Sirius and I slowly made our way over to the refreshments. We were stopped by a few people that had missed us on the first go-around. Once we passed through that gauntlet, I poured Sirius a cup of water and me some punch.
The sun was setting and the Garden of Angels was bathed in golden light. The sun’s rays seemed to spotlight one grave marker in particular. Beneath the name Amanda were the words “Deserved to be loved.”
Sirius’s happy sounds alerted me to Lisbet’s approach. “Hello you,” she said, talking to the dog and then leaning down to scratch him.
“If I make those sounds,” I asked, “will you scratch me?”
“Only if you roll over and beg first.”
She smiled at me and made me feel good inside. I had planned on nothing more than a short conversation with Lisbet, but suddenly that wasn’t enough.
“I hope this doesn’t sound inappropriate,” I said, “and it probably is, and if it is I apologize, but are you doing anything afterward?”
It took Lisbet a moment to make sense of my meandering question.
“I have to stay here for another half hour or so,” she said, “but I’m free after that.”
My head started bobbing up and down, but the bobblehead imitation didn’t help me with my speaking skills, and once more I found myself babbling. “Good. I mean, that will work for me. We are talking about dinner, aren’t we? Because I know we discussed having lunch, but this way we can kill two birds with one stone.”
I finally took a breath and then said, “Sorry, that didn’t come out quite right.”
Lisbet lightly touched my burning left cheek and delivered me from feeling felony stupid with a smile. “Dinner sounds great.”
“Good,” I said. “Okay, then. I guess I’ll take Sirius for a walk while you finish up here.”
“Enjoy your walk.”
Waving seemed like a better option than talking. I needed to study those tapes of the old me again, I thought, so that I could remember who I was supposed to be and how I used to act. I wanted to be that self-confident man again and not some blithering idiot.
There wasn’t much in the way of scenery near the cemetery, and I didn’t think it appropriate to go look at headstones with Sirius, so we set off up the long driveway. After the fact, I started giving some thought as to where I’d be taking Lisbet to eat. I wanted a quiet spot that was comfortable and not stuffy. Usually my only concern is if the restaurant has a patio and allows me to bring my partner. Tonight my date was going to be much less hairy and only have two legs.
I used my phone to check out dining options in Palm Springs. Usually I only care if the food is good. This time I also checked on comments that spoke to ambience. The Europa Restaurant received high marks in both. I called for reservations and then asked the hostess for directions. She provided them and then said, “You can’t miss it.”
I thanked her, and hung up, but was sure she had jinxed me and said as much to Sirius.
“Whenever anyone says, ‘You can’t miss it,’ you always do,” I said. “When ‘Wrong-Way’ Corrigan took off from New York, he didn’t end up in California. No, he ended up in Ireland. I am sure someone said to him, ‘You can’t miss it.’”
Sirius didn’t look interested.
“Cucamonga,” I said, and my partner responded with a little dance.
We began walking back to the Garden of Angels. From a distance the cemetery appeared to be deserted, but as we drew closer I could see that Lisbet had one final task awaiting her. Two cemetery workers were lowering a small pink casket into the ground.
Sirius and I didn’t encroach. With a bowed head, Lisbet waited for the casket to be positioned and the hole filled. Her vigil continued even after the workers finished with the burial. It was dark when Lisbet finally took her leave of Rose. I was feeling a bit uncomfortable by then and wondered if suggesting dinner had been a good idea, but Lisbet quickly dispelled any doubts.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” she said, “but I don’t like to leave the children until I have this sense that they’re settled. It’s always a huge relief for me when they’re buried and, well, when they’re home. I know that probably sounds crazy.”
“What’s crazy is that they’re here in the first place. Are you still okay for dinner?”
“Okay? You hear my stomach grumbling? I’m afraid if you listen closely you might hear it growling the words ‘Donner Party.’”
“Barring any blizzards, we should get to the restaurant in about half an hour.”
“I hope you’re right, otherwise it might cost you an arm and a leg.”
Once we were in the car and on the road, I pointed to the glove compartment. “Inside you’ll find your choice of appetizers, madam.”
Lisbet flipped it open and started pulling out odds and ends that I’d taken away from restaurants. There were several packages of saltines, oyster crackers, sugar packets, dinner mints, and some hot sauce.
“You really know how to spoil a girl.”
“If you’re still hungry, there’s also a box of dog biscuits under your seat.”
Lisbet rummaged around and came up with the box. Sirius’s ears perked up at the sound and she asked, “Can I give him one?”
“He’s sort of particular and won’t take food from someone he doesn’t know well.”
Sirius put his muzzle on Lisbet’s shoulder and took a dog biscuit from her without any hesitation. He was already munching when I told him, “It’s okay to eat, boy.”
He nudged Lisbet for another, and I nodded. The second one also disappeared without any demur.
“Why are dog biscuits colored if dogs are color blind?” Lisbet asked.
Instead of telling her that dogs aren’t completely color blind I said, “That sounds like a Stephen Wright observation.” And then imitating Wright’s deadpan voice, I added, “I have an inferiority complex, but it’s not a very good one.”
Lisbet was busy tearing at a saltines package with her teeth, but stopped her shredding for long enough to laugh. After devouring those, she also finished the oyster crackers and then picked up the box of dog biscuits and started looking at the ingredients.
“These don’t look that bad. The primary ingredients are wheat flour and wheat bran, and they also have wheat germ and brewers’ yeast.”
“Go for it.”
She turned her head to me, made eye contact and regarded my smile-well, sneer.
“I double dog dare you. Come to think of it, I double dog biscuit dare you.”
“One of these is supposed to be peanut butter flavor,” she said and pulled some of the biscuits out of the box and started doing a sniff test.
The hairy beggar in the backseat took her inspection as an invitation to plead his case and was rewarded with another treat.
“This one is the peanut butter,” Lisbet said, brandishing it at me.
“Bone appetit,” I said.
She didn’t hesitate but bit into it and started eating. After swallowing she said, “It’s possible that was the bacon flavor.”
Her poker face didn’t tell me anything else. “I hope you’re not looking for a second opinion.”
“You think I would share with you?”
Lisbet opened one of the hot sauce packets and lathered the remaining half of the dog treat in it. She popped it in her mouth and started chewing. The more I laughed, the more she looked at me as if to say, “What’s so funny?” That, of course, made it all the funnier.
Despite the presence of dog biscuit crumbs on the side of her mouth, I wanted to lean over and kiss her. I didn’t want to rush it, though, so instead of reaching with my lips I used my index finger to lightly brush the side of her mouth and said, “You might consider having a few of those dinner mints now.”