“So maybe you quit dragging your feet and give him a little whoopsie-doopsy.”
“Whoopsie-doopsy?”
“Boink, boink.”
Louise laughed.
“At least kiss the poor slob and give him some hope,” said Gilda.
Kissing Martin. Hmm. “He’s still not what I had in mind,”Louise said, thinking of the Texan stud from the cruise. What was his name, anyway?
“What, you want Kevin Costner?”
“My husband was a Kevin Costner,” said Louise. “Martin’s more of a... teddy bear.”
“Teddy bears are cuddly. Myself, I’ve always liked a big man. Had the hots for John Goodman until he lost all that weight. Anyway, I think Martin’s got potential.”
“Well, he definitely impressed me yesterday,” said Louise.
“So, get him in a lip lock and see how he impresses you,” Gilda advised.
“Maybe I will,” said Louise. She’d always rather liked John Goodman, too.
Louise wasn’t getting much opportunity to see if she would like kissing a teddy bear. Martin was popping in regularly, as always, but by day Louise had Gilda, her faithful companion, hanging around and Bree dropping in on her to bug her about the book she’d lost all interest in writing, and Zona underfoot in the evenings, looking morose.
Finally, on Friday, with Gilda egging her on, she called Martin. “I’d like to get out of the house tonight and Gilda’s busy,” she said.
Gilda sat next to her, smirking.
“Do you fancy going out for a drive?”
“Sure. Where would you like to go?”
“Oh, I thought we could grab a bite to eat at Luca Bella and then maybe drive up to the city, Mulholland Drive.”
“Mulholland Drive,” he repeated slowly.
“It’s historic,” said Louise, and Gilda rolled her eyes. “And offers beautiful views of LA.” More eye rolling. “I’m sure we can find a place to park and enjoy the view.”
“Oh, brother,” said Gilda in disgust.
“Louise, whatever you want,” he said, sounding like a teen who’d just found a date for the prom.
“Not that I want to jump into anything,” Louise added. “But, well, we should talk.”
“And other things,” Gilda whispered.
“I’ll see if I can get us in at the restaurant,” Martin said, and ended the call.
“Enjoy the view,” Gilda repeated with a snort. “Honestly, Louise, looking at the view? Talking? When were you born, the eighteen hundreds?”
“I’m hedging my bets,” Louise said primly.
“Then you should have just had him come over here. At least that way you could have sent him home. If things don’t work out, you’ll be stuck riding back with him.”
“I didn’t consider that,” Louise said. It would be a long ride if things didn’t go according to plan.
“Oh, well. At least you’ll get dinner out of the deal,” Gilda said blithely.
