I blink hard, trying not to show my surprise. At this point, I'm amazed anything could even surprise me.
“Aidan also told me you brought your manuscript with you. May I see it?”
I stare at her, stupefied. I brought the manuscript hoping something like this would happen, but I never actually thought that it would.I’m going to kill Aidan.Or hug him. I can’t decide.
I stammer my answer, getting up to retrieve my overnight bag from where I'd stashed it under the bed after I emptied it. The only thing I left inside was my manuscript.
Terror and excitement take turns for primary emotion as I hand over the spiral-bound stack.
“What's it about?” Instead of looking at the manuscript, Diana fixes her stare on me.
“What's it about?” I echo her question, my voice high-pitched. I wrote all seventy thousand words, but to distill the entire book into a few measly sentences feels impossible.
“I hate that question too, but you're going to have to learn how to answer it.” She looks at me expectantly.
“Okay. Um… well.” The fingers on my right hand trace a pattern on my jeans. I take a deep breath and try to focus. “It's a love story told in reverse. It starts with a couple meeting to sign their divorce papers. They have with them a box of letters and predictions written to each other over the years. They promised themselves if there were ever a problem with their marriage they would read each other's words before making an irrevocable decision. The story explores the fragility of marriage and how even the tightest connection can be weakened, and the reader will see what a lifetime together can truly amount to.”
Diana’s eyes are rapt, her attention still on me. “What happens in the end? Do they end up getting a divorce?”
A satisfied smile creeps on to my face. “You'll have to read the book.”
Diana pretends to fan herself with my manuscript. “You got my attention. Do you mind if I read it?” She lifts the manuscript a few inches into the air.
“Yes,” I shout, my hands flying above my head in excitement.
Diana laughs and stands. “I assume you're hungry? Aidan was starting to make parfaits before I came up here. He said you like the fancy kind. I'm not sure what that means.”
“He's probably re-creating something from a restaurant we go to.”
Diana smiles. “He loves you.”
The smile falls from my face. “What?” Memories of how I spent half the night flood my mind.
“What? You know he loves you. You are the only person he spends time around other than those roommates of his.”
And Allison.But that will be over soon, if it’s not already.
“Right,” I say, trying to recover. “You caught me off guard, that's all. Of course I know he loves me."
Getting up from the bed, I adjust my sweater and follow Diana out of my room. She pauses at the top of the stairs and places a hand on my wrist. In a low voice, she says, “Everyone knows you know. You might see them act differently now. Though honestly, I'm not sure. This is uncharted territory for us."
She starts down the stairs, and I follow, mentally preparing myself for whatever changes I'm about to walk into.
* * *
“I have a surprise for you,”Aidan announces. Setting his mug of steaming hot coffee on the table, he takes a seat across for me and looks at me with a serious gaze.
I look at Aidan's dad and Shawn for a clue as to what Aidan is talking about, but they only shrug. It's been twenty-four hours since everything with them was out in the open, and not a lot has changed. I had prepared myself for an about-face of behavior. Turns out, I didn't need to.
“What?” My trepidation can clearly be heard. Years of knowing Aidan has taught me to be wary when he announces surprises.
Aidan plucks an apple slice from the cutting board in the middle of the table and pops it in his mouth. He chews, swallows, then says, “We are going on a bike ride.”
I point beyond the walls of this nice, warm house. “Out there? No way. It's freezing.”
“That's what jackets are for. And hats. And gloves. And scarves.”
“How do you know I brought all those things?” I raise my eyebrows at him.
