“I do,” Lucy said. “He’s at Second Time Around. That place is amazing.”
Celeste looked at the picture again. Mike had always had a nice smile, and he was one of the happiest people she’d ever known. She liked that about him. “I am really going to have to step up my game. He checked something off on the first day.”
“I’m surprised he didn’t come to your house and model it for you.” Lucy walked to Celeste’s office door. “Maybe you'll get lucky, and he still will.” She left, with a grin, on that parting shot.
Lucy had been teasing, but she’d had a point.
Celeste grabbed her cell again and texted Mike back.You have to wear it where I can see or it doesn’t count.
Her kids texted shockingly fast. Mike, however, wasn’t any faster than she was. She’d set down her phone and taken up her papers again before the next chime sounded.
Humiliation was part of our bet?
She sent back,Our agreement included specific clauses re: witnessing each item’s check-off.Her kids were always telling her she texted like an old person, too wordy and formal.
Another chime.I never argue semantics with an attorney.Mike also texted like an old person.
My place. Tonight. Wear the trench coat or it doesn’t count.That was a little more youthful. Kristina would probably be proud.
Mike answered,You’re killing me.
She scrolled back up to the picture of him holding the coat. The goofy look on his face brought a smile to hers. Lucy had said Celeste always smiled when Mike was involved. How could she help it?
***
“I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Mike’s arms were a little too long for the trench coat he was wearing. Rather than looking like a throwback, he looked like an idiot.
Still, Celeste would laugh with him over it, and the sight of her smiling eyes was worth almost any amount of discomfort. He rang her doorbell and did his best to look like a confident, competent adult who happened to be dressed like a child in hand-me-downs from a younger sibling.
For a split second after she opened the door, Celeste’s expression was completely normal. Then her eyes pulled wideand her mouth dropped open a bit. The corners of her mouth twitched upward.
“Does this meet the demands of our bet?” Mike asked.
She laughed. “Definitely.”
“You don’t have to enjoy this so much, you know.”
She waved him in. “Come in before you scare someone.”
“Too late. I already scared myself.”
She closed the door behind him. “I cannot believe you ever desperately chased this look.”
“I wanted a trench coat that fit and made me look hardcore.” He tugged at one of the too-short sleeves. “You’d think, with how long the coat is, they could have made the sleeves a little longer.”
She walked right next to him, her arm swinging beside his. It would be the most natural thing to slip his hand around hers. He never knew, though, how she would respond. Sometimes she threaded her fingers through his and welcomed the connection. Other times, she pulled free so quickly that his hand dropped hard against his side.
“I should tell you that I’m also crossing something off my bucket list tonight,” she said.
“Really?” He eyed her T-shirt and jeans, her usual post-work attire.
She shook her head. “Not the clothes. The secondhand shop had some low-rise, flared jeans, but none that I could fit into without divine intervention.”
“So whatareyou checking off?” he asked.
They stepped into her living room, and she did a Vanna White-style wave of her hand.
“Poster board and markers?” It was the only thing different about the room.
