Anniversary Dinner

The day had turned hot and only now was beginning to cool. Harry dawdled as he drove to the small café by Buffalo Lake, enjoying the fresh-mown aroma of harvested hay that drifted in through the car window. As he arrived, his anticipation bubbled.

It wasn't much of a restaurant, but it was as if it belonged to him and Dori. He had always liked how the little clapboard building stood on a wooden platform that extended into the lake. Limber-fingered Douglas firs grew to the water's edge. Often he and Dori had quietly slipped past the forbidding signs that read "DO NOT FEED WILDLIFE" to toss cracker crumbs to the ducks and geese that played on the glassy surface of the lake.

Today, Harry ignored the lake. It was his and Dori's anniversary, and he wanted to get their regular table before someone else sat in it. Harry walked into the restaurant and found the table empty. Nestled in an obscure corner of the café near the kitchen doors, it was rarely taken.

He slid onto the vinyl-covered chair. It creaked, and the squeaky covering protested, but the slightly rusting seat held firm. Reaching into his shirt pocket, Harry retrieved a picture of himself and Dori taken years ago at this very table, and stuck it between the salt and ketchup.

A young waiter approached the table. "Hi, my name is Kyle, and I'll be you're server this evening," he said, brusquely. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Isn't Mary working tonight?" Harry asked. "She always serves us."

"She's in back right now," Kyle said. "This is my table."

"All right ... I guess," Harry said. He had wanted Mary to wait on them, for old times' sake. "Just one coffee for now." Then he said, more brightly, "My wife will be joining me shortly. It's our anniversary." Nothing was going to mar the evening.

Kyle responded with a fawning but ingenuine remark, then left to get the coffee.

Harry sat patiently waiting for Dori to arrive. When she finally entered the restaurant, his heart soared. At one time, she had been a tall, slender, and beautiful woman. She was still tall and slender, and even though the years had been kind, beauty could no longer be judged by the same standards after so many years. Yet the only way anyone could possibly describe Dori was as a beautiful woman. She had a kindness about her--an innate goodness. People liked her immediately, and they seemed to gravitate to her. It made her seem ageless.

Dori reached the table at the same time Kyle arrived with the coffee, who rudely cut in front of her to set down the coffee. She waited patiently. After Kyle left, Harry rose and walked around to Dori, giving her a small but meaningful kiss, and then helped her sit. He felt blessed that she was with him. His life had never been the same since the day they had met. They had been best friends, and lovers, for decades.

Kyle returned and waited patiently, his pad open and his pen poised.

"I'll have the meatloaf, and the lady will have the turkey dinner," Harry said.

The waiter paused in mid-scribble, not knowing what to say. Finally, he laughed, "Just one meal at a time, Pops."

"I said ... the meatloaf and turkey dinner, please," Harry said, getting angry.

Just then, Mary arrived from the back of the café, hurrying to the table. She put a hand on Harry's arm. "It's okay, hon," she said to him. Turning to Kyle she added, "I've got this one."

The young waiter shrugged his shoulders and stalked off.

Harry smiled apologetically, patting Mary's hand that rested on his arm.

"Thank you, Mary," he said.

"What will you two have?" she smiled.

Harry smiled back, and repeated the order.

"Okay, doll," Mary said. She turned to go, but before doing so she leaned toward him.  "By the way, Dori looks beautiful tonight."

Mary gave him a wink and Harry beamed. He could hardly disagree.

After a while, Mary brought two hot dinners and set them out carefully. Harry and Dori smiled at each other throughout the meal. Every so often, one would reach out to hold the hand of the other, before returning to eat. Afterward, they sat and talked for what seemed like hours, celebrating a shared lifetime.

Feeling a bit selfish that they had occupied the table for so long, they paid the bill and left. As the door of the café closed behind Harry, Kyle approached Mary.

"What's with the old man?"

"Who, Harry? Oh, he's harmless, and really kind of cute. He comes here every year at the same time to celebrate his anniversary with his wife."

Kyle simply stared.

"Relax, you're not seeing things," said Mary. "It was only him you saw.  He lost his wife six years ago, but he thinks she is still with him."

"Weird," said Kyle, turning away.

Mary paused, then turned to serve another customer. As she did so, she caught sight of Harry through one of the grease-smudged windows of the old café. He was out by the lake talking to no one in particular, tossing cracker crumbs to the ducks and geese that played on the glassy surface of the lake.

Mary blinked her eyes to clear them, then returned to her customers.