Chapter 16
Between fear and lust, Harrell Wade Harrison was slowly turning into a basket case. He longed for home. Maybe Linda Sue Byerson would be the proper tonic to salve his psychic wounds. It was about three-thirty when he parked his car and unlocked his room at the Hotel Albuquerque. He needed a second good hot shower this day. The thought of ‘to wash his sins away in the tide’ or potential sins anyway suddenly ran through his mind. With his hot outer clothes in the hamper and now down to his skivvies, he looked up Landmark Apartments in the phone book and placed a call. It worked just like she said.
“Linda Sue? Harrell Wade Harrison. Since you left me this mornin’, I’ve had a terrible day. But my business is done and I’m in the mood to party. Is there a chance you could join me for a nice dinner where ever that might be?” said Wade, now naked, but wearing his very best manners.
“I was prayin’ you’d call. Yes, I’d like that very much. Does ‘pick me up at six’ sound like a plan? I know a really good steakhouse if you’re hungry. It’s called Baxter’s,” replied the sweetest voice Wade had heard since leaving home.
“Yea, verily. That’s music to my ears. It’s perfect,” he said. She gave him explicit instructions on how to get from his hotel to the Landmark. He hung up the phone and found himself actually humming Dixie as he stepped into the shower. Life was not so bad after all.
Dressed, shaven again, and smelling good, he was somewhat ahead of schedule. He put in a promised call to Keith, but got only the voice recorder. “Keith, this is Wade. I’ve had a full day and I’m tired. I’ll call you tomorrow. Roll, Tide!”
He was right on time and she was sitting at a desk in the lobby chatting amiably with the doorman. She gave Wade a peck on the cheek as they met. She was dressed to the nines. Arm in arm, they went out to the car. She gave a low whistle and a dainty growl as he led her to his car and opened the door.
The restaurant, located on West Central near San Pasquale, was surprisingly convenient to both their abodes. Baxter’s had a reputation as one of the best in town. It featured linen tablecloths, needless to say, but also rather haughty back east type older male waiters. Big linen napkins were ceremoniously placed in their laps and menus opened and placed on the chargers. Wade’s paraphernalia also included the bar offerings. He noticed immediately that Baxter’s claimed the coldest beer in town. His budding enthusiasm over the prospect of a cold beer was cut short by Linda Sue’s suggestion that the restaurant offered superior French 75s, a champagne and brandy concoction. Wade was not sure he had ever had one, but anything to please a lady. He just hoped that they weren’t drunk in pairs.
Fortunately, the 75s were sipped at leisure and certainly guaranteed a relaxed environment. Caesar salads followed by rare filet mignons served with a delectable mushroom sauce, french fries (larger, but certainly a worthy match for McDonald’s fries that Wade thought were the best in the world), and absolutely crave-inducing toasted and buttered hint-of-garlic slices of French bread constituted a truly delicious dinner. Wade reminisced about a recent family dinner at the Orangerie in Knoxville. Were Baxter’s to serve some kind of canapé as a lagniappe and have a piano soloist, the restaurants would certainly be competitive. They chatted at length about Nashville. Wade’s family lived fairly close to the Parthenon replica. Linda Sue lived fairly close to the start of the Natchez Trace. It was a wonderful dinner date. Since Linda Sue demurred on dessert, Wade did as well.
Wade paid the tab with cash. As he now wrestled with the change figuring out an appropriate tip, Linda Sue put her hand on his and whispered, “If you’re willin’, I’d rather have a nightcap. The Starlight Lounge is one of the nicest in town and it is close to here. As a matter of fact, it’s on the penthouse floor of the Hotel Albuquerque.” Wade was quick to agree. He felt light on his feet, but inebriated only by her feminine charm.
They arrived shortly at his hotel and had a second French 75. The buzz was re-ignited. As he charged the tab to his room, she whispered in his ear, “Why don’t you give me a tour of your room?” They walked arm in arm to the elevator.