Page 287 of 5+Us Makes Seven

We walked to the front of the restaurant. I stopped and opened the door for her. Once inside, the hostess smiled when she recognized me.

“Mr. Anderson. Your table is ready.”

“Wow. You come here a lot?” Jade asked.

“Usually alone.” I nodded my head toward the hostess as she walked away. “After you.”

She walked after the hostess. I followed behind her, loving the way the dress clung to her body.

After we were seated at my usual table in the corner, she glanced around. The sound of other couples talking filled the dining room. I sat with my back to them. They didn’t matter.

“They’re busy,” she said.

“Good food.” I picked up a menu. “I’m not sure what to get yet.”

Both of us studied our menus a moment until a waitress arrived. She took our order quickly and then we were alone again. When she left, I looked across the table at Jade.

“That sucks that story didn’t pan out for you,” I said, feeling a bit guilty about not giving her all the information I had about what was going on in Afghanistan.

“It’s probably for the best. At least I’m not traipsing across the planet to war-torn countries anymore.”

“Yeah, me either.”

“What are you doing now?” she asked then took a sip of water from her glass.

“Not too much. I saved a bit of money, and I’ve been thinking about starting my own business. Lately, I’ve just been relaxing and enjoying life after all the craziness over in Afghanistan.”

She nodded.

“What kind of business?”

“I forgot how much you like asking questions,” I said with a chuckle.

“I’m sorry. When I get nervous, I tend to ask questions to keep the conversation

going.”

“You’re fine. It’s cute.” I unrolled my cloth napkin and put it on my lap. “I guess I’m not sure what type of business I want to run yet. With my background, maybe a security firm or something.”

“It must be nice to have enough money saved up to not need to work for a while.”

“Yeah, I guess. My expenses were super low the two years I was over there, so I saved a lot.”

“Maybe I should join the Navy or something.”

I smiled.

“What about you? Boyfriend?”

She glanced away a moment, avoiding my eyes.

“Not really,” she said in a noncommittal voice. “You?”

“Still single. I’ve been thinking about that night…”

I stopped talking as the waitress returned with our bottle of wine. She poured us each a glass before leaving. Jade lifted hers into the air.

“To finding friends years later.”