“I didn’t think that things had gotten to this point for you,” he said. “I knew that something must have happened to take you back to this part of California, but I didn’t think... I figured you’d gotten a job and had just wanted to be near family or something.”
I shook my head.
“My father died shortly after we broke up,” I said. “Not like immediately after, but shortly after. I came here because this was the only place to offer me a job. And, as you point out, not a job as a doctor or a vet. A vet tech.”
“Jesus,” LeCharles muttered. “I was wrong about you, Rose. I was wrong to assume that you were the same as you were when we last left. I saw the first glimpse of that Friday and Saturday, but now I’m really seeing it. I’m sorry.”
It wasn’t as pleading or yearning an apology as I had given, though that wasn’t exactly a criticism. Quite the opposite, in fact. The stoicism of his apology made me believe it was sincere and not trying to get something out of me, romantically or otherwise.
“I want to get to know you better, just like you’d mentioned Friday night,” he said. “I wasn’t ready for it Saturday morning, but I want to now. Would you like to... ”
He took a breath and, I swore, smiled slightly.
“Would you like to go on a date sometime between now and Wednesday night?”
This was the moment I’d wanted to have since I knew I would be moving back to Springsville, even if I hadn’t admitted it to myself before. Those were the words I fantasized about hearing. And now that I had...
It felt good but in the right way. I was saying yes because I wanted to, not because I had some extreme anxiety preventing me from genuinely enjoying it. I had the courage to know I could do fine without him, but I had the desire all the same.
So maybe I didn’t react as strongly as I thought I would have before, but I liked to think I reacted as healthily as I hoped I would have.
“Sure,” I said. “Let’s do tomorrow night. Bit late for tonight, and I have off Wednesday.”
“Great,” he said, taking a second to catch his breath.He was probably more nervous than I was! That’s something I would never have guessed would’ve happened.“Let’s go to Joe’s Java. And this time, I promise I won’t be late on purpose or accidentally.”
“Or accidentally,” I chuckled. “You’re fine, LeCharles.”
But I had to make one thing clear.
“Just don’t think that we’re going to end by finishing what we started Friday night,” I said. “I don’t want you thinking I’m saying yes to jumping in bed with you. I’m saying yes to going on a date with you. I need to get to know you a lot more before I say yes to anything else.”
“Oh, believe me, I didn’t think about that in the slightest.”
I don’t know that I quite believe that. But I believe that you intend to hold yourself to that standard.
“And in any case,” he continued. “If I’m being totally honest, I’m not trying to finish what we started three nights ago. I’m trying to see if we want to finish what we started ten years ago.”
Holy shit! He’s serious.
It almost felt like a little too much from LeCharles, but truth be told, it just gave me a surge of excitement and happiness. I told myself not to get carried away, but if he was speaking like this...
“Good,” I said with a smile. “Then let’s do Tuesday night. Seven p.m. See if you can make it on time.”
“Hah,” Axle said. “Sounds good.”
With that, he brushed by me, placing a hand on my shoulder and squeezing as he went down the stairs. I watched him go all the way down to his bike, this time being the one to watch the other from a distance.
I had to admit, even with all the strength I felt I had, even with the changes that had come from that near disaster of a Friday night, it still felt genuinely exciting to know I had a date lined up with LeCharles.
I guess there were second chances in life.
I just had to see if this was a second chance that I wanted to capitalize on.
* * *
Tuesday Evening
I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror.
