“Scott! It’s so good to meet you!” Archie nearly yelled and shook Scott’s hand with so much enthusiasm that Molly had to actively make sure she wasn’t cringing. She looked around, and, indeed, some people were staring at their table.
“Yeah, real good to meet you too,” Scott said in a much quieter tone. He quickly sat down and spent too much time pulling in his chair.
“So you guys are sushi people?” Archie asked as he sat down and picked up the menu.
“Yes, we certainly are.” Molly took the lead on sweet chitchat to let Scott recover from the showy greeting.
“So, what’s your favorite thing here?” Archie asked as he studied the menu intently. Again, he fiddled with the metal corner of the menu and became quiet.
Scott told Archie that he had just discussed the day’s specials and favorites with the itamae. He was planning on ordering ebi nigiri, or cooked shrimp over sushi rice, as well as the sweet potato maki rolls. The waiter served them each complimentary salad and miso soup. Archie was characteristically enthusiastic and rambling.
“I’ve never had sweet potato sushi. I just stick to the lazy American avocado or California rolls. And are California rolls really Japanese, or are they from California? Probably not from Japan, right? I’m so glad you asked for recommendations. This is going to be delicious! Thanks for inviting me!”
Molly almost laughed out loud. The man sounded like an excited seven-year-old. And had she really invited him? She thought not. Scott looked at her, his wide eyes affirming her assessment of the situation.
Archie gave the menu his full attention until the waiter returned to take their order, but ordered the same thing Scott did despite his deep studying. He seemed to trust Scott’s advice.
“So, how was the Home and Garden Show today?” Molly knew it would be a good opening question.
“Wonderful! I talked to about thirty vendors that I didn’t get to during my time at the show yesterday. I know it’s not the ideal time to decide on or select new partners during a busy show like this, but it’s all about the leads. I was especially excited about a recycled content trellis I thought you would also be interested in, knowing your enthusiasm for environmental efforts. The vendor has one made of sturdy recycled plastic and one made of metal as well. I was wondering if you’d want to write up a comparison. Perhaps you could report on which is better for specific plants? I’m not quite sure yet if that’s what I want you to focus on next, but I’ll let you know.” Molly found that she was mindlessly nodding during his monologue.
Molly felt like she interrupted Archie when she said, “You’ll have to send me the details.”
“I will when I return to the office in a few days. It will take me nearly a week to wade through all my notes and organize all the new information while I’m also editing content for the next magazine. Home and Garden Shows take a lot of work on the back end.”
“Sure, take your time,” Molly told him and then looked over at Scott, passing the baton with a glance.
“Molly said you were interested in hiking on our Buckeye Trail.” Scott spoke quickly so that Archie wouldn’t start up again.
“I had intentions of hiking the trail that first night I was in Ohio, but with all the activity at the garden center with the police, I didn’t think it was in good taste to just head off onto the trail where a young man went missing and possibly got hurt.” He looked down at his silverware and chopsticks and arranged them into a straight line.
“You didn’t hike before you came to the shop, then?” Molly asked without thinking. Was this being a good cop? She wasn’t sure, but she was going to take the opportunity to ask the question. “I thought you did. Weren’t your boots muddy before you got there?”
The waiter came back and removed the salad plates. Scott raised his eyebrows across the table at Molly. Would they get their answer before they even got dinner?
“No, I didn’t get on the trail before I got to the shop.” Archie seemed downright mopey. He hadn’t been on the trail! It so easy to get an answer out of him this time.
“Well, maybe you can get out there tomorrow. When are you leaving?” Scott asked and then slurped up some soup.
“I’m leaving early Monday morning and will take a couple of days off from work when I return to Boston. Perhaps I could find some time tomorrow afternoon when I’m done at the show. The thing is, it’s always so exhausting talking to people all day and walking around at any Home and Garden Show. There's so much to see, and although I do wear quality shoes, my feet are always beat by the end of the day.”
“It is really hard to be on your feet all day and to talk to people all day. I agree,” Molly said between spoonfuls of soup. He still hadn’t told them about his boots, and she wanted to steer him back in that direction.
“Yes. It’s worth it, though,” Archie said with a sigh. He had more to say on the subject, for sure, and had his mouth open to continue.
Scott spoke quickly, before Archie could get more words out. “Molly and I like to go hiking on the trail together. We have matching headlamps.”
Molly knew that this was Scott’s attempt to prove they had a happy marriage, since they were not sitting next to each other. Molly was glad for the square tables at this restaurant instead of booths that had conveniently spoiled Scott’s ridiculous plan of having his arm wrapped around her while he stared Archie down. But the conversation was not going where she wanted. She needed to know about those muddy boots. She was also glad that he wasn’t being flirty in this setting and wasn’t sure if it was Scott’s presence or not. Perhaps she was just not used to his talkative ways.
“We used them yesterday, actually. Was it just yesterday? We were on the trail before breakfast.” And the idea came to her. “Maybe you could try going out before the show starts tomorrow morning? Before your feet get tired and you're exhausted from the busy day.”
“That’s a wonderful idea! My feet wouldn’t hurt in the morning. Tomorrow is the last day I’ll be going to the show, so maybe I can get a little worn out before I hit the vendors. But will I need a headlamp—or at least a flashlight—like you use?”
There was no way Molly was going to lend her headlamp to Archie. Scott must have been thinking the same thing because he said, “The sun is up by six thirty at this time of year. It is darker under the trees, but if you're out there by seven or so, you won’t need a lamp. We rarely use them much in the summer. They’re usually a trail tool we use in the spring or in the fall, after the time change.”
“Right,” Molly murmured in agreement.
“Okay, good. I don’t think that I’d really go that early, anyway. I like to have something in my stomach before I leave for the day. This is great. I’ll finally go hiking during my visit to Ohio! I really should find a trail in Boston I like too. Would you two want to be my guides on the Buckeye Trail?” He asked, his eyes shifting from Molly to Scott and back.
Molly felt like a deer caught in the headlights. Scott cleared his throat and said, “There’s an app you should download. Guthook, I think it’s called? It’s actually rather hard to get off the trail. They have blue lines painted on trees all along it. The blue blazes.” Was this Scott being the bad cop? He certainly wasn’t steamrolling anyone.
“Oh, I do like a good map app,” Archie said, putting down his spoon to dig into his pocket.
“But this won’t be your first time hiking in your boots, right? I think they were muddy when I met you the other day, weren’t they?” Molly threw out this short string of unrelated questions as casually as she could. Archie had already pulled his phone out and was searching for the app Scott had mentioned.
“Oh, I do get on some trails at the Breakheart Reservation north of Boston once in a while, but that’s the only place I’ve ever been. I really want to hike more,” Archie said slowly and succinctly, distracted by his phone, the blue light reflecting on his face.
Molly smiled at Scott, who took her hand and placed it on the table under his. She knew he’d try to make eye contact with Archie next. Now he didn’t have to get mean about asking Archie pointed questions about his muddy boots and hiking on the Buckeye Trail at the same time as Trevor. She had asked the questions herself.