No Deal Breakers (6 page)

"It’s Jonathon, Dad." Julia interrupted him
but he just chuckled.

"Okay, I’m here, I had to come upstairs and
use the guestroom, I love those kids, but they aren’t exactly
conducive to important conversations. So, what’s going on,
sweetheart, was your trip okay?" His mom had joined the
conversation, they were at the diner now, he had to park several
spaces away, near the bank, they were packed. He looked at Aria,
she looked even more nervous than usual. Lord, be with me.

"Hi mom, the trip was great. Better than
great actually, I met someone." He turned himself to face Aria, her
eyes went huge, he just smiled. Both of his parents started to
speak at the same time, his mom took over.

"That’s wonderful; we’ve been praying you’d
find a nice young lady. Will this be a long distance relationship,
then?"

"Nope, I brought her back with me, she’s here
now, and you’re on speaker phone, by the way." He heard Aria’s
sharp intake of breath at his admission, he gave her a reassuring
smile.

"Son, you just brought a woman home with
you?" His dad sounded more confused than angry, he knew where Brian
stood on cohabitation.

"Well, I married her first, of course, but, I
did."

"That’s more like the gentleman I raised you
to be," his dad started, but was promptly cut off by his mother’s
near shout.

"You did what?"

"I got married Mom, her name is Aria, she’s
wonderful, and she can hear you." He winked at her, she wasn’t
finding this as humorous as he was, but she didn’t know his parents
like he did. He knew as soon as she calmed down she would love
having a second daughter.

"Sorry for my outburst, dear, I was just
taken a little by surprise is all. I’m Genie, and my husband, James
is also on the line. I am happy for you both, but I am a little
disappointed that both of my children have now denied me the right
to be at their weddings. That’s not your fault though, dear."

"I’m sorry, Mrs. Harris, I know you’re
disappointed, that wasn’t our intention. We didn’t think at all, I
am really very sorry." Aria was clearly anxious, again he felt the
urge to offer her a reassuring touch, and again he tucked his hands
under his legs.

"Sorry Mom, we got carried away and the next
thing we knew we were married. I didn’t do it on purpose, you know
I love you."

"I do, sweetie, I just wish I could have been
there. Oh well, maybe some of the grandkids will have real
weddings! Welcome to the family, Aria, I look forward to getting to
know you, and please, call me Genie."

"Thank you, Genie, I look forward to meeting
you in person, as well, and again, sorry for the surprise."

"It’s the best surprise we’ve ever gotten,
why don’t you two call back tomorrow after church and we can work
on getting to know you better. We’ll tell Julia for you, love you,
son,"

"Thanks, Dad, I love you both, we’ll call
tomorrow."

"Love you. I am really glad you’re a part of
our family now, Aria."

"Bye Mom," "goodbye, Genie," they spoke in
unison, and exchanged a smile.

The phone disconnected and they both let out
a relieved sigh, that hadn’t gone terribly.

"Well, now that we’ve gotten that taken care
of, shall we go meet the entire town?" She gave him one quick jerk
of the head and opened the door, he wished she’d let him do
that.

Zimmer’s was packed, as he knew they would
be. He took a deep breath, "Alright, ma dear, here we go, no
turning back." She gave him a weak smile in return and walked
through the open door.

"Brian, who is this pretty little thing you
have here tonight?" Tammy Zimmer greeted them as they walked in,
she was just a few years younger than his mother, he had known her
and her husband, Bob all of his life.

"Tammy, this is my wife, Aria, Aria, this is
Tammy Zimmer, she and her husband, Bob own this place, known them
all my life, they are dear friends." He noticed all the eyes that
had turned their way at his use of the word "wife" but he finished
the introduction anyway, Tammy was speechless, for what was
probably the first time in her life as she reached out and shook
Aria’s proffered hand.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Zimmer, this is a
lovely restaurant you have," as was her pattern, Aria was much more
comfortable in public, she stood close to him, almost touching, but
not quite, and you would only know what a nervous wreck she was if
you knew her. Did he? Did he know her? The thought took him by
surprise. He was beginning to feel like he did, in the simplest of
ways at least.

"Oh please, sugar, you can call me Tammy,
right this way, I only have one table left, and sorry, Brian, but
it’s in the middle of the floor, I know that’s not what you want,
but that’s the best I can do."

"Oh well, better for the entire town to come
make introductions," he sighed as they made their way through the
crowded diner. He waved and smiled at every table they passed, he
knew everyone in the diner, most since childhood. He tried to
ignore all the stares and whispers, but he knew the news of his
impulsive marriage was all over town already. Brian the planner had
run off to Vegas for a week and came back with a bride in tow, the
hows and the whys would be the best part once the rumor mill was
done spinning.

"I take it you made up with your fiancée,
then?" Tammy was fishing for information, and she didn’t try to
hide it. As much as he loved her, he also knew that not only did
Tammy own and operate the only diner in town, she was also
president and CEO of the local gossip mill, anything good and juicy
usually came her way first.

Brian just smiled up at her, "Nope, I decided
to skip the fiancée part, it didn’t work out so well for me the
last time." He feigned nonchalance, he knew that stirring the pot
and adding fuel to Tammy’s fire wasn’t the smartest idea, but he
just couldn’t resist. People were going to talk, may as well make
sure they had a little truth in their tales.

"Well, I’ll be, Brian Harris, Mr. Type A
himself gone off and married a stranger, why I never…" she trailed
off, no doubt preparing a thousand questions to ask them. He was
always surprised that she used her notepad for taking orders and
not jotting down all the juicy tidbits she sopped up. He cleared
his throat to get her attention.

"Oh, I’m sorry, you know me, drifting off
into la-la land. What’ll it be tonight, folks? Brian, I assume you
want the tenderloin, with everything, sweet tea, and a piece of my
pecan pie?"

"You assume correctly, Aria, what looks good
to you?" She had been intently studying the menu and, he assumed,
tuning everyone else out since they sat down. She glanced over the
top of her menu, "I’ll have a Coke, and…I think I’ll try the
mushroom burger with fries, please."

"You got it," Tammy said with a wink, and
made her way back to the kitchen stopping to pick up empty glasses
and plates, and share a little gossip on her way.

"Sorry about her, I hate to say it, but
that’s about how everyone will be." He shrugged.

"That’s okay, I kind of assumed it would be
like this. They’ve known you your whole life, you’re a part of the
community, they’re all just curious." She hit the nail on the head,
Brian was relived she was being so understanding about all of
this.

"That about sums it up. Thank you for being
so understanding, Aria."

Lyle Robbins stumbled over to their table.
This’ll be interesting, Brian thought as he suppressed a groan.

"Brian, you go to Vegas for a week and bring
me back the fourth Mrs. Robbins, how sweet of you, buddy." He could
smell the liquor on his breath, not that Lyle needed it to make a
fool of himself.

"Sorry, Lyle, but she’s taken. This is my
wife, Aria." He gestured to her, and noted how she was tensed up
and looked like she was trying to shrink herself into her chair.
Without thinking about it he reached his hand across the table to
offer her comfort, when he realized what he was doing he started to
pull back, but before he could, he felt a small, warm hand grasping
his. He was shocked, this was the first time she had touched him
like this, it was such a simple gesture, but it set his heart
racing. For the first time since they met she was finally accepting
the comfort he offered without a fight.

"Wife? Since when? What’d you do, getter
knocked up?" Brian felt Aria’s fingers tense in his as the blood
started to fill his head and rush in his ears, before he could say
anything Tammy was back with their drinks.

"Lyle, you can’t come in here harassing my
customers like this, if you wanna hit on pretty girls and piss off
new husbands you just get your tail back on across the way to Suds,
smell like you been there since noon anyway. You’ve already paid,
so go on." She set the drinks on the table, put her hands on her
hips and gave Lyle a look that would send a man of any age running
with his tail between his legs.

Lyle threw his hands in the air, "Yeah, yeah,
I’m going, I’m going." He turned and stomped out the door, Brian
could hear the snickers from the surrounding tables.

"Don’t mind him none, he’s a harmless flirt,
and a drunk, but he ain't never hurt nobody," Tammy gave her a wide
grin and squeezed her shoulder as she turned back to her other
tables. Aria squeezed his fingers tighter at the unexpected
contact; he was filled with joy to think that she was relying on
him for comfort.

"Do you want to take our meals to go, and
just eat at home?"

"No, I’m used to men like him, I want to
stay, if that’s okay. I actually like Tammy," she smiled and looked
down at the table. As soon as her gaze landed on their joined hands
she pulled back, "Sorry, Brian, I didn’t think about—"

"No, don’t, it’s fine I know you’re—"

"Congratulations, Brian, we couldn’t help but
overhear. We’re really happy for you, son," Brian hadn’t noticed
Mr. and Mrs. Simpson come up behind him. "Young lady, you couldn’t
have picked a better man to marry if you tried, Brian is the best
young man I know. You hang on to him," Mr. Simpson gave them both a
warm smile, and he and his wife turned and left.

"Mr. Simpson was my football coach in school,
he’s retired now, he and his wife are good people," he explained
with a shrug.

"They seem nice," she smiled at him.

"Alright, here we are, I hope you enjoy it,
Aria. Bob’s been cookin’ for most of these folks for years now, we
have the occasional visitor, but it’s when new folks come to stay
that he gets nervous about his food." Tammy sat the food on the
table as she talked. "I’ll leave you to it, but don’t be surprised
when he comes out to check," she winked and turned toward the
register.

Brian bowed his head and prayed out loud, he
hadn’t done so this morning, but he was beginning to feel more
comfortable with her now, and it just felt natural. When he
finished he looked up to see Aria scanning the room, he didn’t
think about how she would react to him praying in public like that,
he didn’t even think about it, it’s just what he had done his
entire life, no matter where he was.

"Don’t worry, in here, we’d get strange looks
if we didn’t pray before our meal," he said as he picked up his
sandwich and took a bite, he let out a low moan. "They make the
best tenderloins."

She smiled and took a bite out of her burger,
he smiled when he heard her similar, yet much more feminine
satisfied groan.

"I think this is the best burger I’ve ever
tasted," she said, her hand covering her mouth. He was relieved
that she liked it, this place was a part of his childhood, he had
many memories here, and he looked forward to building more with
Aria.

"I’m glad. Bob’s a really great cook, and
they get as many of their ingredients as possible locally."

"Buying local is really important around
here, isn’t it?" He just nodded, and they both went back to their
meals.

"Brian, if I knew you were looking to marry
just anyone I would’ve offered, no need to run halfway across the
country when we could’ve stayed right here and done it." He
swallowed the groan that threatened to escape, they had made it
through the rest of their dinner with only short, polite
interruptions from people just wanting to quickly introduce
themselves, and now this.

"Tasha," he said her name like an
explicative, "I wasn’t looking to marry just anybody, I was looking
for someone special, and I found her." He motioned to Aria, whose
cheeks pinked up at the compliment, he couldn’t believe the nerve
of this woman, he’d been turning down her advances since the sixth
grade when she blossomed sooner than most of the other girls. She
was too forward and flashy for his tastes, and not much had
changed.

"Are you saying I’m not special, Brian? You
sure know how to compliment a girl." She feigned a wounded
expression. He let out a sigh, he wouldn’t normally have been so
rude to a lady, but his patience was wearing thin, especially where
she was concerned.

When he had first come back to town she had
told everyone that he came back to marry her, it took him three
months to convince everyone that he was in fact not back to be
Tasha’s next husband, she certainly didn’t help matters by
following him around town and joining him at his table whenever he
came in here.

"Look, I don’t mean to offend you, but I’m
trying to enjoy a nice evening out with my wife, can you please
just leave us?"

"Natasha Lynn Calhoun Gustafson James, you
leave these people alone, and get outta my diner this instant, go
on across the street and find Lyle, ya’ll are actin’ just alike
tonight. I don’t know why you two think you need to come in here
and make a show in front of God and everybody." Tammy had come to
their rescue, again.

"Oh, Tammy, you know I’m just messing with
him. I’m using my maiden name now."

"Sometimes you need a little reminding of
your past, young lady. You can give people a hard time elsewhere,
when you’re in here, you treat my customers with respect. Get on
outta here and let me get these people their pie, you’re gonna
scare poor Aria off, make her think we’re a bunch of rude
rednecks."