Six Miles From Nashville by Elaine Littau Page B

table and searched it. There were many options to choose from. It was a few minutes before Betty reappeared with her order pad.
    She moved from table to table taking orders and bussing tables. If she kept busy she wouldn’t think of the things that pressed on her mind. The cafe was still reaping the benefits of the remodel with consta nt crowds. Many of them came for the live music. Bill and Betty had created a good following.
    Days ran together as uneventful even though she co-wrote a few songs that made it on the top of the Country Hits list. The loneliness she felt engulfed her.
    She placed a cup of coffee in front of a you ng man and handed him the menu. “Thank you,” he said.
    “What can I get for you?”
    “You are the one who sings here, aren’t you?”
    She blushed and put her nose into the ticket pad. “How about the Southern breakfast? And...yes, I am..I sing some here.”
    “I like your singing and I think the Southern breakfast sounds really good.”
    “Thank you,” she breathed.
    She took the order and tended to her other customers. Soon she was back to refill his cup.
    “I hope I didn’t offend you, Miss.”
    “I just can’t think of myself as a singer.”
    His blue eyes twinkled as he continued. “You are a singer, young lady.”
    “Thanks.”
    He searched his mind for something intelligent to say, “Do you sing anywhere else besides here?”
    “Nope.”
    “I guess I don’t know how to tell you how good I think you are.”
    “It’s okay. Thanks.”
    He leaned back on his seat in the booth and locked his fingers behind his head in a good stretch. She noticed his bright white smile and wondered what he was thinking.
    “Do you realize that I request this route so that I can stop by here once a week to see your face and maybe have the chance to hear you sing?”
    She placed the order pad in her apron pocket and put her hands on her hips. “Why?”
    “I shouldn’t have told you that, but since I did, I have to answer you. Truth is, I can’t help myself. There is something so sweet about you. I want to know you better.”
    “I don’t know about that. I have to clear some tables.”
    He stood and took his billfold from his back pocket. Searching through it, he pulled out a few bills and tossed them on the table. “I am just a working man. I know you could have anyone you want and you probably have a steady boyfriend, but if you would think about it some, I would like to see you or take you to the movies.”
    “You would?”
    “Would you go with me tonight after work... to the movies?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “I promise to bring you straight home. You can even bring some of your friends if it makes you feel more comfortable.”
    “Okay, I will see if Miss Sweetie and Bill will come.”
    He sat back down in the booth. “I’ll wait.”
    She went through the swinging doors to the kitchen and approached Bill. “Could you and Sweetie come with me and this guy to the movies tonight?”
    “Ah, ‘this guy’? Sure.”
    “He comes through once a week.”
    “Tell Sweetie we have a date.”
    Betty couldn’t help b ut smile at the handsome dark haired man. “It will be a double date. We close at nine p.m.”
    He followed her to the cash r egister and waited for Sweetie to emerge from the kitchen. “Miss Sweetie, this is, ah.”
    “ Gage Marrow. Glad to meet you.”
    “Hi, Gage.”
    “Bill said to tell you that we are all going to the movies together tonight.”
    Sweetie narrowed her piercing eyes and examined the man. “Is that right?”
    “With your permission, Ma’am.”
    Sweetie saw the sparkle in Betty’s eyes and agreed to go. The man left and Sweetie placed her hand on Betty’s back. “Hon, you really do want to go, don’t you?”
    “Yes, I guess I do.”
    “Don’t worry, it will be fun.”
    “Thanks so much for going. I don’t know why I even want to go.”
    “You don’t have to have a reason. You are young and that is enough.”
    Betty cleared the table and