When he sat the cup down, he said, “That’s a nice thought, but I don’t think that’s the way it works.”

I wasn’t going to push the truth on him. There was no reason to. After all, he’d never told me of his sister; yet, I saw her often. Mary would forever be by their side.

Brandy arrived with a fresh tin of hot biscuits. She took the one that was still almost full from us and put the fresh batch in its place. “Food should be out shortly. Can I get you more milk?” she asked Heath.

“Yes, please, and some more coffee for you, Cat?” He was using me to evade the flirting.

I nodded, and Brandy gave me a tight smile. My charm to mask my appearance didn’t work on those who weren’t attracted to me. Brandy was not into females, so therefore, she saw me as I was. My looks made most females feel threatened. When I was younger that hadn’t been a problem. Other girls didn’t befriend me but not because of my appearance. They avoided me because their mothers warned them away from me. My family was odd. My mother had slept with all the successful married men in town. I was the outcast. When Heath and Margo came along and accepted me so easily, it had been the most wonderful time in my life.

Heath didn’t have his mouth full at the moment.

“Rathe?” I repeated, bringing him back to my early question.

Heath shrugged. “You’re reading too much into it. Rathe isn’t from around here. He’s just different.”

“Where’s he from?” I asked.

“He’s lived a lot of places. His dad moved often when he was growing up.”

“Why did you choose him so quickly? You could have interviewed several people and found someone less…” I wasn’t sure how to describe Rathe.

“He paid me a year in advance for the rent,” Heath blurted out. I could see the struggle in his gaze then.

Oh. That was unheard of among college students. “That’s strange. If he could afford that then why didn’t he get a place of his own?” A question that Heath should have asked. He’d seen the money and lost his common sense. It seemed he was regretting it now.

“Here we go,” Brandy announced, as she appeared beside us again with a tray full of food. Mostly Heath’s since he ordered the largest breakfast on the menu.

She took her time delivering the food and making sure we had everything we needed. When Heath didn’t send her to get him something more, she seemed disappointed. Maybe this one wasn’t a good idea. She was starting to appear more needy by the minute. When she left us to our meal and went to help another table, he relaxed then smiled at me.

“He’s fine. Stop worrying about it. I don’t regret letting him move in so quickly.” Heath was trying to shut me down. I decided for now I would let him but I was going to keep an eye on Rathe.