Every day the sunshine came through the diner’s door and Drex didn’t, I hated. There were no promises traded, and he told me he wasn’t good for me. What he didn’t tell me was I’d miss him. I didn’t know I would need him. Each time my mind would wander into the dark, I’d pray for rain. I knew it was stupid, but I wanted the rain to come to help me remember him.

“I hate sunny days,” I mumbled, pouring sugar into the tea, the steam traveling around the white grains.

“Do ya now? What has you suddenly hating on this beautiful gift?” Ray said, stabbing an order ticket down and ringing the bell to let Gretchen know her order was ready.

“Just don’t care for it anymore,” I lied.

“Right. Well, you’ll be happy to know a storm’s coming tomorrow.” His eyebrows raised, and he nudged my side with his elbow.

I answered with a smile, “Thanks, Ray.”

“Any time, girl.” He laughed, shaking his head as he walked away to prep the next order.

“Um, there’s a woman with the ugliest dog in the world outside asking for you,” Gretchen said, popping her gum and putting a pen into her bun. “You want me to get rid of her?”

“No, it’s Courtney.”

“Courtney?”

“Yeah.” I didn’t explain who Courtney was, because why would I? The real question was, why was Courtney here and how did she know where I worked?

Courtney was bent down talking to V with her back to the door. The bell dinged as I opened the door and slid through, watching her tap V’s nose with her fingertip.

She jumped at the noise, and her butt landed on the cement. “Ugh. Today has been shit!”

“I’m sorry,” I apologized, wondering how this brought her to me.

“Anyway.” She stood and brushed the dirt from the back of her pants.

“You haven’t been into the vet and V missed you,” she said cheerfully, handing me her pink leash.

“Courtney, how’d you know where I work?”

Her skin flushed and she peeked at me through her thick, dark lashes. “I saw your uniform top in your bag the other day. You left it open. I wasn’t snooping or anything. It was just there,” she babbled.

Of course, there was a logical reason she would know where I work. I was paranoid.

“Well, if V missed me, I guess I better visit with her. I get off in twenty, if you, I mean, she wants to wait around or come back.” I smiled half-heartedly. I’d planned to go home and well, go to bed, honestly. I didn’t have anything else to do.

Courtney returned the smile and took the leash back into her manicured hand.

“Sure! Yeah! I’ll be back. I’ll go grab us something to eat.” She paused and her lips formed a thin line. “I mean, unless you’ve already eaten. I was going to get a pizza with my brother, but he ditched on me. Probably for booze. I’m hungry, but I can eat without you—”

“Pizza is great,” I interrupted her to keep her from continuing. I pulled some cash from my apron, and she shoved my hand back into the pocket.

“It’s my treat. I didn’t want to eat alone. Thank you.” She squeezed my hand.

“You’re welcome, Courtney.” I smiled and headed back into the diner.

Sam was standing behind the counter. A wide smile graced his lips, which, of course, had a toothpick in the corner.

“What?” I said through a smirk.

“Not a thing, Sug. Not a thing.” His broad hands wiped down the bar with a clean rag, and then he dipped it into the sani-bucket. “I’ll clean up out here. You go ahead.” He wrung the rag with his hands over the bucket, forcing the excess to drip back into the water.

“Thanks.” I smiled. “But I still have to sweep.”

He handed me the broom and didn’t argue. I wanted an excuse to hang around here a few more minutes. I really didn’t want to chase after Courtney.

“Get to it then.” He chuckled.

Courtney not only picked up pizza, but she returned to the diner with a box of wine under her arm. I raised an eyebrow, but didn’t question her.

“I figured we could go to your place. That is, if you don’t mind Veronica,” she added, smiling down to her as she excitedly danced in a circle at our feet.

“It’s not like I have to worry about her getting fur everywhere, right?” I joked, wanting to ease her worrying. I still haven’t figured out why I didn’t try to push her away like I did most everyone else, but it was a little too late to start now.

“Box wine, huh?” I said more to fill the silence than anything else, taking the box and snugging it under my arm as I led the way to my apartment.

Courtney’s eyes darted up to the break in the frame of my screen door. Her eyes filled with curiosity, but she never asked about it. I knew she wanted to, but I didn’t give her an explanation. I used my side to hold it open as I unlocked the interior door, flipping the light switch up so she could see to take off her shoes.

We were halfway through the wine and pizza before Courtney or I really said anything of importance. I was surprised how hungry I actually was.

“My brother’s a dick,” she spat out, setting her mostly eaten slice of pizza into the box. I drew imaginary circles with my fingertips onto the couch, not sure if I should say something in return or just listen. I hoped she would continue to talk because I didn’t really know what to say. Each time I heard her cuss it shocked me.

“What about you?” she questioned, lightly kicking my knee with the tip of her toes.

“Am I a dick? Sometimes,” I answered, confused by her question, straightening my back in an unnecessary stretch.

She laughed and wiped her mouth with a napkin. “No, I meant, do you have any siblings?”

“Oh.” I didn’t want to answer her. I didn’t want to talk about my past, but here she was sitting in my apartment with her wide, innocent looking brown eyes. She had bought us dinner…and wine, which tasted as awful as I figured it would, but I didn’t mention it to her.

“I have a little brother and he isn’t a dick at all. He’s amazing,” I whispered, fighting back tears. My throat burned with sadness, and my chest tightened with regret.

“Hmm…must be nice,” was all she said as she stood up and cracked her neck. “I think I should get Veronica home.” She scooped her into her arms and looked out the window. “I want to beat the storm.”

Ray had said the storm was supposed to hit tomorrow, but I guess his weather report was wrong. Dark clouds bellowed across the sky that had been a clear blue just a few hours before. A huge smile crossed my face while we watched the storm move in and the sky darken.

“I think you’ll need this,” I suggested, handing her my umbrella as she opened the door.

She looked across the lawn while leaves blew around, warning us of the upcoming storm.

“I think you’re right. Thanks.” She opened it while walking out the door I held open for her. I then followed her onto the porch. “This was nice.”

“It was. Thank you,” I answered, smiling in her general direction, climbing onto the swing, and kicking my feet outward. I was always awkward with goodbyes, which had worsened with time. A leaf skirted across the grain of the board beneath my feet as I swung them backward to pick up momentum. I watched it move to avoid eye contact.

“Thank you,” she announced her leaving, and then she and V were on their way to, well, I didn’t know because I didn’t ask.