Page 185 of Hale Damage
CHAPTER SIXTY
The return to the Waffle Ho
Remington
“Where are we going?”Mindy asks for approximately the fifty-seventh time.
“I told you, it’s a surprise.” I glance down at her. Or at least I try to only glance, but she’s so beautiful my eyes hang on her for a few long seconds, and I almost walk into a light post.
My girl is dressed in a fluttery red vintage dress that wraps around her body and ties over one hip. Her chunky black Mary Jane heels make her slightly taller, but she still only comes up to my shoulder. With her red hair pulled back into a high ponytail, the delicate lines of her gorgeous face are on full display, and I count my lucky stars she’s mine.
As we walk hand in hand down the Houston sidewalk, our destination becomes obvious, and she giggles. “Wait a minute. Are we going to the Waffle Ho?”
Lifting her hand, I kiss the back of it. “Where else would we go on the anniversary of the night we met?”
“I can’t believe you actually remember the date. That was eight years ago.”
I pull her to a stop and turn her to face me. “It was the mostimportant night of my life because it’s the night I met the love of my life. How could I not remember it?”
Mindy flutters her eyelashes at me. “Mr. Hale, you are being very swoony.”
I simply smirk because she ain’t seen nothing yet. Her eyes go to something over my shoulder, and she lets out a little gasp. “The convenience store is still open. Remember when we bought lottery tickets there?”
She drags me inside, and the sticky sounds our shoes make bring back a sense of nostalgia. And disgust. Have they even mopped this floor since we were last in here?
Mindy’s face falls when she looks at the counter. “Aww, they don’t sell lotto tickets anymore.”
Reaching into my back pocket, I extract my wallet and dig through until I find what I’m searching for. “Does this look familiar?”
The Big Wiener logo on the old ticket has faded with time, but it’s still visible. “You kept yours?” she asks, running a single finger over the serrated edge.
“I did.”
Mindy gives me the oddest look before pulling out her own wallet and rummaging around, finally taking out her own Big Wiener ticket, which is in a similar condition to mine.
“You kept yours too?” I ask incredulously. “But you won fifty dollars.”
Her eyes well with wetness as she looks up at me. “It felt too important to cash in. I wanted to have something tangible to remember you.”
My throat is clogged with so many emotions. “I think this means we were always meant to be.”
“Of course we were,” she says with a hint of that sass I love so much. “I think we should have these framed or something.”
“And then one day we can show them to our ten kids.”
“Two kids,” she corrects, shooting hazel laser eyes at me.
“Two… ten… who’s counting,” I say, leading her from the store and down to the restaurant.
“I thought they got their sign fixed years ago,” Mindy says, coming to a stop and looking up at the sign that once again readsWaffle Ho.
“Huh, that’s weird,” I say, and she gives me the side-eye.
“Did you…” She looks back and forth between the sign and me and shakes her head. “Of course you did.”
I kiss the back of her hand again. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I fib, pulling her into the restaurant.
Mindy looks around the restaurant and whispers, “I’ve never seen this place so empty. There’s literally no one else in here.”
