Tessa found the restaurant with no trouble. The boys saw the large sign at the side of the street proclaiming Pizza Playground as the place to be, before they saw the building. Tessa pulled into the parking lot in front that could easily hold fifty cars, and while several spaces were empty, well over half held vehicles. Tessa assumed the restaurant was, indeed, the place to be. Drivers in bumper cars were painted on the outside walls as if they were circling the building. Lettering above them spelled out the words Pizza Playground with a delicious-looking pizza painted below that. A window ran across half the front side giving them a view of the busy dining room.
When they stepped into the restaurant, a young woman wearing a white polo shirt and black slacks approached. Embroidered in small letters across the left front of her shirt were the words Pizza PLAYGROUND with HOSTESS below that.
“Hi, welcome to Pizza Playground. Have you been here before?”
“No.” Tessa was amazed at the activity in the restaurant. The building must have covered half a city block, yet most of the tables in the front dining room were full. A large indoor track in the back, separated from the dining area yet partially visible to the diners, roared with the younger crowd on bumper cars. Video games beeped and pinged, their metallic voices sounding from a smaller room to the side. The aroma of spices, blending with all the wonderful ingredients of cooking pizza, hung in the air, enticing Tessa’s appetite.
Tessa looked at her boys and saw eager anticipation in their eyes. This was one place they could stay all day and not be bored. She paid the cover price, which she thought was quite reasonable considering food and games were included for them all.
They walked around the perimeter of the room to the back corner. The hostess stopped at an empty booth. She placed menus on the table then stepped aside and smiled at them. “Your waitress will take your order in a few minutes.”
“Thank you.” Tessa let Derek in and sat beside him. The older boys sat across from them. They each grabbed a menu, and Tessa looked through the one in front of her. “Do you see anything you like?”
Seth handed his menu to her. “I know what I want.”
The rest quickly made their decisions, and in much less time than Tessa had expected, considering how busy the place was, their order had been taken. While they waited, she glanced around the room. A dark-haired man in a white polo shirt and black slacks moved past the tables, briefly speaking to his patrons. Something familiar about the way he moved caught Tessa’s attention, bringing a flood of memories to her mind. Suddenly she knew why she had felt something familiar about the name Pizza Playground and the entire concept of a restaurant with pizza and games. They were sitting in the realization of Blake Donovan’s dream from so long ago. Now she understood her mother’s comment just before they left Amarillo. Yes, she might be changed if this truly was Blake’s place and he saw her. But would it be for the better as she’d hoped?
Their pizza arrived then, distracting her and giving her time to remind herself that the chances of running into Blake after so many years were little to none. Eleven years and no telling how many miles separated them. Why should she be thinking of him now, anyway? After the waitress left, Tessa bowed her head and prayed briefly over their meal.
The boys dug into the pizza with gusto. Tessa nibbled on her first piece, paying little attention to their chatter. She watched the man move slowly around the room until he turned from several tables away and looked directly at her.
A smile touched his face, but as far as she could tell, no recognition dawned in his eyes. Not that she needed confirmation. Her heart told her all she needed to know.
With blood pounding in her ears, Tessa turned away to speak to Derek so Blake couldn’t see her face. In all her wildest imaginings, she never would have expected to run into Blake Donovan. The man who once held her love in the palm of his hand moved a step closer to her with every beat of her heart.
“Hey guys.” His smooth, deep voice hadn’t changed. “Ma’am. Is everything all right?”
Tessa turned. Blake stood beside the table with a smile as impersonal as he’d given everyone else in the restaurant. He didn’t know her. Her breath rushed out. But with the only man she’d ever loved standing not two feet away, not only from her, but also from Derek, the son he never knew he had, how could she honestly say everything was fine?
After a hesitation much too long, she managed to answer, “Oh yes, the pizza is very good, thank you.”
“Is this your first visit to Pizza Playground?”
She nodded and held her breath as Blake stared at her. His eyes narrowed. Her gaze locked with his. Her heart pounded.
“Do I know you from somewhere?”
Blake’s question came as no surprise, yet a fist seemed to close around her heart and she couldn’t speak. The wedge of pizza slipped from her unfeeling fingers and landed with a plop on her plate.
Chapter 2
H er face must have shown her fear, because he took a step back, holding both hands up, palms out. “Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. Don’t get me wrong. I make a point of not coming on to my customers, even if I do find them very attractive.”
Did that mean he found her attractive? Even after eleven years? Thankfully, the boys were too busy eating to pay attention to this conversation. At least she hoped their sudden interest in chewing meant they had tuned Blake out. She still couldn’t say a word to dissuade his suspicions and wouldn’t know what to say if she could find her voice.
He shook his head, his gaze never leaving her face. “You look familiar to me. I know we’ve met before.”
“I’m sure I would have remembered.” She congratulated herself on regaining her voice and coming up with a plausible response that wasn’t a lie. After all, they had met, and she remembered him very well. Much too well.
A resigned look crossed Blake’s face. “Well, I’m Blake Donovan, owner of the Pizza Playground. I apologize for disturbing your meal. Thank you for choosing our restaurant. Enjoy your pizza.”
“I’m sure we will.” Good, he was leaving.
“Don’t forget to try out the bumper cars or the arcade or both. When you leave, please tell the hostess that Blake said you’ve earned a discount coupon for the next time you come in.”
Tessa took a breath of much-needed air when he turned away. As she exhaled, he stopped and turned around with a determined look in his eyes. She sucked in another lungful and forgot to breathe when he asked, “Have you ever been to Amarillo?”
“Hey yeah, that’s where we live,” exclaimed Seth.
“You’re kidding!” One step brought Blake back to the table with a huge grin on his face. “I lived there a long time ago. Don’t get home much anymore.”
A long time ago? Like eleven years? Tessa hoped her thoughts weren’t as loud as they sounded in her mind. She picked up her pizza to keep her hands from trembling. She glanced across the busy restaurant toward the door leading outside and wished she could escape but knew she couldn’t. Maybe if she didn’t speak, he would leave. Maybe if she refused to look at him, he would give up and go.
But he shifted his weight, and she glanced up, meeting those dark brown eyes so much like Derek’s. The slight tilt at the corner of his mouth before he smiled set her heart dancing just as it always had.
“So, you live in Amarillo. What about high school? Maybe we met then. I could be remembering you from that far back.”
“No.” She shook her head. “I didn’t go to school in Amarillo.” That was true and still didn’t tell him anything.
“Naw, Mom grew up in Illinois when she was a kid.”
Tessa turned to her normally quiet son. “Seth, you need to eat if you want to go swimming this afternoon.”
What was wrong with Seth? She had never seen him chatter so much. And to a stranger no less. Why couldn’t he be quiet like Robbie and Derek?
Seth gave her a puzzled look before he took another slice of pizza, bit the point halfway up, and began chewi
ng. Good. Maybe that would keep his mouth busy and Blake would move on to another table.
Blake didn’t move. He stood regarding her with a puzzled frown. Tessa imagined the memories playing behind his expressive brown eyes, and she almost groaned aloud. He couldn’t remember her. He just couldn’t. If only she had enough strength to tear her gaze from his.
Oh, but he was just as handsome as he had been at twenty-one. Actually, the years had been more than generous. She tried not to notice, but he stood directly in front of her, and she couldn’t look away. From a full head of wavy black hair to shoulders even wider than she remembered on his trim, athletic build, Blake, at thirty-two, was the fulfillment of her young romantic dreams. The only problem was, life had taught her that dreams seldom survived the light of day.
Against her will, she continued to meet his steady gaze. As she filled her memory with his image and he continued to study her face, she felt an intensity grow. A sort of unspoken communication that said Blake remembered everything that had ever passed between them. But he couldn’t. She didn’t want him to. Why couldn’t she blink to break the connection? Why couldn’t she look away?
When he finally spoke, he kept his voice low so that no other customers heard. “I do know you, don’t I?” He glanced at the two older boys and inclined his head toward one and then the other. “If he’s Seth, that’s Robbie.”
He looked back at her. “You’ve changed so much.”
When she still could not speak, his voice dropped to just above a whisper. “Please tell me that you are Tessa Stevens.”
Tessa refused to lie, though she desperately wanted to. She nodded and looked down at the uneaten pizza in her hand. She didn’t want to see the reaction her admission would bring.
“I thought so. You knew me right off, didn’t you?”
She looked up at him and nodded again.
A soft smile touched his lips. “You are beautiful, did you know that? I can’t believe how beautiful.”
Tessa glanced at her boys, who were apparently not listening, although she knew they heard every word. She looked back at Blake. “I don’t think this is a good time to go down memory lane.”
“No, you’re right.” He seemed to become aware of their surroundings as the hostess stopped beside him. He turned toward the young woman. “Yes, do you need something?”
She looked up, obviously startled by his sharp tone of voice. “You have a call from your mother.”
“Oh, thank you. I’ll take care of it.”
When she gave a quick nod and moved on, Blake placed his hand on the table beside Tessa and leaned toward her, keeping his voice soft. “I have to take this phone call, but I want to see you, Tessa. Tonight. I’ll talk to you before you leave.”
Before she could utter a sound, he pushed away from the table and strode across the dining room to disappear through a doorway in the far wall.
Tessa let her breath out as she put her half-eaten pizza down, her appetite gone. She had to get out of the restaurant and get some fresh air before she did something stupid. Like running into Blake’s arms and scaring him out of his wits.
Had seeing her affected him as much as seeing him had affected her? She hoped so. He deserved to be shaken after the way he had run out on her eleven years ago.
After the boys finished the last of the pizza, Tessa watched them take their turn with the bumper cars. Blake didn’t make another appearance, and she hoped he wouldn’t. His mother had never liked her. How strange she would call at the precise moment of their chance meeting after so many years. Did she somehow sense her son needed rescuing again? A bubble of laughter, bordering on hysteria, threatened to escape Tessa’s tightly held control, and she knew she had to get away. When she finally pried the boys away from the games, she headed for the door and freedom.
“Tessa.”
Her blood froze in her veins as she turned to look at Blake.
He came around the counter and stood close so only she could hear his low voice. “There’s a bar just down the road on this side. Will you meet me there tonight about eight o’clock?”
Tessa couldn’t think with him standing so close. She heard the words he spoke, but they scarcely made sense. When she hesitated, he added, “Just like old times.”
Those words she understood, and her heart sank. As much as her appearance had changed, did Blake think her appetite hadn’t? She hadn’t taken a drink in more than eight years. She tried to think of a polite way to tell him to get lost when a thought entered her head. Maybe God had led her here as a witness. Blake needed to know that another way of life existed. He needed to meet the Lord.
With pure intentions, she made up her mind. “I’d like to visit with you, Blake, but I don’t go to bars anymore. We’re staying at a hotel near here.”
She told him the address. “I’ll meet you in the lobby at eight. That’ll give the boys enough time to get interested in a movie in the room.”
Tessa didn’t wait for Blake’s response but turned and followed her boys outside. Three questioning expressions greeted her when she opened the car door and slipped behind the steering wheel.
“Mom, you were talking to that man. Who is he?” Robbie, as usual, spoke for the others. “He said he’s from Amarillo.”
Tessa started the car and sighed. “Yes, he is. I knew him long ago when we were not much more than kids.”
She backed out of the parking space. Funny how long ago it seemed, yet everything was as clear as if it all happened just yesterday. When the boys didn’t say any more, she told them, “He asked me to meet him to discuss old times. He remembers how I was before I became a Christian. I think it may be a good idea for me to tell him of all God has done for me, so I’ve agreed to meet him downstairs at the hotel in the lobby tonight.”
“So you’re going to witness to him, huh?” Robbie grinned at her from the front passenger seat, as if he knew something she didn’t.
“Yes, Robbie, that’s exactly what I plan to do.”
He shrugged. “Mom, you’d better watch him, because I saw the way he looked at you.”
“What do you mean by that?” Tessa pulled out into the street in front of an oncoming car she hadn’t seen. The driver blared his horn and stomped his brakes, so she pushed the accelerator while her heart slammed against her chest.
“Hey, be careful! I didn’t mean to get you all spooked. I just meant he has something besides God on his mind. Don’t worry about it though. After all, what can he do in the hotel lobby?”
Tessa wondered where Robbie got such ideas at only fourteen. Maybe she should keep a closer rein on him.
That evening, after an afternoon of water fun, the boys were engrossed in a movie when Tessa took her bag of personal items into the bathroom. Twenty minutes later she stepped out wondering why she had spent so much time trying to look her best when her reason for meeting Blake was simply to tell him what God had done in her life. And to make sure he didn’t find out about Derek. She ran her hands down the sides of her tan slacks, smoothing them over her hips, then crossed to the bed for her purse.
Robbie glanced up just before she went out the door. “Hey Mom, don’t worry about us. I’ll keep an eye on ’em.”
He winked and grinned, making her wonder if he knew more about her and Blake than she wanted him to know. Surely he didn’t remember. He’d been barely four the last time he’d seen Blake.
“Just be really good tonight, okay?”
“Sure, you know we will.”
She slipped through the door and closed it. The elevator ride to the first floor seemed to take forever. Unless Blake had changed, he would already be there waiting for her.
He stood as she entered the lobby. Thankful they had the place to themselves, yet apprehensive at the same time, Tessa went to meet him. His welcoming smile and the light of appreciation in his eyes was almost her undoing. She breathed a quick prayer that she would not fail in her mission.
“Hi, I was afraid you wouldn’t come,” he admitted.
He sat down. “Did you have any trouble getting away from the boys?”
“No, they’re pretty good kids. They don’t usually give me much of a fuss. Besides, they found a movie to watch on TV.”
Blake smiled. “That’s good. You know, unless my memory is getting faulty, you just had two kids last I knew.”
Tessa’s breath caught in her throat. She wasn’t ready to talk about Derek. She knew nothing about Blake. How could she possibly offer him a son, when she had no idea what kind of father he might make?
When she didn’t say anything, he shrugged. “I guess it has been a long time though. As my mother always says, a lot of water has gone under the bridge since then.”
“Yes it has.” Tessa tried to relax in the chair. “Blake, I want to tell you about some of the things that have happened in my life. You mentioned that I look different, for one thing.”
His eyes brightened as his gaze slid over her. “You were always pretty, Tessa, but you’re a real knockout now.”
An infuriating flush covered her cheeks. She tried to ignore the pleasure his appreciation gave her. “I’m not talking about surface beauty.”
“I am.” Blake grinned. “Your hair’s a different color, too, isn’t it?”
Tessa thought of the girl Blake remembered and shuddered. The life she had lived as a teenager seemed more a nightmare now than real. Back in Illinois, at barely fourteen, she had joined a gang of kids that called themselves the Outsiders. She had dyed her hair black and wore black clothing, which was the trademark of the gang. Alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs were easily obtained and encouraged by the group. She refused the hard drugs but drank as often as she could. From the time she was Robbie’s age, she smoked at least half a pack a day, except when she was pregnant.
“Yes, I used to dye my hair black.” She touched the ends of her short, light brown hair. “I tried blond later, but this is my natural color.”
Route 66 Reunions Page 2