True Love Waits

Chapter Seven

      After Maleena finished the rest of the work in the barn, she went up to the house where her mom was talking to Marc. Seeing Maleena walk into the house, Suellen looked over at her daughter. "Hi, sweetie. What's up?" When she saw the sad look on Maleena's face, she excused herself from the conversation with Marc. Walking over, Suellen wrapped her arms around her daughter. "Hon, what's wrong?"

      "Can I please take the truck? I need to run into town for a little while." Maleena said, thinking about her conversation with Dillion a little bit ago. 

     "Sure, honey." Suellen led Maleena into the kitchen. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out her credit card. "Here, take this, and get yourself some lunch while you're out." 

      "Thanks, mama." Maleena smiled, giving her mom a hug. Taking the keys off the hook on the wall, Maleena walked outside. Looking around, Maleena didn't see her dad to say bye to him, so she just jumped in the truck.

       Checking her phone once more before she began driving, she tried to not be upset that Dillion hadn't contacted her since this morning when he called. He was at work right now, which she hoped was the only reason that she hadn't heard from him. Since he hadn't texted her practically all day, Maleena had decided that she would go and surprise him at the restaurant, hoping they could talk more. 

      Punching the restaurant address into her phone's GPS, Maleena set it on the dash where she could see it and not be distracted. Pulling out of the driveway, she said a prayer as she began her drive into town. She prayed that God's will be done and that He would give her the right words to say to Dillion. He seemed upset at her for some reason today, but she couldn't think why that was. 

      A little over 45 minutes later, Maleena pulled into the restaurant where Dillion works. Locking the truck after she hopped down from the cab, she checked her hair in the side mirror, then walked into the restaurant. 

      Once inside, the hostess greeted Maleena. "Just one?"

      "Yeah, and can I please be seated in Dillion's section?" Maleena requested. 

      "Um, it looks like his section is full right now, but if you give it maybe ten minutes, a table should be ready." The hostess said, looking up from her seating chart.

      "That's fine. I'll wait." Maleena smiled. Turning, she sat down on the cushioned bench fixed against a wall. Taking the time she was given, Maleena pulled out her phone, checking all of her notifications. There were some nice things about having a smart phone, but there were also some annoyances of it, such as the constant flow of notifications. Because she got better service in town than she did out at her house, Maleena's phone began buzzing with text messages and other notifcations. Dillion wasn't kidding when he said that he had been trying to get a hold of her all morning. Once they all came in, she had five text messages and three missed calls from Dillion. Before she could open the texts, the hostess came over, telling Maleena her table was ready. 

      Shortly after Maleena was seated at the small, two person booth furthest from the kitchen doors, she saw Dillion walk over in her direction. He didn't look at her, however, because on his shoulder he was balancing a large black tray with several full plates on it. Setting the tray on the stand, Dillion began doling out the customer's orders to the table of six college aged kids. After taking the tray back to the kitchen, Dillion made his way over to Maleena's table. When he was about halfway down the aisle, Dillion looked up, seeing Maleena for the first time. A huge smile broke out on his face; instantly, Maleena wasn't as concerned about him being mad at her. 

      "Hey, pretty girl, what are you doin' here?" Dillion asked, standing right beside Maleena at the table. 

      "I didn't like how we left thangs this morning and I was worried somethin' was up, so I decided to come and surprise you at work." Maleena explained.