Free A Table for Two by Janet Albert Page A

to do was buy salad stuff and provide the drinks and munchies. I couldn't turn that down."
    "I thought maybe it had something to do with them."
    "Come into the living room," Laurie said.
    Ridley put her hand on Laurie's arm to hold her there. "Wait a minute. I want to ask you a question before we join the others. Did you get a chance to talk to Karen about our annual trip to the shore for Columbus Day weekend? Will she be able to get that Monday off? I promised my mother I'd call her tomorrow and let her know if we're going."
    "Yes, I talked to her and everything is set. We wouldn't miss it for the world. Karen wanted me to ask you if it would be okay if we came down on Saturday morning instead of on Friday evening. She gets home late on Fridays and she's usually tired and grumpy and by the time we get down there, she'll be a mess. I think she'd feel a lot better if she had a good night's sleep."
    "That's not a problem. I'm leaving right after work on Friday, but you guys can get there when you get there. Don't take too long, though. I want us to have a lot of time together."
    "We'll be there by noon. Once she gets some sleep, she'll be fine. Now let's go in and join the others. Can I get you a beer or a glass of wine?"
    "I'd like a beer." Ridley followed Laurie into the living room.
    "Why don't you go say hello to the birthday girl?
    She's talking to some friends from her law firm." Laurie pointed to a group of people gathered near the fireplace. "I'll get you a beer and bring it out to you."
    Ridley went to Karen and tapped her on the shoulder. "Happy Birthday, Karen."
    Karen excused herself from the group and stood aside with Ridley. She hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. "Hey you, I'm glad you're here. Thanks for the nice card and the gift certificate. They came in the mail yesterday."
    "You're welcome. I know you love book stores and I thought with a gift certificate, you could pick out your own books or get whatever you want."
    "I can't think of a better gift for me. I love spending money in a book store and I love it even more when it's someone else's money." Karen hugged Ridley a second time. "I'll introduce you to anyone you don't know later on, but before we do that I want you to come with me. Tracy and Dana are in the kitchen and they told me to let them know the minute you got here."
    In the kitchen, the first thing Ridley noticed was Tracy leaning against the counter with her arm draped across the shoulders of an unknown woman. Judging by the glances they exchanged and the way they touched, they had to be more than friends and that made Ridley so ecstatic she felt like jumping for joy. Dana and Tracy weren't a couple after all and she couldn't have been happier if someone had just told her she'd won the lottery.
    Mouth-watering smells filled the kitchen and Ridley's eyes followed her nose to the stove where she saw Dana just standing there smiling at her. The sight of her made Ridley's heart dance inside her chest. It twirled and dipped and beat to a measure as old as time itself.
    "I'm going back in the living room to talk to some of my friends from work," Karen said to Ridley.
    "Have a good time and I'll see you in a little while."
    "Okay. I'll be out later." When Karen left, Ridley approached Tracy and the new girl. "Hi, Tracy, nice to see you again. Who's your friend?"
    "Nice to see you, too and I'd like you to meet my date, Erika. Erika this is Ridley. She's the teacher I told you about, Karen and Laurie's friend."
    "Hi," Erika offered her hand. "I heard about you."
    Ridley shook Erika's hand. "Pleased to meet you."
    "Well, thanks. I'm pleased to meet you, too. Tracy told me you came to visit her and Dana at the restaurant a couple of weeks ago. That must have been interesting."
    "I enjoyed it," Ridley said. "I'd never been in a restaurant kitchen and I got to watch them in action. It was really something. Have you tried the restaurant yet?"
    "Yes, I went to dinner there last week and I loved it." Erika