“I’ll see you tonight momma.” I then turned to cue the leaving.
Hale followed and opened the door for me to go through first.
“Again, it was a pleasure meeting you,” he told momma. She shook her head in response and then left.
Once we were safely outside I exhaled.
“You sound relieved.” His tone was amused.
“Trust me. The worst part of the evening is over. With that I have abundant experience. We were lucky, fortunate and blessed.”
He laughed. Thought it was funny. He didn’t know I’d defused a bomb. Or how badly that could’ve gone.
Chapter Sixteen
I’m not sure exactly what I expected. But this wasn’t it. A burger joint on the Alabama-Tennessee line was definitely not what I had in mind when I thought about where Hale Christopher Jude III would take me on a date. The good thing was I wasn’t over dressed. However, I guess maybe I thought a nice steak place would be his choice. Like, perhaps, All Steak in Cullman. I’d always heard how good it was and some of my friends had gone on dates there. When I was dressing this evening All Steak had been my hope, where I thought Hale would take me.
This place was not All Steak.
The expensive smell of leather in Hale’s Mercedes put me in the mindset of country clubs and fancy things. Even if this was our only date I wanted the memory of what that felt like. The burger place had red plastic booths with linoleum tables that looked like they hadn’t been updated since nineteen seventy. Records hung on the wall and Lean On Me played on the radio. He was giddy and happy to be here.
Hale further surprised me by ordering a cheeseburger with fries. He didn’t look like the kind of man to eat something so greasy. I went with the meatloaf because at places like this that was always the best thing on the menu. He took a sip of his soda, also something I hadn’t imagined him drinking, Hale striking me as an expensive bourbon or brandy guy. Like the ones I read about in books.
“Are you planning on going to college?” he asked, leaning back in his cheap plastic seat that was faded from the sun on a corner.
“I…,” and then I stopped.
This was a line of questioning I hadn’t expected. I figured he had some degree from a college that was private with ivy on the walls and with students who wore sweaters and caps. Hearing my honest answer wasn’t going to impress him, but I wasn’t one to lie.
“No. We can’t afford that. Milly, my older sister, put herself through cosmetology school. She’s a hair stylist now. But I don’t much want to do that. I hate fixing my own hair much less someone else’s. And there ain’t a job for me that would pay full tuition, except maybe dancing on a pole, that would put me through in four years.”
Hale laughed at that. Then he nodded his head. “Agreed, it would take a good paying job to get you through college.”
In all honesty I had considered the dancing on a pole thing. Once. But I figured that wasn’t for me. My momma would die of embarrassment and I just couldn’t do that to her. Not to mention my daddy would roll over in his grave. I knew a girl who did it for a year. She flew off of the pole, helicoptered around, and took out the entire front row. Her tips that night came to $1,200 and she only fractured an ankle. That’s a beautiful story.
“So your plan is what?” he asked me.
This was an even less impressive answer. Why couldn’t we talk about something else? My future wasn’t what I imagined us discussing. Maybe our taste in music or places we wanted to go? In his case places he had been.
“I’ll work at the bakery for now. Then one day the right opportunity will come along and I’ll take it. Leave that town behind. Not sure how, but I will. For the moment though, I’ll wait.”
He fell silent. I took a drink of my sweet tea and wondered if my answer wasn’t good enough. Even if I had to get another job to save money I would get out of Moulton.
“How long have you wanted to leave Moulton?”
“As long as I can remember,” I replied. “Maybe longer.”
He then leaned forward on the table. “I think I might have an idea. Something for you to consider. I don’t expect a decision right away.”
My heart began beating so hard in my chest I could hear it in my ears. An idea to get out of Moulton? I wanted to say “YES” right now, though I waited for him to continue, before agreeing to anything.
“I have a penthouse in Manhattan I mentioned before. My live in caretaker has retired from old age. It was too much for her to keep things up. I need someone to live there, to take care of the place, keep it clean and prepare it with food when I’m coming into town. Could be short notice and most of the time it is on the shortest of notice. I like things kept clean and tidy at all times. I don’t allow employees to have visitors in my home. I don’t like the intrusiveness of that. Otherwise, it’s a simple job. Not very demanding unless I’m in town and choose to entertain a guest, which I often do you see.” He paused and looked at me a moment. “Are you interested? It is in Manhattan. This would be an adventure.”
Words wouldn’t come. I lost them. This was not what I expected. With the cupcakes and flirting I actually thought he wanted to date me outright. But he’d been looking for something else. Though it was my way out of Moulton.
I glanced around the diner and then realized he had brought me here for a reason. So I wouldn’t get the wrong idea. His interest in me and the plans for my future were because I had been on a job interview and hadn’t known till now. This all made sense and I smirked. He was polished and refined. I wasn’t. He couldn’t invite me into his world as someone he was dating.