Finding Bridgewater

Chapter 4-Maple Leaf Diner

May 9, 2022

The drive to the diner is short and the whole way there, James points out different shops and tells me about the families that own each one. He seems to know each family personally and he smiles as he tells me all of this. It's cute, seeing him so fond of all these people.

James pulls up to the curb right in front of a cute little diner called, Maple Leaf Diner. As we enter the shop, I am hit with the delicious smell of barbecue. I follow James to a booth in the corner. Once we are sat down I look around the diner. It's 50's themed with checkered  tiled flooring and red booths throughout the building. There are a few other patrons already eating, which isn't surprising considering it's 9pm on a Monday so most people are at home already.

An older woman with gray hair comes over excitedly hugging James and pinching his cheeks. "You're looking a little scrawny, JJ! Have you not been eating well? You need-" she stops as she spots me sitting across from him. I smile at her as she looks at James with an expression I can't decipher, because it's gone just as quickly as it came. "Hi, honey," she says sweetly, pulling me into a hug. "I'm Darby, James's grandma. It's so nice to meet you..."

"Aloura," I finish her sentence. She smiles.

"Aloura, what a beautiful name," she looks at James, who is staring at me, eyes twinkling. "I'll get you some waters and start some burgers on the grill for you two," she says before slipping away, not even asking what we wanted to order.

James smiles apologetically, "Sorry, she can be a bit much sometimes."

"I like her. She reminds me of my grandma back in Maine," I smile thinking about her. "So, I feel like we should get to know each other since we will be living together for the next 3 weeks," I say.

"Alright, what do you want to know?" I think about that for a moment.

"Favorite color?" He laughs. "What? It's a serious question! You can learn a lot about someone from their favorite color," I exclaim.

"Alright, fine. Mine's gray." I laugh. He looks perplexed, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, nothing," I say while trying to calm down. He sits there expectantly while I chuckle to myself. "Ok, fine. It's just that I've known you for," I check my phone, "4 hours, and you have already worn 2 separate gray shirts, own a gray truck, and all of the walls in your house are painted gray." I smile at his blank expression.

"Hmm, guess I never noticed that," he says, shaking his head. "So besides that, what does it say about me," he smirks.

"Well, for starters it says that you are basic," I laugh as he fakes being wounded, putting a hand to his heart, "and that you like the simple things in life. You are easygoing and like something that doesn't make a statement. You like to remain in the background of life and don't like attention." When I finish, he just stares at me for a few long seconds.

"Okay, that's scarily accurate," he chuckles, "What's your favorite color?"

"Pink," I say instantly, "but not bright pink. More like a soft, pastel pink. Why did you choose to be a rancher?"

"Well, I guess I just wanted to be like my dad. He was a rancher and I thought that following in his footsteps would make me feel closer to him," he smiles, not reaching his eyes. I reach my hand over the table and give his hand a reassuring squeeze.

"I'm sorry for your loss," I say sadly. He looks up, his eyes meeting mine and squeezes my hand back, softly, before releasing it.

"Thank you," he says quietly, sadness deep within his eyes. We are interrupted, or more like saved, when Darby comes back over with our waters. I pull my hand back across the table and into my lap. "So what do you do for work," he asks, changing it to a much lighter topic.

"I just graduated college to be a teacher. I have a job as a 1st grade teacher lined up back home in NYC. It starts this September," I smile just thinking about it.

"So you like kids," he asks with curiosity ringing in his words.

"I love kids. I'm an only child and my parents were always working when I was a kid, so I stay with my grandpa most days. We would bake all day and is one of the biggest influences in my life. I hope that maybe I could be as good an influence on kids as he was to me. He taught me so many life lessons and I will be forever grateful for him. Do you like kids?"

"Umm I don't really know. I haven't really spent much time with kids. I'm an only child too and growing up I just hung out with Julian a lot, but we are the same age. He has an older sister who just had a baby and that's about the only baby I've ever been around." I smile.

"We do have something in common after all. We're both only children," I smile.

"Well we have other things in common too," he says. What is he talking about? "We both grew up in the country, well until you were," he pauses, thinking, "8, right?" I nod and he continues, "We both own gray cars, know how to ride horses, have brown hair," he reaches over and flicks a strand of my hair, "and we are both going to be staying in the same house for the next 3 weeks," he smirks.

Damn, okay. Most men I know don't pay that much attention, but I guess he isn't most men.

I smile back at him, "all very true."

Our burgers are brought out and we talk quietly the whole time we eat; getting to know each other and laughing at little things every few minutes.

After we finish our meals, he pays for the both of us, even though I protest this multiple times, say goodbye to Darby, and head back out to his car. On the ride back to the house, we continued our conversation that we started in the diner.

When we get back to the house, James carries my suitcase inside and up to my room and then we part ways for the night. I shower while he feeds the dogs. His bedroom door is already closed when I get out of the bathroom.

As I lay in bed I can't help but to think about the day. It started terribly, but somehow ended better than the day before. This very well, may have been the best day I've experienced in 4 years. I fall asleep with that thought on my mind.