The House Near the River Page 19

  Her heart pounding in her throat, she stepped inside. The smell of strong coffee first reached her senses, then she coughed because the air was full of smoke.

  Ruby’s Coffee Shop was occupied largely by working men in rough-hewed denims enjoying their meal during a break from work. Only a few wore business suits that proclaimed them as office workers. At each table and booth they sat, leaning toward each other as they eagerly discussed the news, cigarettes in their hands and coffee cups in front of them.

  She barely took in the fact that the table surfaces were worn, as was the floor. She guessed the cafe had served the neighborhood for a long time.

  She looked for him. There he was, seated by himself in a little booth at the back. Like the others he had a smoke in his right hand, a newspaper in front of him and a drink to one side. She remembered he’d ordered a shake.

  As she watched a waitress brought him his hamburger and she knew it was time to make her entrance.

  Ignoring an empty table near the front, she edged her way toward the back where he sat.

  “Pardon me,” she said.

  He looked up and she felt a rush of love as she looked into his eyes. Her lips quivered as she tried to smile. “All the tables seem to be busy, would you mind if I shared your booth with you?”

  Startled, he glanced around and she knew he had to see that empty table. He ignored it, getting to his feet to gesture her to the place opposite him. “I would be pleased.”

  She reached her hand across the table for him to shake, soaking in the warmth of that grasp. “I’m Angie Ward,” she said, “but you can call me Ange.”

  “Matthew Harper.” Slowly he released her hand.

  The waitress came back. Mischievously she decided to play with history. “I’ll have a ham salad.”

  “So sorry.” The waitress looked anything but sorry. Obviously she considered Angie had broken into what might have been her opportunity to get acquainted with her attractive customer. “We’re all out of ham salad. How about chicken salad.”

  Angie gave in to history. “Chicken salad,” she agreed, closing her menu. “And iced tea.”

  The waitress departed and though she urged him to eat his hamburger while it was hot, he seemed more interested in her. ”You live here?”

  She shook her head. “Just visiting. I’m from Texas.”

  “My home is out west. Not too far from the Texas line.”

  She smiled. “And what brings you to Oklahoma City?”

  He looked down, suddenly made serious. “I joined up this morning. I’m going to fight in this war to defend our country.”

  So American involvement in the war was beginning. That meant they only had today and then they would go into the years of separation before they met again, years she would soon jump across to the time when they were married and expecting a child.

  But Medicine Woman had told her to go back to the beginning. This was their beginning.

  The waitress brought her chicken salad heaped on a lettuce leaf on a large plate. She forgot the iced tea.

  Matthew leaned across the table toward her. “I’m going to make an audacious suggestion, Miss Ward. You’re here in a strange city. I know my way around. How about I give you a tour. We could spend the day together?”

  She laughed. Her Matthew, the lighter-hearted Matthew from before the war was actually flirting with her.

  “That would be cool, Mr. Harper.”

  “Cool?” He looked puzzled.

  She tried to look properly demure. “I mean I would be delighted to spend the day with you.” Silently she added, “And the rest of my life.”

  The End