"Joe, thanks for asking, but, no . . . I'm not an adventure." She made an amused sound. "Call me again sometime when you've grown up." Click. Joe called back immediately.
"Hi, I grew up," he said when she answered. "A woman on TV just explained it to me. You have to transcend the grieving child within."
"Hmmm," Mo said.
"Pie," Joe continued, "what's the name of that place on Hausten Street where they have great pie? The place with a fish pond. The Willows. Back in time."
"I'm afraid you'd have to go back in time to eat there; they closed two or three years ago."
"Damn. How about Keo's? Tomorrow, 12:30 or thereabouts?" His best offer. You'd have to be seriously repulsed by someone to turn down Keo's.
"Ulua with black bean sauce—I'm going to regret this," she said.
"Great. No. I mean, we'll have a nice lunch. See you there," Joe bailed before she could change her mind.
4
Joe put down his fork. "Lemon grass," he said with satisfaction. Mo was eating rapidly; she raised her eyebrows.