Free Fly the Rain by Robert Burton Robinson Page A

Good time for a break
then.”
    She turned to one of her waitresses.
“Shelly? We’re gonna take Table Twelve.”
    “ Yes, Ma’am.”
    “ And we’ll have iced
tea.”
    “ I’ll bring it right
over.”
    Good, thought Edsel. Table Twelve was in the
back corner.
    He and Angie walked to their table, and sat
down.
    After a few moments of
listening to the band Edsel said, “The Fiddlers sure sound good
tonight.”
    “ Yep,” said Angie. “They
always do.”
    Shelly delivered their iced teas, and took
their order.
    Angie’s cell phone rang. When she saw who
was calling, she said, “Not again.”
    “ What’s the
matter?”
    “ It’s Clifford. He’s started
up again.”
    “ He just can’t let you go,
can he?”
    “ I’m sorry. I’ll be right
back.” She got up and walked to her office.
    Edsel sat at the table, wondering if Angie
would ever get back together with her ex, Clifford Silverstern. His
family had money—tons of the stuff. They owned a bank, a jewelry
store, a funeral home, a hotel, and a fancy Italian restaurant.
    Edsel couldn’t believe it when Angie started
dating him years ago. He knew she wouldn’t marry him for money. She
must have truly been in love with the putz. The day of the wedding
was the lowest point in Edsel’s life. For a moment, he had toyed
with the idea of jumping off the Rainbow Bridge.
    After a year or so, Angie began to see
Clifford for who he really was. But she was too stubborn to give up
on the marriage. She toughed it out for another fifteen years. Near
the end, even her father, Herman, was begging her to get out. He
had come to hate Clifford for making his daughter miserable.
    Unfortunately, Herman Maberly hated Edsel
just as much as he hated Clifford. If the old man were to walk in
and see her eating dinner with Edsel, he’d probably go home and get
his shotgun.
    Angie walked back to the table shaking her
head. “I’m sorry.”
    “ You okay?”
    “ Yeah. Clifford just doesn’t
get it. There are plenty of women around town who’d jump at the
chance to be with him. But the more I tell him I don’t want him,
the more determined he is to get me back.”
    Shelly brought their food.
    “ Wow, that was fast,” said
Edsel. “Smells good.”
    They listened to the band and watched
couples Two-Step around the floor while they ate. Edsel decided to
save the important talk until after dinner.
    “ How about some cherry pie
for dessert? We baked them this afternoon,” she said.
    He smiled. “You know I can’t resist your
cherry pie, Angie.”
    “ Okay. I’ll go get us
some.”
    In less than five minutes, she hurried back
with the two plates. “I hope I didn’t give you too much ice cream,”
said Angie.
    “ Not at all.” Edsel grinned
with delight. There was no dessert on earth better than Angie’s
cherry pie, topped with Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice
cream.
    “ Oops, I forgot. I’m
supposed to be helping you eat healthier. Let me just take that
back in the kitchen and I’ll—”
    “— don’t you dare,” he said,
guarding his plate with both hands.
    She smiled. “Just kidding. It’s okay to
splurge every once in a while.”
    Edsel’s mouth was already full of pie and
ice cream. He mumbled in agreement.
    “ It’s nice when we sit down
together for a meal like this. We should do it more
often.”
    “ Well, you’re always so busy
running this place,” he said. “You ought to hire somebody to help
you manage it.”
    “ Me? What about you? If you’d hire
another mechanic, you wouldn’t have to work seven days a
week.”
    “ Folks don’t trust anybody
else to work on their cars. That’s why they bring them to me. They
don’t want some green kid tricking around under the
hood.”
    “ I know.”
    They finished their desserts.
    “ Angie?”
    “ Yes?”
    “ I’ve been meaning to talk
to you about something.”
    “ What is it?”
    “ Well, you know that we’ve
been friends for a long time.”
    “ Forever.”
    “ Yeah. And you know I