"What are you having?" Luke asked.
"The salmon."
"You always get the salmon."
"Because it's always good."
He smiled. She felt that warm, settled certainty that still occasionally caught her. No longer new, now it felt permanent. Like something load-bearing.
The waiter came. They ordered. Luke kept hold of her hand across the table, releasing it only when the food arrived, and even then his knee found hers beneath the table and stayed there.
They were halfway through dinner when the first interruption came.
"Grace Hart!”
She looked up. Mrs. Talbot was threading her way between tables.
"I heard the vote went through," she said, beaming.
"As of Tuesday," Grace confirmed.
Mrs. Talbot clasped both of Grace's hands in hers. "I am so pleased. So pleased. This town needs exactly that—someone who actually knows what's happening on the ground."
"I'm just one vote," Grace said.
"Don't do that," Mrs. Talbot said firmly. "Don't be modest about it. You've earned it." She released her hands, nodded approvingly at Luke. "You must be very proud."
"Every day," Luke said. Simply. Without hesitation.
Mrs. Talbot smiled with what Grace could only describe as satisfaction.
"Good," she said, and went to find her own table.
Grace looked at Luke.
"Every day?" she said.
"Every day," he repeated, utterly unabashed. He picked up his fork. "Eat your salmon."
She ate her salmon.
The second interruption came from Tom Wilson, who stopped by on his way out to shake Grace's hand and tell her the hardware store would be happy to sponsor the spring streetscape project if she needed vendors. The third was Eleanor Matthews. The fourth were parents of a student.
Each time, Luke just watched her with that quiet, steady expression.
When Grace turned back to find him looking at her with his chin resting in his hand, elbow on the table, entirely relaxed.
"You're staring," she said.
"I'm allowed to stare at my girlfriend."
"We've been together six months. You should be less—" She waved her fork. "—like that by now."
"Like what?"
She felt the warmth rise in her face. "You know what."
Luke grinned. “You know,” he said slowly. "I don't think I will ever be less like this.”
