“Yes, sounds good,” I agreed, picking up the menu. “So, what’s good here?’
“The real question is what was going on in Archie’s classroom yesterday? I went over to see you two, but the door was locked, and I heard some… noises inside.”
“Hmmm… noises?” I feigned innocence.
“Yeah, not school appropriate noises,” she teased. “But seriously, in his classroom?”
“Why not?” I asked. “Makes it more exciting.”
“Very interesting,” Robin said, laughing.
“You’ve never had sex in your classroom with a boyfriend?” I asked, grinning.
She laughed again. “No, I’ve hardly even had a boyfriend in the last year or so.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. Haven’t found anyone I’m interested in.”
“No online dating?”
“A little, but again, nobody very interesting. It’s tough around here. The last guy was so concerned about what his ex-girlfriend was doing, it was all he talked about during the entire date. I don’t even know why he wanted to go out with me.”
“Yeah, there’s a lot of losers out there,” I commented.
“But you and Archie, you two are great together.”
I smiled. “We are. We really love each other.” Sometimes it seemed like a movie the way Archie walked into my life at the right time, almost as if he was waiting to find me. I wouldn’t have been ready for a relationship if I had met him earlier. I remembered how my heart raced when this cute guy came into the coffee shop to pick up his large coffee order, and how we flirted with each other. I felt so alive in that moment, more than I had in years.
“How long have you been together?”
“Um… a little over a year. We only dated a few months, we were engaged for a short time and then got married. Things happened so fast for us. When it’s right, it’s right.”
“Oh, wow, that is fast. Did you meet online?”
“Nope, in person. I know, so old-fashioned,” I said. “I was working in a coffee shop, and he came in for an order he was picking up for school.”
“Really?” Robin’s eyes widened. “Love at first sight?”
“I don’t know about love, but definitely lust at first sight.” I laughed. “The love came a bit later, but not by much.”
“One of these days I’ll find my Archie; until then I’m happy to enjoy being with myself,” replied Robin.
“Good outlook. Time with yourself is always time well spent,” I agreed.
The waitress sat two more glasses of merlot in front of us. Our first glasses were still half full.
“Um, we didn’t order these,” I said.
“But we did order cheese fries as an appetizer,” Robin chimed in.
“That guy over there sent the wine over. The fries will be out any minute,” the waitress said, first pointing to a guy standing at the bar, then she walked away.
The guy was tall, solidly built, not particularly overweight, but not particularly in shape, either. He had short dark hair, friendly brown eyes and wore a green baseball hat that read Poplin Hardware. He was dressed in dark jeans with a large belt buckle, a dark blue short-sleeve button shirt and worn, brown leather cowboy boots.
“Oh, John Larabe,” Robin said, and disappointment colored her voice. She waved at him, and he smiled, walking toward our table. “Great, now he’s going to come over.”
“Who is he?” I asked quickly before he reached us.
“He works at the hardware store in Poplin. He lives in that small ranch house at the edge of town with his grandmother. He does some farming work for the Blauchs and my dad, sometimes.”
I nodded. The hardware store was right next to my store, so I imagined I would run into him from time to time.
“Hello, ladies,” John greeted us. He held his hand out to me. “John Larabe, nice to meet you.”
“Aimee Greencastle,” I said, shaking his hand. “My husband and I recently moved to Poplin.”
“I know, you bought the Miller farm,” he said.
Isn’t he a nosy one? I stared at him for a moment before replying.
“Yes, and I hear you work at the hardware store. I just opened a small market next door, Poplin Fresh.”
“Yeah, I’ve been meaning to stop by sometime.” He turned to Robin. “And how do you two know each other?”
“Neighbors. You know where I live,” Robin said; an edge had crept into her voice. “And her husband will be teaching third grade at the school.”
“Oh, I didn’t know your husband was a teacher,” John remarked, rubbing his chin. “I was talking to him the other day.”
