With his shoulders slumping, he gave my fingers a squeeze before letting go to navigate the busier streets as we came into the small town. "I didn't get my father's approval before asking you. He'd had other plans for a match, but… I've wanted you from the first moment I laid eyes on you, Shelby Ann. I knew it then, just like I know it now. I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you, come hell or high water." Between my racing heart and the air trapped in my lungs, my chest felt as if it would burst, and I nearly expired on the spot from Dirk's declaration. The emotion in his voice matched the one that ran through me. "You're mine, darling. I'm never letting you go, and Father will just have to adjust his agenda or look like a fool. Everyone will assume he approved the match since I proposed so publicly, and the announcement will appear in the Gazette tomorrow."
"Dirk! What if I'd said no?" I was shocked that he'd gone to such lengths without knowing that I'd accept. "Isn't it a bit soon to be making the announcement? Not that I object," I quickly tacked on after the dark glance he shot my way.
"I told you, darling, you're mine. Besides, an announcement would have pushed you in the right direction, in the event you turned me down. It's not a secret that you're crazy for me," he teased. "But I never thought for a moment you'd cause a spectacle and turn me down with all those people staring at us." His chuckle still lent a teasing air to the whole thing, but I frowned as we pulled up to the curb and into one of the diagonal parking spaces outside the diner. He’d really thought of everything.
Kinda creepy if you ask me, but we both know you won't.
I'd wondered where she'd gone. She usually wasn't silent for that long, not when there were perfectly good targets to snark at, and I'd given her plenty of fodder. But I couldn't deal with her or Dirk's machinations right then. I had to go tell the woman that had been there for me more than my own mother that I was leaving without notice.
* * *
"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Sylvia asked. Her concern was palpable, the line between her brows as deep as her frown.
"It is. I know it's short notice, well, really no notice at all, but I love him, and I can't go back to Mama, not after how she was today." I shook my head when she quirked a questioning brow. No way was I getting into that. "And that brings up what to do about her. I'm not sure that she's okay on her own, but I don't have any way to really take care of her. If you could keep an eye out, or if you hear anything, could you let me know, please? I'll see if I can ask some of the ladies at the church to keep an eye on her. I'm sure they'd say something, just because she isn't their favorite member with the way she sucks up to the pastor and looks down her nose at most of them." Thinking about the distinct lack of people that Mama hadn't turned off gave me a headache.
"Well, she'll be in at some point, I'm sure, and I'll give you a ring if she looks poorly," Sylvia promised. She didn't care for Mama at all, and I knew she didn't want to have to deal with her, so I wouldn't ask her to, but she would send me a message or call if she noticed anything amiss. "I'm going to miss you around here, Shelby, and I know the others will too. I'll let your regulars know that you've left us to go on to the big city," she teased, swatting at me with the polishing rag in her hand, "but you know Savannah isn't that far. You can stop in occasionally to say hello. And don't think I'm not happy for you, dear. I've always only wanted the best for you since the first time your mama brought you around when you were just a little thing."
Now that we were starting the big declarations, I figured I'd better make a break for it before she started getting maudlin and recounting the many years it had been since we'd met. Giving Sylvia a last hug, I choked up a bit. "I'm going to miss you too, and I will stop by for sure the next time I'm in town." I stood back and wiped my eyes; it seemed I was going to be a leaky faucet all day at the rate I was going. "I'd better get my things out of the locker. My shirts and aprons are in there, but they're all clean except for two of them from my last shift."
"Oh honey, don't worry about that. You know we have the old washer and dryer set in the back." And I did because that was where I usually washed my uniforms and other clothes on the occasions that the washer at Mama's was on the fritz. With a deep breath, I hurried on back and spun the dial to my little locker, opening it up to pull out the last remnants of my old life. I knew when I left here that I'd be embarking on a whole new adventure. There would be an entirely new world for me to learn and navigate.
Cognizant of Dirk's warning to hurry, I quickly said my goodbyes to the cook and the waitresses that were on staff today, and with the last hug for Sylvia, who had an envelope with cash in it for my final paycheck, I left what had essentially been my second home since I had started working there in high school. Before the door shut, I stole a quick moment to take in the scents and sounds of the diner, committing them to memory so I never forgot where I came from and would always have that little bit of home to hang on to.