Andy's Nightmare

10. The Diner

Even though Kyle had to work the previous evening with a last-minute client, Kim had assured her that wasn't normal.

Andy had met other couples that seemed superficial when she met with them. She was not sure why they even wanted to adopt. One couple even appeared to be almost on the verge of divorce, and she thought that adopting a child would be their way of attempting to hold onto the relationship.

She wasn’t sure about the relationship between Kim and Kyle yet, but Kim's eyes would light up, and she became even more animated when talking about him. Listening to Kim talk about him and seeing how she acted as she did so, encouraged Andy.

Andy wasn’t sure if she would ever feel that type of devotion or love for any man after this past year. It had been 6 months, and she still didn’t want to be around men at all.

But then again…

Her mind drifted off to the coffee shop. And Linc. She was still amazed at how comfortable she was with him.

When Andy was finally back in her room, she finished the short article that she was writing for the online magazine. She figured it would be some income for now. Something was better than nothing. She still had some of the money she had saved, but it wouldn't last much longer.

She wondered if she should even look for a job while staying in this small town, but didn’t think any place would want to hire a pregnant lady for only a few short months.

At least she could write until she went into labor.

After she submitted the article by email, she was tired again. Brain-dead from writing some of the book and also from the article. It seemed like, although it was energizing when she was writing, it was also draining.

Andy decided to take a brief nap before going back to the diner for dinner. She seems to be doing that a lot lately. There were days that she wouldn’t take naps, but most days she would lie down for an hour in the afternoon, but she spends most of her time writing now, and even though she was enjoying it, she finds that it is taking a lot out of her.

When she was working at the grocery store, she was used to waking up around 5 or 6 am, which she was still doing. And sometimes she is up until midnight writing, so taking a nap really isn't that abnormal.

She admitted to herself that she missed writing when working at the grocery store, but she didn't have the time.

Now, all she had was time. She wasn't working at the moment and was unsure of what type of work she would be able to do while pregnant. She couldn't do any heavy lifting. And pretty soon, she may have trouble bending and stooping to clean shelves. And then, there was also that fear of another attack.

Would that fear always be there? Or would it diminish over time? Andy had started seeing a therapist before coming here, but wasn't sure she wanted to go back to the city on a weekly basis and risk running into some of her friends and coworkers or customers from the store now that she was starting to show as being pregnant, so she decided to keep up with her therapy sessions online.

Andy had also noticed that since coming to this small town, she isn't as skittish and scared as she was in Minneapolis.

Managing the store had been draining at times, but that was physically demanding work as well as stressful dealing with customer complaints, workers and deliveries. And on top of that, the corporate office was constantly making demands on her. She missed the daily interaction with people but was relieved that she did not have to deal with them as well. She liked some of her customers, even after the attack. But she really didn't want to be around too many people.

Andy was still getting used to being alone since she lost her job at the store and started writing. She started her afternoon naps soon after she quit. Was the pregnancy draining her? Or was it because she was tired because of all the research and writing she had started doing? Or was it because of the hours she was keeping? She wasn’t sure. But then again, there were times that she was up late writing, and she would wake up early out of routine.

She was used to getting up early for work, so her body was still used to being up by 6 am. 8 am would be considered sleeping in.

After her nap, Andy walked to the diner for lunch. While waiting for her food, Andy was sitting in a booth looking out the window when she felt like someone was watching her. She turned and scanned the restaurant. She was relieved when she noticed it was the little girl from the pool earlier at a nearby table who was watching her. She was sitting next to her mom with an empty seat on the other side of the booth. She was turned around in her seat watching Andy. She smiled and waved at the girl. And the girl responded similar to how she had at the pool earlier. She ducked down behind the back of the booth and giggled. Then peaked back over the back of the booth, smiled and waved back this time.

The mother stood up to let her daughter out of the booth when she saw someone enter the diner behind her, but Andy was enjoying playing with the little girl. Then she saw the little girl’s eyes light up and her grin grew even wider as she climbed out of the booth and ran to someone who had just walked in.

Andy couldn’t help herself and turned to see the little girl run and jump into a man’s waiting arms. She recognized that face. He had been haunting her thoughts since meeting him at the coffee shop.

Her heart dropped, thinking that this might be his daughter and wife that he was meeting for lunch and that he had only led her to think he was single.

The little girl giggled and squirmed in his arms as he held her close and buried his face in her curly locks and appeared to whisper something in her ear. Her arms went around his neck, hugging him with the same intensity as Linc’s were around her.

Andy had mixed feelings as she watched this scene take place. The way he had been talking and flirting with her at the coffee shop led her to think he was single. She could clearly see that this little girl loved him, and he loved her too, although the mother didn’t move from the table to greet him. She felt like she was intruding on an intimate family greeting. She wanted to slip away without being seen by him and forget they ever met.

After a minute or two of this intimate greeting, the little girl squirmed to get free, and he put her down on the ground, but she still held onto his hand, dragging him to their booth.

“I’ve missed you, Uncle Linc!” the little girl exclaimed as they went to join her mom at the nearby booth, loud enough for her to hear as they passed by her table.

Andy wondered at this point if she called him ‘Uncle’ because he was dating her mom, or was he a true uncle. After his flirtations with her, and the fact that he had asked her out, she hoped he was her true uncle.

Linc made sure the little girl was seated next to her mom and excused himself, saying that he would be right back. "I see someone that I'd like to say hi to, I'll be back in a couple of minutes," he told the mother as he smiled and pointed over at Andy before making his way over to her. He came over and had that smile that lit up the room. It showed in his blue eyes that he was happy to see her here.

She guessed that since he acknowledged and was coming to talk with her, this was not a girlfriend that he was having lunch with and this little girl was indeed his niece, which relieved the knots that had started forming in her stomach when she thought he had flirted with her but already had a girlfriend or wife.