“This is the best Italian place in the country,” Ally said when we got to the restaurant.
“Agreed,” Anna added, turning to face me. “Have you ever been here?”
I shook my head, “Nope, I sure haven’t. I love Italian food, though.”
“Me too,” she said.
We went inside and looked around. There were a few people, but it wasn’t busy yet. We were seated within a few minutes at a large, round booth. The inside was decorated like a place you might find in Italy, with soft Italian music playing over the speakers.
The waitress brought two baskets of bread and placed them on the table, taking our drink orders in the process. Millie and Tom picked out a white zinfandel for us to share. I wasn’t much of a wine drinker, but I figured trying a small glass wouldn’t hurt.
Margie picked up a crayon. She was sitting between Anna and me and leaned into Anna.
“Will you play this game with me?” she asked, pointing at a tic-tac-toe game that was on the back of her kid's menu.
“Sure, do you know how to play?” Anna responded to her.
“No,” Margie said.
“I’ll teach you,” Anna said. She picked up a red crayon from the pile on the table. “Do you want to be an ‘X’ or an ‘O?’”
“O!” Margie said.
“Okay. I’ll be ‘X.’” Anna said and then she walked her through the process of playing.
I watched as they played a round with Margie winning. I knew the tricks to the game, and I figured Anna let her win. It only made me love her more. Margie was so excited that she won her first game of tic-tac-toe. She grinned and bounced up and down in her chair.
“Good job!” we all congratulated her.
A few minutes later, Anna and Margie were finishing up another round, with Margie winning again, when the waitress brought our food out.
“I have to potty,” Margie announced.
“I can take her,” Anna said.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. I need to go, too,” she said.
“Thank you,” I told her.
They scooted out of the booth and made their way to the bathroom with Millie and Ally tagging along behind them.
“I don’t understand why all women have to do that,” Tom said with a chuckle.
I laughed with him, mostly to appease him.
“You and Anna get everything figured out?” he asked.
“Yes, sir. I mean, Tom.”
“Good. My daughter cares a lot about you, Justin. I can see it in just the way she talks about you and Margie. She’s a good girl. She’s never really been too serious about anyone. To be honest, I thought she was lying when she said she had a boyfriend that she never told us about,” he said, chuckling again.
I laughed, but it was uncomfortable and forced because she had been lying. We were just pretending before, but now I wasn’t sure anymore. It wasn’t a lie for me, at least.
“No pretending here,” I said truthfully.
“I know Millie already said this today, but she’s right. Don’t stress so much over the small things. Whatever it was that happened was obviously nothing big if you showed up today. Just remember that advice in the future. Things are going to happen that you guys might not agree on all the time, but you have to let those sorts of things go,” he said.