get mad, but I was wondering what you knew about Myra.”
“Myra? My Myra?”
“Your Myra?” I laugh, pulling open the door to the bar. “I didn’t realize she was yours.”
“She’s not. She’s just my employee. I feel, I don’t know, protective?”
“I get it,” I say. “But do you know if she’s seeing anyone?”
We grab beers from the bar and Grady shrugs. “Not that I know of. But I’ll let you know what I find out.”
“Sounds good, man,” I say as we get a table. I want to press the issue, but I also get that Grady might genuinely not know the dating details of his employees.
When his phone buzzes with an incoming text, I see his body language change from easy going to rigid in two seconds flat.
“You okay?” I ask, taking a drink of my beer.
“I’m good, I just gotta go.”
“Really? Dude, you’re the one who dragged me out tonight.” I shake my head — this day is becoming a real letdown.
“How about I make it up to you?” Grady gives me a half smile.
My phone vibrates and I read the screen. Grady has texted me Myra’s phone number. “Really? Thanks, man.”
“No problem. Just do me a favor and don’t go falling in love in twenty-four fucking hours like the rest of the guys?”
I run a hand over my jaw, smirking. Thinking that falling in love in a day sounds a hell of a lot better than being alone. “I can’t make a promise like that, Grady. Can you?”
Grady leaves a minute later, and I’m left at the bar with nothing but a beer. All want to do is give Myra a call. While it might be forward after she denied me a date, I figure if life’s taught me anything it’s that there are no guarantees. When you have a chance at what you want, you go for it. Even if it might blow up in your face.
So, I give her a call.
“Hey, Myra? It’s Major. Grady gave me your number.”
“Oh, hey,” she says, sounding distracted. “What’s up?”
“I know earlier you said you weren't up for going out, but what about staying in? I could order us a pizza and we could watch a movie and—”
“I’m in the middle of something, actually,” she says.
“Oh, right,” I say, getting the signal clear as day. She’s not interested. “Sorry for bothering you.”
“No, it’s not that. I’m just in the middle of making dinner. But you know, I’m out of whole milk and I need it for this recipe.”
“You asking me to buy you milk?”
She laughs. “Yeah, and deliver it.”
“So, is it a date or a grocery delivery service?”
She laughs again. “I will pay you with a home-cooked meal. How does that sound, Major?”
“Sounds like I’ll be over in twenty.”
Myra
I end the call not quite believing myself. I just asked the sexiest man I’ve ever met to bring me a gallon of milk.
Who does that?
But then I smile because the fact is, he said yes without hesitation.
I text Major my address, then look around my little cottage wondering what in the world I was thinking. I haven’t had any visitors since I moved in and now, I invite over a man.
And not just any man… a man that had me fumbling through work all afternoon. I could not concentrate… I kept replaying our conversation in my mind, thinking I was an idiot.
Major is not like Troy. Troy was a grade-A douchebag who hurt me in ways that I will never forget. I refuse to. I want to remember because that way, I’ll never get myself in a situation like that again.
How do I know they are nothing alike? I know because Major was out buying his grandma roses this morning. Troy never even remembered my birthday.
I spent the last few hours beating myself up for turning down what could have been a good thing. But then Major called. He tried again. He didn’t give up on me. And that counts for something, doesn’t it?
I decide it does.
While I wish I had more time to freshen up and make sure my place looks okay, I have noodles boiling in a pot, chicken just battered, biscuits in the oven, and oil warming in the fryer.
I turn up my Spotify playlist and turn on Otis Redding, my Grandma Maylene’s favorite. Then I set to finishing up her favorite meal. I’m swaying my hips and relaxing when the doorbell rings. “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” is playing, and a smile is on my face