“Have you talked to him since whatever happened happened?”
“Bow big is his—”
“Gross!” Frankie cut Lark off, wearing a face so sour it looked like she would throw up at any minute.
“Jesus, Lark.” Tabitha shook her head.
“Fine. I retract my last question,” she conceded, holding up her hands in surrender. “But about all the other questions. Go.”
Lark sipped on her soda while Frankie tapped her fingers anxiously on the tabletop. Not bulldogs . . . these ladies were vultures.
“Zac and I were in asituationshipfor about a month. It wasn’t exactly dating, but it also wasn’t a hookup.”
“A fling, then?” Lark offered.
I love you, tabby cat.
“Not a fling either.”
“If it lasted around a month, then it must have been a long time ago.” Tabitha could see the gears working in Frankie’s head. “I don’t really remember Zac dating anyone for even that long recently.”
That information shouldn’t have been uplifting, but it still managed to give Tabitha a bubbly feeling. She drank some ice water to wet her suddenly dry mouth. “Sixteen years ago.”
Lark and Frankie sat back, each mumbling various curses, breaths, whistles.
“Who ended things?”
“He did.”
“Babe,” Lark’s typically playful voice dripped with sympathy as she slipped her fingers around Tabitha’s wrist.
But the last thing Tabitha wanted was pity—not for this. Not for the ache it’d caused. The trust issues. The feelings of inadequacy.
She pulled her hand away and settled them both in her lap. “Sixteen years ago, remember?”
“Why did he end it?” Frankie asked.
Tabitha shrugged. “Fuck if I know.”
Lark flinched a little, startled by the uncharacteristic curse. “Well, what did he tell you the reason was?”
“He didn’t,” Tabitha said plainly.
“Didn’t what?” Lark asked.
“Didn’t tell me. He disappeared one day. Never to return or reach out again. Yesterday evening was the first time seeing him since then.”
“The rat bastard,” Lark spat while Frankie rolled her eyes, moaning, “Typical.”
“Did you try to find him?” Lark asked.
“Why would I waste my time?” Tabitha longed to break eye contact but feared doing so would reveal too much. “He made his feelings for me perfectly clear when he vanished.”
Kendrick interrupted the silence with two armfuls of plates.
“BLTA and tots for Frankie. A french dip, onion rings, and all the dips for Tabitha.” He placed the first two plates in front of each woman, respectively, and then settled the largest plate in front of Lark. “And my world-famous chicken and cinnamon waffle sandwich for ‘Miss Adventure’.”
The plate of mismatched food was heaping, and the spicy tang of the chicken and the sweet maple syrup made Tabitha drool.
