Once and for All(61)

I could admit this all sounded exotic and dramatic at one point. But that had been a few hours earlier, and I still didn’t understand exactly what his book in progress was about. “That’s cool,” I said, a response I’d taken to alternating with a few others like “Wow,” “Interesting,” and, just for variety, “I never saw it like that.” For someone so interested in words, he didn’t seem to notice this repetition.

Now he smiled, like I was cute, before reaching out and rubbing his thumb along the side of my mouth, then down my chin. I was thinking maybe I had something on my face, and wondering for how long, when he suddenly moved in to kiss me. It was swift and abrupt and took me by total surprise, even before he leaned me back into the grass with one smooth movement. I had a flash of a vampire whipping a cape over his head, which was not exactly romantic, and then his mouth was on mine, tongue wriggling.

Ugh. I let it go on for a long enough period so as not to seem totally rude, then sat back up. “Well,” I said, as he pulled back, his eyes sort of dazed, “I should go. It’s late.”

“Now?” He looked at the house again. “Really?”

“Yeah.” I made an effort to look apologetic, like this was not actually my choice. “I have an early day, and all. . . .”

“Yeah, okay, cool,” he said, cutting me off. “I get it.”

I stood up, aware of the dampness from the grass on my back. “I’ll see you around work, I guess?”

“Sure.”

I started up the walk, relieved to finally be wrapping things up. I’d only taken a few steps, though, when he said, “It’s the bet, right? Just dates, nothing more. FYI, I didn’t really want that either.”

Pausing, I said, “Okay.”

“It is,” he replied, pulling a cigarette out of his pocket. Ugh. At least he’d waited. “Okay, I mean.”

Right, I thought. He was still there on the curb when I went inside.

So that was my night. Not totally terrible, just weird. It did not, however, leave me humming, whistling, and walking with a literal bounce in my step, something I noticed as Ambrose passed me, heading out for the coffees.

“You want anything?” he asked. “Maybe a nice melty doughnut?”

“No,” I told him. Then, realizing I sounded surly, I added, “Thanks, though.”

He gave me a thumbs-up, then pushed out the door. Ira, tied up to the nearby bench and wearing a green bandana, got right to his feet, wagging happily. As Ambrose bent over him, petting his head, I saw he was whistling again.

Just then, my phone rang. Enough time had passed that, sometimes, I didn’t even notice my Lexi Navigator ringtone anymore. Today, though, for whatever reason, the opening chords made my heart hurt in a way it had not in a while.

“Hey,” Jilly said, sounding especially cheerful herself, considering it was morning and I knew she had all four kids with her for a full day. “Happy Wednesday!”

“Is it?” I asked, doing another card with a bit of extra force on the fold.

“Sure!” she replied. “It’s hump day, sunny and gorgeous, and we are on the way to get one of the best biscuits in town. It’s perfect!”

I blinked. In the background, Crawford spoke for me, saying, “You’re being weird today.”

“Oh, hush. Can’t a person be happy once in a while?” she asked. To me she said, “The GRAVY Truck is actually right over near you. Can you take a break? I want you to meet Michael Salem.”

“Does he always go by his first and last names?”

“Salem is his middle name,” she corrected me, “and I think it’s cute.”

“This the guy from the party last night?” I asked.

“I met him there, yes,” she replied. “But he’s not just a guy from a party, if you know what I mean.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Just that, you know . . .” She lowered her voice. “I like him. A lot. Like, very much a lot.”

I was about to tell her she’d only just met him, that it couldn’t possibly be that serious. But I knew the tone of her voice, that buoyant giggle, the sudden glint the world got on a morning after like this. Clearly, epic was going around. Too bad I’d already had my turn.

“That’s great, Jilly,” I said. “I’m so happy for you.”

“Well, I mean, it’s early,” she replied, sounding anything but under-confident. “But he’s just . . . he’s so nice, Louna. And totally not my type! He had on a hoodie and carried a skateboard the entire time we were together. And he’s a redhead. With freckles!”

I smiled. “I can’t wait to meet him.”

“Then come to the truck. Their chicken biscuits are to die for.”

“I wanted a muffin,” Crawford said.

“Me, too,” said KitKat. “We hate biscuits.”

“Hush up,” Jilly sang out, hardly bothered. “Louna?”

I looked back at the office, where my mom was still on the phone. “I can’t. We’ve got this huge rehearsal dinner and wedding this weekend. There’s tons to do.”

“Oh. Okay.” She sounded disappointed. For about two seconds. “But you will meet him, and soon, okay? We’ll double date, you and the Lumberjack. Hey, how did that go, anyway? You looked like you were having fun.”