Free The Coffee Shop by Lauren Hunter

sound?”
    “I’m just glad you’re talking to me.”
    “Let’s take it a little bit slower. Is that okay?”
    “Slow is fine. I have no problem with that.”
    “Good. I am so glad to hear that.”
    “So…would it be okay for me to ask?”
    “Yes, Derrick, you can ask.”
    “How about, and if this sounds really corny, please let me know, a walk on the beach?”
    “Let me just explain something to you, Derrick.” She was quiet for a moment, and she lowered her voice. “Girls love that kind of thing.” She chuckled. “Well, I guess I can’t speak for all girls. This girl loves that kind of thing.”
    “Then would this girl like it if we had pizza after that?”
    “Yes, this girl would.”
    “Excellent.” He paused, and closing his eyes, he smiled. “Okay, I did not just say that.”
    “What?”
    Opening his eyes, he sighed. “Well, I just sounded like I was closing a business deal. And that’s the last thing I would want you to think.”
    “Oh, I didn’t. But now every time I hear that word I will think that.”
    Derrick laughed. “I’ll remember that.”
    “How about I meet you there at five?”
    “Five is good for me. I just did it again.” Annie laughed, and he relaxed a little.
    “There’s a little place right on the beach called That Beach Place. Have you heard of it?”
    Derrick had to grin to himself. “Yeah, actually, I have.”
    “Great, I’ll see you there then.”
    The hours dragged by like days, as Derrick waited for it to be five. And arriving early, he strolled back and forth along the beach, waiting and watching.
    “Derrick.”
    The sound of Annie’s voice felt like a life preserver at sea, and he turned sharply to see her approaching across the sand. “Hey.” He waved as casually as he could, and Annie laughed. “What?”
    “Oh, I’m sorry. That was mean of me, and I’m not a mean person. I guess it’s because you make me nervous. I keep saying and doing things I don’t normally do.”
    “I make you nervous?”
    “Yes.”
    “Okay. I don’t know what to say to that.”
    “You don’t have to say anything. Just be yourself, if you can.”
    “What do you mean, if you can?”
    “Well, it’s pretty obvious we make each other nervous, and we keep making fools of ourselves.”
    “Did you just call me a fool?”
    “No. Oh, okay, I get it. You’re trying to be funny.”
    “Only trying?”
    Annie smiled and started to walk out onto the beach, away from the people, the kids, and the cyclists. “I guess I should explain what happened, last time.”
    “No, Annie you don’t have to do that. Angela already told me.”
    “But she didn’t mention that was the first time I had allowed myself to trust someone enough to care about them. And the thing is I only know one way to care about someone, and that is completely, with all my heart and soul. Oh, wow, I just realized how much that sounds like a bad romance novel. I guess what I am trying to tell you is, when I feel something, I get really intense about it. So if someone messes with my head, like this guy did, well let’s just say the effect it had on me was something I wouldn’t want to repeat…so, you could say I have trust issues. But then who of us doesn’t? I’m no one special. I’m not any more — ”
    “Annie. You don’t need to explain. It’s okay. Really, it’s fine. And I’m not going to judge you, or put you down for it.”
    She smiled, but it was a strange smile.
    “I get the impression, from the way you talk about yourself, that you’ve been put down a lot in your life. So, if you beat them to it, you’ve proceeded to take all their ammunition away from them. You’ve done their job for them. And that somehow coming from you it’s a lot better than hearing it from someone else.”
    “When did you get to be so smart?”
    “Good question. I’m usually a complete dolt when it comes to these things. But with you, for some reason I just…I don’t know, I just know.”
    She turned her head