A Taste of Spring novel Chapter 15

Two weeks after

DATE FOUR

Mr. Oliver lifted his cup to his mouth and took a drink. Sunlight reflected off his glasses as he slightly lowered his head, pulled the cup away from his mouth, and sat it on the table with a shaky hand.

"So, you are Summer's little sister?"

Spring smiled. She and Mr. Oliver spoke for over thirty minutes already. He talked about his wife mostly and she talked about...Dezmond. He was all she could think about still, a little over two weeks later, so she shared. What they didn't discuss yet was who she was.

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry she wasn't able to keep your date."

"If she had, I wouldn't have gotten to meet you." He winked. "How is she feeling?"

Spring moved her stirrer around in her coffee. "Better. She should be out and about within a day or so. She just didn't want to risk your health."

"Mrs. Waltman, please..."

Spring looked past Mr. Oliver to where a nurse was running after a woman who was presumably Mrs. Waltman.

"Betty is a runner," Mr. Oliver said, looking over his shoulder. He chuckled.

"I see," Spring said then laughed.

"You'd be surprised at how many residents here can. Pudding nights, it's like a circus."

Spring laughed again as she imagined elderly men and women run amuck at bedtime because they were hopped up on pudding. By the way, Mrs. Waltman dodged the nurse, it was clear that the staff at the assisted living home had to be somewhat fit to keep up.

"Mr. Oliver, may I ask how long you've known Summer?"

Mr. Oliver sat back and looked up as if trying to recall an exact date. He smiled then focused on Spring. "I started as her client. She was going by the name of Brittney. You see, my wife Clara passed a couple of years before then and I was still mourning. So, in my grief, I made a promise to my dead wife.

"Clara kept begging me to take up dancing with her when she was alive. I needed a partner and I had no friends, so I decided to hire a partner. Your sister and I danced together every other week for three months. The first dance class of that fourth month, Summer refused to take another dime from me. Said that we were friends and friends don't pay to spend time with each other."

"Summer never told me all that."