Consider Yourself Lucky

Six

I shouldn't get mad. I don't even think I am. We aren't exclusive so he isn't obligated to stay away from other women. Even if we were, he's allowed to have friends. I didn't get a good look at the woman. The only thing I noticed was that she had brown hair. I watched him drive off and turned back to Grandma.

"Do I ask him about it? I don't want to seem jealous. We went on one date, and we aren't in a relationship. Is that a normal thing? To feel this way? I'm crazy." Grandma laughs at me.

"Adelaide, honey. It's normal. You went on a date with a guy and saw him with another woman the next day. You're allowed to have feelings about that. Maybe it's nothing. If he brings it up in conversation then you can say you saw them, if not just let it go. You can't let the little things bother you." Is it just a little thing though? I'm overreacting, I have to be.

"You're right. I just want to enjoy the rest of our day out without any bad thoughts." We go back to eating our food and I try my best not to think about it. After we're done, we do a little more walking around the shops. We find this hole in the wall antique store that has small trinkets scattered throughout the shelves on the walls. There's an assortment of decorative porcelain elephants, music boxes with ballerina's twirling around on the inside, and even a small table of complimentary butterscotch candies. Grandma loves butterscotch candies and I watch as she sneaks a couple into her purse.

"Did Collin say when he'll be back in town?" I thought we were off the subject of him for the rest of the day.

"Yeah, he said around five-thirty."

"Maybe you could invite him over for dinner. Ease your mind up a little and it's possible you could get him talking about how his day was." That's not a bad idea. Grandma has proven to me time and time again that she isn't as clueless as she seems. I take out my phone and text Collin.

"Grandma would like to know if you would be interested in joining us for dinner tonight. Don't feel obligated. If you're too tired from moving stuff out of storage, we understand." As soon as I put my phone back in my pocket, it dings.

"I would love to. Is six okay? I want to freshen up before seeing my favorite lady." Ha, his favorite?

"Sounds good, see you then."

"Can't wait!" Maybe I overreacted. He sounds genuinely happy to see me again. I'll ask Grandma to make her lasagna. We'll have to go to the grocery store in the next town over since Hiller's is closed today. It's only twenty minutes out so it won't take long.

"Collin said he would love to come over for dinner. Do you think you could make your lasagna? We can stop at Georgie's to grab whatever you need for it."

"Yes of course. Did you want to go now? That way when we get home, I can clean up a bit before he gets there." We leave the antique store and walk back to my car. I should have left the windows cracked a bit because my car is as hot as a sauna. Grandma seems excited for dinner with Collin. I hope she doesn't bring out all the photo albums from when I was younger. That would be a bit embarrassing. It's already three o'clock so by the time we get home it will give us plenty of time to clean what we need to clean and have dinner ready before he walks through the door.

Flake is waiting at the door for us when we get home. Typical Flake. She's always been clingy ever since she was a kitten. She snuggles at night and follows us around the house with whatever we're doing. She's like an emotional support animal. I give her some pets and put the groceries on the counter for Grandma and help her put the extra stuff away that we don't need for dinner. She turns on her radio to a random station and starts dancing.

"Dance with me, Adelaide." She grabs my arms and starts twirling me around. I spin her around twice before she almost loses her balance.

"Are you okay, Grandma?" I pull out one of the kitchen chairs and motion for her to take a seat.