Page 51 of My Girlfriend is Not the Father

Bunny pointed to the large metal sign on the wall that said ‘Restroom this way’. Jade nearly facepalmed herself. She followed the antique licence plates, Coca-Cola and Dr Pepper tin signs, and posters ranging from Marilyn Monroe to Elvis, until she reached the bathroom.

A few minutes later, Jade stared at herself as she washed her hands. Mirrors surrounded her at work. But it had been forever since she’d really looked at herself.

Fine lines had emerged around the edges of her green eyes, and … she rather liked it. Ageing was a gift. But the bags, she could do without, as they reflected the last few years, the sleepless nights, the burden of running a company.

The hours spent thinking about what a life with Lucy would look like.

Jesus. Jade needed to snap out of this. Make a decision, stick with it, and be done. She crumpled the paper towel and tossed it in the wastebasket. It was already past ten, heading dangerously close to her bedtime on a work night, and she wasn’t going to solve her love woes in a small-town diner on the outskirts of town.

She tugged her purse across her shoulders and exited the bathroom when she did a double-take at a couple sitting in a corner booth. ‘Mrs Dieterman?’

Mrs Dieterman jolted her head upright. ‘Jade, dear. What in the world are you doing here?’

Contemplating the biggest decision/non-decision of my life. Trying to pinpoint the exact moments when my feelings shifted so profoundly that my heart filled and then broke.

‘Needed some late-night pie.’

Mrs Dieterman gestured to the man sitting across from her. ‘This is Mr Dieterman.’

The soft-grey-haired man with curled shoulders and a smattering of brown age freckles on his cheek lifted himself to stand.

‘Oh please, don’t get up.’ Jade waved him back down. ‘It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.’

‘Sure is nice to meet you.’ He shook her hand with a snug grip. ‘My wife here talks about you almost as much as the grandkids.’

‘I hardly believe that.’ Jade grinned. ‘What are you two doing out at this hour? Or is this a common occurrence?’

‘Well, I’d love to say this was a date night, but sadly we just came from Rochester for a wake. My nephew.’ Mrs Dieterman stirred the coffee and clanked her spoon against the mug. ‘Can you believe it? Only fifty-two years old, brain aneurism. He just passed on Monday.’

Jade’s heart dropped. ‘I’m so sorry to hear that. Fifty-two? That’s so young.’

Mrs Dieterman patted the booth next to her. Jade accepted the invitation and slid in next to her.

‘We hadn’t seen him in years, but it’s real sad all around.’ Mrs Dieterman pooled syrup on the side of her plate and dipped a chunk of pancake in it. ‘His mother could barely stand, she was so distraught. Doesn’t matter how old your baby is; losing a child is every mother’s nightmare.’

Jade was glad she’d never know that type of deep devastation and recommitted on the spot to never have children.

‘So, you’re the one that keeps my Clara here looking so beautiful?’ Mr Dieterman smiled as he fumbled with the creamer seal.

Jade had the urge to reach out to pull it off for him as his thumb shook, but she refrained. ‘I only maintain what she was born with.’

He finally tugged open the creamer and splashed the minuscule amount of liquid into his mug. ‘Clara’s been a looker since the day I met her. You ever heard of love at first sight? I’ll tell ya, it was love at first blink.’ Mr Dieterman spent the next ten minutes rehashing the story of how they met, the details only slightly shifting from Mrs Dieterman’s version. Somehow, as Jade listened to his warm words of adoration, comfort washed over her. After sixty years of marriage, these two still looked at each other like that. She and Elizabeth only had those eyes for the first two years.

Jade showered him with questions, asking what their school was like and if Mrs Dieterman had the same feisty personality back then as she did now. Mrs Dieterman cracked a joke about getting frisky during a dance after the girls were allowed to enter the boys’ gym, and he talked about him and his buddies helping decorate that day, just to get closer to the girls. A yearning filled Jade, and she wanted to cry at the sweet story.

‘You know I made him wait a whole year while I played hard to get?’ Jade shook her head. ‘I wasted that time. And seeing our grandnephew today just …’ Mrs Dieterman waved her hand.

The words hovered, heavy in the air.

‘Do you have someone special?’ Mr Dieterman asked.

How to answer that? There was someone special, but she didn’t have someone special. Jade bit the inside of her cheek. ‘Well … I mean, I have someone I care about …’

Mr Dieterman set the fork against the plate with a tink. ‘Do they know?’

‘Marlon, now that ain’t none of our damn business.’ Mrs Dieterman swatted at his hand. He shrugged and dug back into his meal. Mrs Dieterman glanced at Jade and leaned towards her. ‘I tell ya, it might have been all those years ago, but I wish I could get that year back. I’d never want to waste this precious gift of time. The second I knew he was the one, I shoulda told him, right then and there. Ya never know what could happen.’

The words hit, hard. The pie from earlier rumbled in Jade’s belly. Mr and Mrs Dieterman spoke facts, and Jade needed to listen. During her marriage, she’d chased and waited, chased and waited. She never felt settled, whole, or complete. And she didn’t need someone to do that for her, but dammit, she wanted someone.