Bell, Book, and Scandal

they’d said.
     

Twenty-two
     
    “Watching LaLane eat her lunch has made me hungry,“ Jane said. “Let’s follow her example and have an early lunch.“
    “Good idea. Where?“
    “Not in the hotel. That mall across the highway is supposed to have a nice restaurant with a spectacular salad bar. Have you been there yet?“ Jane asked.
    “No, but I’ve been told the same thing. It would be good to leave here. But I don’t want to walk on that overpass between here and there. Would you mind driving us over there?“ Shelley asked.
    “Okay, but I think we should both check on what our kids are up to before we leave. I don’t like using the cell phone in a restaurant. For some weird reason I feel as if it’s like using it in church.“
    When all their children were accounted for, they set out for lunch.
    Jane managed the highway interchange without even getting lost or in the wrong lane and felt very smug. But Shelley wouldn’t let her park on the outer fringes of the parking lot this time. “I’m much too hungry to walk half a mile,“ she told Jane firmly.
    The restaurant lived up to its reputation. They ordered one sandwich to share and hit the salad bar, which was every bit as good as they’d heard. You could select between ready-made Caesar salads with croutons and capers instead of anchovies, and butter-lettuce ones with big chunks of blue cheese. Or you could build your own salad on a generous plate with a selection of interesting pastas, flavored rice mixes, veggies cut very fine, eggs, and real crumbled bacon instead of the kind that came out of a bottle. There were a multitude of croutons, nuts of every kind, six salad dressings, and eight kinds of thinly sliced cheeses, including Jane’s favorite, Gorgonzola. Cottage cheese, crackers, and other mysterious crunchy things were grouped together.
    “I’m sorry we even ordered the sandwich now,“ Jane said, her plate as full as it could be.
    So was Shelley’s plate. “I can see that we’re going to have to come here often,“ Shelley said. “You could do this ten times without duplicating what you’d had before.“
    When they returned to their table, their toasted ham and cheese sandwich was divided neatly between two plates, with parsley artfully adorning the rest of each plate.
    “You’re not going to eat your parsley in a nice place like this, are you?“ Shelley asked.
    “I certainly am,“ Jane replied. “I know it’s meant to be decorative, but I love the taste. I’m going to grow a lot of it in my garden this year so I can munch on it anytime I want.“
    “I’ve already planted a big pot of basil, the red and green kind,“ Shelley replied, taking a bite of the sandwich and smiling. “I can bring it in the house or garage if a late freeze threatens.“
    “What a good idea. I’ll buy my parsley and big pot Monday when we’re back home. I think I’ll try the flat leaf kind, too. I hear it tastes even better. I may purchase enough to chop it up and freeze it in little ice cubes so it lasts through the winter.“
    They fell to trying to finish their sandwiches and salads, and neither could polish off everything they’d chosen so generously. It was nice to talk about ordinary day-to-day household matters instead of books and plagiarism and advances and viewpoints.
    “I’m so glad we came here,“ Jane said, pushing her plates away and stifling a burp. “Do we really have to go back to the conference? Couldn’t we just pack up and hit a garden place?“
    “There’s always time for garden shopping. But we’ve paid for this and I’m forcing you to stay to the bitter end. I understand there’s a final party that ought to be fun tomorrow morning and a breakfast buffet that ought to be good. Then the out-of-towners can catch a lunch flight home.“
    “This conference is at least one day too long,“ Jane said again, as the waiter took away their plates and left the bill. “Shelley, let me pay this bill since it was my idea.“
    Shelley didn’t object for once. “I’m so glad we parked so close. I’m not sure I can even waddle that far.“
    When they returned to the hotel, the lobby was full of frantically talking conference participants. Shelley spotted Felicity trying to edge away from someone who had her cornered, and they went to the rescue. “Oh, there you are,“ Shelley said to her. “I was afraid we were late for our appointment with you.“
    “Just on time,“ Felicity said, glancing at her watch.