"But why haven't you dated anyone since then?" he asked.
"The dating pond here isn't exactly teeming with fish."
Brody nodded but didn't say anything else.
"Your turn," I said.
"Two and a half years."
My eyes widened. "But you weren't separated that long, were you?"
He shook his head. "No. We were separated for about a year before the divorce was final, but after I found out she was cheating on me, I wouldn't touch her."
I wracked my brain for a delicate way to ask, but couldn't find one, so I just spoke my mind. "You didn't, you know, look for someone else?"
"Absolutely not. After everything I went through with Monica, I wasn't exactly interested in starting up something with another woman."
"Not even sex?" I asked, almost shocked. Two and half years was a long time for anyone, but Brody exuded such a strong aura of masculinity, I guess some would call it virility, that I almost couldn't believe it.
"Sex was how I got into that mess with Monica." His eyes glittered, hard and angry. "I don't regret having Jacks, but I hate that I managed to get myself so twisted up that I married Monica instead of just shelling out child support. Or fighting for full custody." He laughed but it was harsh rather than humorous. "I'm fairly certain that if I'd offered Monica enough money, she would have signed away her parental rights from the get-go. Instead, I had it in my head that I needed todo the right thing. That a child needed both parents to be successful."
I understood that attitude because I'd had two great parents who were still crazy in love with each other. But I'd also seen the other side. Kids I went to school with whose parents fought constantly or treated each other like crap. "If the child's parents are miserable together, do you think it's helping in the long run?"
Brody's eyes were nearly piercing when they met mine. "It doesn't help. It makes it worse. And I'm pretty sure that's what you were trying to tell me the day of my wedding."
"Have you been beating yourself up about this for a while?" I asked, grabbing a couple of paper plates from the stack I kept on a shelf above the cabinet.
"Only about five years," he muttered.
Those words hit me right in the chest. Made my heart ache for him.
I decided to tell him exactly what I thought. It might be a mistake, considering we'd just started getting along less than a week ago, but I didn't think it would be. Brody could handle my bluntness. He always had.
"Brody, you probably won't like hearing this but you're human. You made a mistake. We all do that. But I can tell you learned from your mistake."
"And how can you know that?" he asked. I couldn't read the expression on his face. It was one I'd never seen before.
"A lot of men would have gone out and chased the first piece of tail they could find if they discovered their wife was cheating on them. Or at least started dating after they separated and divorce proceedings were underway. You didn't. You focused on your daughter. Now, I'm not saying you don't deserve to find someone you care about, but you didn't go out looking for a revenge fuck. Your attitude and actions are coming from the right place."
He cocked his head and stared at me, but this time I could decipher his emotions.
"Oh, stop looking so surprised. I've grown up too, ya know."
His lips tilted to one side in a half-smile I hadn't seen in a long, long time. One that was usually reserved for me.
"Older and wiser," he replied.
"Both of us." I exhaled hard. "Okay, enough of this maudlin stuff. I'm hungry and cranky. Not a good combination."
Brody didn't say anything else, just came over to the counter where I stood and grabbed one of the paper plates I'd left on it.
I handed him a pair of chopsticks and took a set for myself. We divided up the rolls, though I gave the spicy salmon a wide berth. I loved cooked salmon, but the texture of salmon sashimi made me want to hurl.
I hopped up so that my butt rested on one of the counters and dug in. Brody leaned against the island next to where I sat.
We ate in silence for a little while before I asked, "So what are you doing the rest of this weekend?"
He shrugged and lifted another piece of Louisiana roll to his mouth. "The moving company is bringing things over and unpacking them on Sunday, but that's it."
