AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We crossed the parking lot. I had to jog the last couple steps to get to the door ahead of her. Was she not used to having guys open doors? Maybe she hated it. What if she was one of those women who looked for the patriarchy in things I considered courtesy? Ugh.
“Two, please.” Kayla held up two fingers as she spoke.
The young woman behind the wooden hostess stand collected two menus and two rolled napkins that I assumed held silverware and started toward the mostly empty room full of tables with a whispered, “Follow me.”
Kayla was in the process of sitting before I finished debating about trying to hold her chair. So I took the seat opposite her and reached for a menu. “What’s good here?”
She tapped the menu that lay in front of her on the table. “I usually get the chicken enchiladas. They have a spicy tomatillo sauce that I like better than the regular ranchero.”
I nodded. I wasn’t an enchilada fan. The tortillas always seemed to get gummy. Maybe that had something to do with the places where I’d go to eat, but I wasn’t going to risk it. For all I knew, Kayla liked gummy tortillas. I scanned the menu for the inevitable three taco combo. There it was. “I think I’ll try the number six.”
“Which is?”
“Tacos. I’m not super adventurous.”
Kayla laughed. “You’re a youth pastor. That’s probably enough adventure for a lifetime.”
I smiled, but it felt forced. Did it look that way? “I like being a youth pastor.”
“It wasn’t a dig. I’m sorry. I teach high school, so I get it.”
Did she, though? It was probably too soon in our relationship to say one way or the other. I barely held back a grunt. Relationship. That was a loaded term. What we had barely qualified as being an acquaintance. Probably better to change the subject. “Do you come here a lot?”
Her eyebrows lifted.
I wanted to shrink into oblivion. It sounded like a pickup line. “That came out weird.”
“A little. The answer is: not as much as I’d like to. The friends I usually meet for lunch all like the diner on Sunday afternoons. And now that Scott and Whitney are married, those lunches are turning into a big group thing and…” Kayla trailed off and shrugged. “It’s different.”
That I got. It was why I didn’t have a lot of friends. Everyone paired up and then started wanting to introduce me to someone. Because it was going to be amazing for me. Except the people I’d thought were friends had terrible taste in women when it came to setting me up. Or I was just bad at dating. “Marriage always changes friend groups.”
“I don’t think it has to.” She pursed her lips thoughtfully. “But I guess we’ll see.”
The server came with a basket of chips and a bowl of salsa. She took our drink orders and then, because Kayla interjected that we were ready, our meal orders as well.
It saved me from arguing the point. And I would have. I could point to a ton of examples in my own life that proved how friendships shifted when people got married. I was, according to my mother, pretty cynical about it.
Silence settled at the table. Was it awkward? Yes. Did I have any idea how to fix it? Not one.
“Why don’t you tell me more about the spring break trip to Mexico.” Kayla reached for a chip and scooped a generous helping of salsa before chomping into it.
She wasn’t a dainty eater. I liked that about her. That and her usual bubbly enthusiasm—though that had been dampened some lately. Maybe because her friend group was changing? I reached for a chip and dipped a corner in the salsa. I didn’t love spicy, so I wanted to see how bad it was going to be before committing to a scoop like she had.
I crunched the chip and my eyes watered. Of course we didn’t have our drinks yet.
“Are you okay?” Kayla winced and looked around. “Do you want me to see about getting our drinks now?”
I shook my head, holding up a hand. “I’m okay. I’ll just avoid the salsa.”
I cleared my throat before reaching for another chip and eating it plain. That helped some. “What do you want to know? About Mexico?”
“I don’t know. Give me the spiel.”
Great. The spiel. I eyed the chips but decided against another. Without salsa, they were just corn chips. And not amazing ones at that. “Okay. Well, we’re partnering with Jason and Karin Garcia. They’ve been medical missionaries in a small community for several years now and are very involved beyond the medicine aspect. They had a flood about eight months ago and rebuilding is slow, so we’re going to go down and help. There are some child care opportunities for anyone who doesn’t want to swing a hammer, but the focus really is construction.”
“What’s the spiritual benefit to the kids who participate?”
I blinked. That wasn’t a question most people asked. “There are a couple. It’s an opportunity for the kids who live here in arguably one of the most affluent areas of the US to see a different, less affluent, way of life. That will, hopefully, encourage gratitude and recognition of the blessings God has given them.”
