“Okay then. Grilled cheese for us, a fried steak for Princess it is. Would you care to come to the kitchen with me or do you want to stay here where it’s warm?”
“Actually, is there a washroom on this level of the house?” I asked, already calculating how I’d get up a flight of stairs if necessary.
“There’s a powder room. Get back on the chair and I’ll wheel you to the door,” he said gallantly, like he was offering me a ride on his noble steed.
“You haven’t lost your acting chops, I see.”
Brevin smiled. “They’re polished and always ready to roll out.”
A minute later, by the light of my phone’s flashlight, I found myself in a pristinely clean washroom with a toilet and a sink. I was surprised how much I’d warmed up—how much the living room had warmed up compared to the rest of the house, andagain, I wondered what the sleeping arrangements were going to be.
When I was finished, I got myself back onto the office chair and using my good foot, pulled myself along the thankfully uncarpeted hardwood floor to the kitchen, where I found Brevin cooking what looked like a sirloin steak in a pan. Princess was sitting beside him, watching his every move. The room was lit up by more fairy lights draped across the counter and the table.
“She’s dining in style tonight,” I said as I snuggled my toes into the thick hair on her back. She made an excellent warm footstool at the best of times.
Brevin turned and grinned at me. “Well, she is a Princess.”
I laughed. “True enough.”
“I’ll get her all set up and then I’ll get our sandwiches ready. Do you want sweet pickles or ketchup?”
“Pickles, please.” I stopped short of asking how he cut a grilled cheese sandwich, not wanting to sway him one way or another. I don’t think I could date a man who didn’t cut them diagonally. It was a deal breaker. And … now I was thinking about dating him. Amazing how Tina’s lack of influence, even for a few hours, had freed me. Or maybe just the dream coming true of Brevin acknowledging what he’d done all those years ago had given me hope.
He got the steak cooked through and set it aside to cool, then he pulled the stuff for the sandwiches out of the cooler. We sat at the kitchen table together and he handed me a plate and a butter knife so I could help butter the bread.
“Do you like to cook?” I asked him as we worked.
“Yeah, actually. I enjoy cooking for my friends, knowing I’ve created something they can savor.”
I studied him. Yes, it was the same guy I knew once upon a time, but I was amazed at how he’d matured. He was still him,but he seemed more caring. Or maybe I just hadn’t known him very well back in high school at all.
“Did you like cooking back when you were a teenager?” I felt like I had to know.
“God, no.” He smiled, more at himself than me. “All I wanted to do was socialize and party back then. No, I think I discovered how much I liked taking care of people when I got to a point in my life when I realized I had no one to take care of.”
“What do you mean?” I put down the butter knife and looked at him.
Our eyes met.
“There was this girl in high school,” he started, making me blush. “And she really wanted to date me, but I stood her up.”
“But you explained that it wasn’t your fault,” I countered.
“I could have sought her out when I came back to town. I could have apologized a long time ago. As a result, I’ve been cursed to a life of solitude …” He placed the back of his hand on his forehead and tipped his head back in a “woe is me” gesture.
“Oh, you poor thing,” I laughed.
Brevin laughed too. “But seriously, I could have,” he said after a while. “And while it’s true that I’ve been alone for the most part all this time, I never forgot about you.”
His eyes locked on mine but as he stood and leaned forward over the table, his gaze fell to my lips. “May I kiss you?”
I opened my mouth to say yes when the phone’s ringer made me jump.
“Sorry,” Brevin said. “I have it turned up extra loud so I can hear it from anywhere in the house.” He turned to look at it on the counter, then turned back to me. “If it’s Tina, do you want to talk to her this time?”
“Not in the slightest. But I’d like to hear what she has to say to you.” The last piece of this puzzle was making sure Tina wasthe bad guy and it wasn’t just Brevin stringing me along. And the diagonal cut on the sandwiches, of course.
He reached across and brought the whole phone to the table before he picked up the receiver. “Hello?” he said. Brevin paused, then tipped the phone away from his ear so I could hear before he said, “She’s not available to talk.”
