Her voice rose with each word until she was nearly screeching. Alex looked stunned.
‘‘Mrs. Tucker, I—’’
But Alex didn’t get to finish her sentence. Lucy Tucker covered her face with her hands and ran from the restaurant. Reverend Tucker apologized quickly and hurried after his wife.
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. Mitch felt everyone’s attention focus on them, then slowly slip away. He felt almost guilty, as if he were responsible for the other woman’s strange behavior.
‘‘I’m sorry,’’ he said.
Alex waved away his apology. ‘‘Don’t be. It’s not your fault. It happens.’’
‘‘People get that weird on you?’’
She tried to smile, but it was a little forced. ‘‘Well, they’re not usually quite so overwrought, but they do get odd from time to time.’’ She sighed. ‘‘What I hate most is the reminder that I’m not like everyone else. Just when I feel than I’m fitting in and that I can finally forget, at least for a little while, something will happen to remind me.’’ She shrugged. ‘‘It’s probably for the best.’’
‘‘No, it’s not,’’ he told her. ‘‘I want you to be able to forget your past and just be a regular person. Can we pretend Lucy Tucker never stopped by the table?’’
Her smile turned genuine. ‘‘That would be very nice, Mitch. Thank you.’’
‘‘It’s the least I can do.’’
She glanced around the diner. Most of the patrons had lost interest in them and their table. ‘‘It must have been fun growing up in a small town like this.’’
‘‘Everyone knows everyone else and their business, which when you’re a teenager isn’t a good thing. As kids we had a hard time getting away with making trouble. The local sheriff always knew who was most likely to be where he wasn’t supposed to be, doing things that weren’t allowed.’’
‘‘How often was that person you?’’
‘‘Often enough,’’ he admitted. ‘‘I can’t tell you how many times I got hauled out of Submarine Point.’’
The waitress arrived with their drinks. Alex stared at the tall purple shake and wrinkled her nose. ‘‘What is it?’’
‘‘A blueberry milk shake.’’
‘‘Somehow I thought it would be more blue than purple.’’ She took a sip. ‘‘It’s good.’’
‘‘Trust me, lady, and you won’t go wrong.’’
‘‘I’ll trust you, but only if you tell me about Submarine Point.’’
He took a long drink of his milk shake. ‘‘It’s the local make-out place. There’s an overlook with a pretty decent view. We’d tell the girls that if the night was clear enough, they could see the submarines in the Pacific Ocean.’’
‘‘And they believed you?’’
He grinned. ‘‘They pretended to.’’
‘‘I suppose that was all that mattered.’’
‘‘Exactly.’’
* * *
Thirty minutes later Alex pushed away her plate and patted her stomach. ‘‘I can’t believe I ate that entire steak. It had to be half a pound.’’
‘‘Probably more,’’ Mitch said helpfully, ‘‘but the bone was really big.’’
‘‘Not big enough.’’ She sipped the last of her milk shake and sighed with contentment. ‘‘I pronounce my first visit to a diner to be an unqualified success. The steak was excellent, the mashed potatoes, while not quite bringing me to tears, were certainly the best I’ve ever had.’’ She lowered her voice. ‘‘I think the corn came from a can, but even it wasn’t too bad.’’
‘‘And you’re hooked on blueberry milk shakes.’’
