(Original Publication Date, 13 June 1991)
Panel 1: Now that we're at the restaurant, we find Elly worried about the wrong person when she notes that this is the first time they've left Mike alone with April and asks if he's the one that's okay. John proves that he's too stupid to foresee a disaster that's looming in front of him like a pea-brained minor niner when he tells Elly to relax.
Panel 2: What they don't know is that a few tables over, Cecily, the woman I think Lynn called 'Nilda' and Maeve are also having dinner. Cecily calls Maeve's attention to the fact that John and Elly are a few tables over, Nilda asks if they're separated because she'd heard he moved out and Maeve huffs "Well!!!" in disgust.
Panel 3: As John and Elly probably talk about how baby-sitting will be as good for Mike as his upcoming trip to Danny's farm, Cecily wonders if Elly's going to take John back, Maeve insists that he'll have to beg and 'Nilda' wants them to hush up so they can here what he and Elly are saying.
Panel 4: Since the lights are low and the acoustics are designed to muffle conversation for our dining pleasure, John doesn't know he's in the wrong when he says that this is the first time in ages that he and Elly have had real privacy.
Summary: We are, of course, at the end game of the Gossip Machine subplot. Lynn vaguely alludes to a resolution Saturday when Elly notes that she and John stayed out longer than they intended but as I've said before, it works better if you assume that no one knows what's actually happening.