Page 56 of Finding Forever

He nodded to a couple of people he knew from the Finley Point construction site, and a roofing contractor he’d been speaking to that afternoon.

Beth seemed to know everyone else in the room. She stopped to say hello to a table of six people. He recognized Percy from the historical society, and Mabel from the general store.

By tomorrow morning, Hank would probably know what they’d ordered.

He helped Beth with her jacket, then placed it on the back of an extra chair. “Everything smells delicious.”

Beth sent him a warm smile. “I thought the same thing when we walked inside. This was a great idea.”

When Kathleen came over, Beth ordered first. “The bison burger, please.”

Kathleen scribbled on her pad. “Swiss cheese and mushrooms?”

Beth nodded. “All of it.”

Dave smiled. “I’ll have the same.”

“And two pieces of huckleberry pie afterward,” Beth added.

Kathleen looked at Dave. “Are you okay with that?”

“I’ve learned not to argue with Beth.”

Kathleen walked away smiling and Dave sat back and looked across the table. This should have felt strange. He hadn’t been on a first date in more than forty years. He’d forgotten what the rules were, assuming he’d ever known them.

But sitting across from Beth felt remarkably like the lunch they’d had on the way home from Cedar Ridge. Only better, because neither of them was pretending it was about work.

Beth folded her hands on the table. “When was the last time you went on a date?”

Dave groaned. “You had to ask that?”

“I think it’s a reasonable question.”

He thought back over the decades and smiled. “Carol and I used to go out for dinner.”

Beth shook her head. “That doesn’t count.”

“Why not?”

“Because once you’ve been married for more than twenty years, going out for dinner is different.”

Dave supposed it was, but thinking about his last date before Carol was making him realize just how old he was. “Then I suppose it was sometime in the early eighties.”

Beth’s eyes widened. “You haven’t been on a date since the 1980s?”

“No.”

“Dave.” She stared at him in disbelief.

“What?”

“I was nervous before we came here. Now I feel like we’re as hopeless as each other.”

He laughed. “Glad I could help.”

Thankfully, their burgers arrived before Beth could ask him any more questions about his dating life.

When Dave bit into his burger, he understood why it was so popular. The bison was smoky from the grill, the Swiss cheese melted across the top, and the mushrooms had been cooked with enough butter to undo any benefit from choosing lean meat.