Love Finds a Way (8 page)

Lorna had just slipped on her Farmen’s apron when Chris came up behind her. “How was school today?”

“Don’t ask.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Afraid so.”

“You’ve been back in college for a couple of weeks. I thought you’d be getting used to the routine by now.”

Lorna grabbed an order pad from the back of the counter and stuffed it in her apron pocket. “The routine’s not the problem.”

Chris’s forehead wrinkled. “What is, then?” Lorna rubbed the back of her neck, trying to get the kinks out. “Never mind. It’s probably not worth mentioning.”

“It doesn’t have anything to do with Evan Bailey, does it?”

“No! Yes. Well, partially.”

Chris glanced at the clock on the wall above the serving counter. “We’ve still got a few minutes until our shift starts. Let’s go to the ladies’ room, and you can tell me about it.”

Lorna shook her head. “What’s the point? Talking won’t change anything.”

Chris grabbed her arm and gave it a gentle tug. “Come on, friend. I know you’ll feel better once you’ve opened up and told me what’s bothering you.”

“Oh, all right,” Lorna mumbled. “Let’s hurry though. I don’t want to get docked any pay for starting late.”

Lorna was glad to discover an empty ladies’ room when she and Chris arrived a few moments later. Chris dropped onto the small leather couch and motioned Lorna to do the same. “Okay, spill it!”

Lorna curled up in one corner of the couch and let the whole story out, beginning with her entering the choir room that morning and ending with Vanessa’s juvenile tantrum and Evan’s response to it all.

Chris folded her hands across her stomach and laughed. It wasn’t some weak, polite little giggle, like Lorna offered her customers. It was a genuine, full-blown belly laugh.

Lorna didn’t see what was so funny. In fact, retelling the story had only upset her further. “This is no laughing matter, Chris. It’s serious business.”

Her friend blinked a couple of times and then burst into another round of laughter.

Lorna started to get up. “Okay, fine! I shouldn’t have said anything to you—that’s obvious.”

Chris reached over and grabbed hold of Lorna’s arm. “No, stay, please.” She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “I hope you know I wasn’t laughing at you.”

“Who?”

“The whole scenario.” Chris clicked her tongue. “I just don’t get you, Lorna.”

“What do you mean?”

“Evan Bailey is one cute guy, right?”

Lorna nodded and flopped back onto the couch.

“From what you’ve told me, I’d say the man has high moral standards and is lots of fun to be with.”

“Yes.”

Chris leaned toward Lorna. “If you don’t wake up and hear the music, you might lose the terrific guy to this Vanessa person. If I’d been you today, I don’t think I could have been so nice about things.” She grimaced. “Offering to give up the part—now that’s Christianity in action!”

Lorna crossed her legs and swung her foot back and forth, thinking the whole while how tempted she had been to give that feisty redhead a swift kick this afternoon. She’d said what she felt was right at the time, but it hadn’t been easy.

“From all you’ve told me, I’d say it’s pretty obvious the woman has her sights set on Evan Bailey.” Chris shook her finger at Lorna. “You need to put this whole age thing out of your mind and give the guy a chance.”

Lorna cringed. “That’s not really the problem. I think Evan is as poor as a church mouse.”

“What gives you that idea?”

Lorna quickly related the story of her and Evan’s bicycle ride and how when they’d had pizza, he didn’t have enough money to leave a decent tip.

Chris groaned. “Don’t you think you’re jumping to conclusions? Maybe the guy just didn’t have much cash on him that day.” She squinted her eyes. “And even if he is dirt poor, does it really matter so much?”

“It does to me. I don’t want to get involved with another man who will expect me to give up my career and put him through college.”

Evan was excited about his date with Lorna tonight. He’d been looking forward to it all week and had even tried his hand at making another online sweet treat, which he planned to give Lorna after dinner this evening. It was called Lemon Supreme and consisted of cream cheese mixed with lemon juice, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Graham cracker crumbs were used for the crust, and confectioner’s sugar was sprinkled over the top. He hadn’t had time to sample it, but Evan was sure Lorna would like it.

At six o’clock sharp, Evan stood in front of Ivar’s Restaurant along the Seattle waterfront. He was pleased when he saw Lorna cross the street and head in his direction. He’d been worried she might stand him up.

“Am I late?” she panted. “I had a hard time finding a place to park.”

“You’re right on time,” he assured her. “I got here a few minutes ago and put my name on the waiting list at the restaurant.”

“How long did they say we might have to wait for a table?” “Not more than a half hour or so,” he said. “Guess we could go inside and wait in the lobby.”

Evan nodded. “Or we could stay out here awhile and enjoy the night air.” He drew in a deep breath. “Ah, sure does smell fresh down by the water, doesn’t it?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Guess that all depends on what you call fresh.”

“Salt sea air and fish a-frying … now that’s what I call fresh,” he countered with a wide smile.

She poked him playfully on the arm. “You would say something like that.”

He chuckled. “Ah, you know me so well.”

“No, actually, I don’t,” she said with a slight frown.

“Then we need to remedy that.” Evan gazed deeply into her eyes. “I’d sure like to know you better, ‘cause what I’ve seen so far I really like.”

Lorna gulped. Things were moving too fast, and she seemed powerless to stop them. What had happened to her resolve not to get involved with another man, or even to date? She had to put a stop to this before it escalated into more than friendship.

Before she had a chance to open her mouth, Evan took hold of her hand and led her to a bench along the side of the building. It faced the water, where several docks were located. “Let’s sit awhile and watch the boats come and go,” he suggested.

“What about our dinner reservations?”

“They said they’d call my name over the loudspeaker when our table’s ready. Fortunately, there’s a speaker outside, too.” Evan sat down, and Lorna did the same.

The ferry coming from Bremerton docked, and Lorna watched the people disembark. She hadn’t been to Bremerton in a long time. She hardly went anywhere but work, school, church, and shopping once in a while. What had happened to the carefree days of vacations, fun evenings out, and days off?
Guess I gave those things up when I began working so Ron could go to school
. Working two jobs left little time for fun or recreation, and now that Lorna was in school and still employed at one job, things weren’t much better.
I do have the weekends free
, her conscience reminded.
Maybe I deserve to have a little fun now and then
.

“You look like you’re a hundred miles away,” Evan said, breaking into her thoughts.

She turned her head and looked at him. “I was watching the ferry.”

He lifted her chin with his hand. “And I’ve been watching you.”

Before Lorna could respond, he tipped his head and brushed a gentle kiss against her lips. As the kiss deepened, she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Bailey, party of two … your table is ready!”

Lorna jerked away from Evan at the sound of his name being called over the loudspeaker. “We–we’d better get in there,” she said breathlessly.

“Right.” Evan stood up, pulling Lorna gently to her feet.

She went silently by his side into the restaurant, berating herself for allowing that kiss.
I’ll be on my guard the rest of the evening. No more dreamy looks and no more kisses!

F
armen’s Restaurant was more crowded than usual on Monday night, and Lorna’s boss had just informed her that they were shorthanded. With God’s help, she would get through her shift, although she was already tired. It had been a busy weekend, and she’d had to cram in time for homework.

Lorna thought about her date with Evan on Saturday, which hadn’t ended until eleven o’clock because they’d taken a ride on one of the sightseeing boats after dinner. She’d thoroughly enjoyed the moonlight cruise around Puget Sound, and when Evan walked Lorna to her car, he’d presented her with another of his desserts. This one was called Lemon Supreme, and she had tried it after she got home that night.

Lorna puckered her lips as she remembered the sour taste caused by either too much lemon juice or not enough sugar.
I

doubt Evan will ever be a master baker
, she mused.

She glanced at her reflection in the mirror over the serving counter, checking her uniform and hair one last time as she contemplated the way Evan had looked at her before they’d said good night. He’d wanted to kiss her again; she could tell by his look of longing. She had prevented it from happening by jumping quickly into her car and shutting the door.

“I only want to be his friend,” Lorna muttered under her breath as she strolled into the dining room.

She got right to work and took the order of an elderly couple. Then she moved across the aisle to where another couple sat with their heads bent over the menus.

The woman was the first to look up, and Lorna’s mouth dropped open.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Vanessa Brown drawled.

Before Lorna could respond, Vanessa’s companion looked up and announced, “Lorna works here.”

Lorna’s hand began to tremble, and she dropped the order pad. Evan Bailey was looking at her as though nothing was wrong. Maybe his having dinner with Vanessa was a normal occurrence. Maybe this wasn’t their first date.

Forcing her thoughts to remain on the business at hand, Lorna bent down to retrieve the pad. When she stood up again, Vanessa was leaning across the table, fussing with Evan’s shirt collar.

Lorna cleared her throat, and Vanessa glanced over at her. “What’s good to eat in this place?”

“Tonight’s special is meat loaf.” Lorna kept her focus on the order pad.

“Meat loaf sounds good to me,” Evan said.

“You’re such a simple, easy-to-please kind of guy,” Vanessa fairly purred.

Lorna swallowed back the urge to scream. She probably shouldn’t be having these unwarranted feelings of jealousy, for she had no claim on Evan. He’d obviously lied to her the other day, when he denied any interest in Vanessa. A guy didn’t take a girl out to dinner if he didn’t care something about her.
He took me to dinner on Saturday. Does that mean he cares about both me and Vanessa? Or could Evan Bailey be toying with our emotions?

Lorna turned to face Vanessa, feeling as though the air between them was charged with electricity. “What would you like to order?”

“I’m careful about what I eat, so I think I’ll have a chicken salad with low-cal ranch dressing.” Vanessa looked over at her dinner partner and batted her eyelashes. “Men like their women to be fit and trim, right, Evan?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I can’t speak for other men, but to my way of thinking, it’s what’s in a woman’s heart that really matters. Outward appearances can sometimes be deceiving.”

He cast Lorna a grin, and she tapped her pencil against the order pad impatiently. “Will there be anything else?”

Evan opened his mouth. “Yes, actually—”

“Why don’t you bring us a couple of sugar-free mocha-flavored coffees?” Vanessa interrupted. She gave Evan a syrupy smile. “I hope you like that flavor.”

“Well, I—”

“Two mochas, a meat loaf special, and one chicken salad, coming right up!” Lorna turned on her heels and hurried away.