A Table for Two by Janet Albert Page B

just finished last week. I bought more furniture than this, but it won't be delivered until the middle of next week and I'm still not finished unpacking some of my things."
    "That takes time. Are you renting this building?"
    "Believe it or not, I own it thanks to my more than generous father. He told me he considers it my early inheritance." Dana glowed as she spoke of her father. "I wouldn't have any of this if it weren't for him. I saved as much as I could, but no matter how much I put aside, it wouldn't have been enough to get this restaurant started, not without taking out a huge loan. I still had to borrow money, but it was a loan I can easily pay off."
    "Aren't you the lucky one?"
    "I am. My dad's a great guy."
    "He must be awfully proud of you." Ridley thought of her own father and wondered if he would have been proud of her if he were still alive.
    "He is. He's told me so more than once. He's banking on the fact that I'll be successful and he said he wanted to help me now so he could see how his money was being spent. I think he was joking about that last part."
    "I'm sure he was, but what he said makes a lot of sense," Ridley said.
    "I agree. He paid for most of the restaurant renovations and he and my mother got a huge kick out of helping me design and decorate it. That allowed me to use my own money to fix up my apartment and get new furniture."
    "Well, everything came out great. It's all very nice."
    "Thanks. Tracy and I love it. She lives here too."
    "Oh...I didn't know." Ridley nearly choked as her last swallow of iced tea started heading down the wrong pipe. That clinched it. They must be a couple. Ridley couldn't help but be bowled over by her rotten luck. "It sounds like you have great parents," she said in an attempt to conceal her real reaction.
    "I do. My father insisted on helping me and he had the money, so I decided, as his devoted and loving daughter, that I couldn't deny him something that would bring him so much pleasure. It was the least I could do, don't you agree?"
    "Absolutely, and I think that was mighty big of you." Ridley extended her arm out so she could click the rim of her iced tea glass against Dana's.
    "So, Karen said you were a teacher, but she didn't tell me what you teach."
    "I teach physical education, but I'm not just an old-fashioned gym teacher. I teach health education classes and I'm going to coach the girl's varsity softball team at my new school. I've also coached volleyball in the past and track and field."
    "No wonder you look so physically fit."
    "I've always been physically active since I was a kid. I used to play softball and volleyball in college and I competed in track and field in high school."
    Dana's cheeks looked as if they had rouge on them. "I never played competitive sports. I run three or four times a week, but I don't have time for much else."
    "It must be hard to watch what you eat when you're a chef." Dana had a nice trim body with feminine curves in all the right places and no matter what she did or didn't do to stay fit, Ridley thought she was fine just the way she was.
    "Sometimes it is." Dana shrugged. "I love to eat, but Tracy and I don't eat a lot of the rich foods we serve in the restaurant and we rarely have dessert, or if we do it's just a small portion. We have to taste what we make, but we only eat a small amount and most nights, we just have a salad for dinner."
    "I was pretty sure you couldn't eat like that every night."
    "Good heavens, no. We consider it our mission in life to make other people overeat."
    "And pay handsomely for it," Ridley added.
    Dana raised her glass. "I'll drink to the pay handsomely part."
    Ridley finished her iced tea, set the glass on the coffee table and got up. "I should be going. You must be tired and I've taken up enough of your time."
    Dana stood. "I enjoyed having you here and talking to you."
    "I enjoyed being here. Thanks for inviting me." Ridley paused. "I just had an idea. How would you feel about coming to my