The moving pieces in her life werealreadyfeeling less sharp. That was all Russ, Cherry knew that. It made her feel very unevolved as a person that she couldn’t get over one man until she’d snagged another. There was no complete and confident version of Cherry that had emerged from the separation andthenfallen for Russ. Cherry hadn’t bloomed until Russ shined on her. It was pathetic...
... but it was working.
Cherry focused on some vacation souvenirs (snow globes, salt and pepper shakers, figurines) that had been sitting on the table for weeks because neither she nor Tom could decide what to do with them. She peeled off the Post-it notes and set all the knickknacks in a box. She’d wrap them in bubble wrap later.
She checked her phone to see what time it was. Tom had texted back—“That’s okay. Thanks.”She shrugged. He could take the vindaloo home.
Cherry was making real progress on the dining room table, so she kept going. There was a complete set of china that they’d found at an estate sale. The pattern along the border was lime green with red rosebuds. They were beautiful dishes—Cherry would keep them. She’d use them. She carried them into the kitchen and put them in a cabinet that Tom had emptied.
When she walked out of the kitchen, with a damp washcloth, Tom and Stevie were coming in the door. He hadn’t knocked or rung the bell.
“Hey,” Cherry said. “I didn’t get your message in time. You can just take the food with you.”
“Sorry,” Tom said. “Thanks.” He unclipped Stevie’s leash with one hand.
Cherry started wiping off the table.
Tom walked into the dining room with the takeout bag. “Did you decide to make a clean sweep and give it all away?”
“Nope. I’m keeping it all.” She glanced at him. “Unless there was something you wanted?”
Tom looked surprised. “No.” He rested the bag on the table. “You’re keeping the snow globes?”
“Yep. For now. I’ll see how I feel when I unpack them.”
“After you move.”
“Yeah, I guess.” It felt good to see the table again. Cherry just feltgood, in general. She turned back to Tom. “You sure you don’t want to eat before you go? It’ll be better hot.”
Tom looked like he was still processing the situation. It made Cherry smile. Tom was forever processing. He’d probably still be trying to make sense of their wedding by the time they were divorced.
She took the bag from him. “Yeah?”
He nodded. “Okay, yeah.”
“You get the dishes and forks.”
Cherry opened up the plastic containers of meat and rice. She laid out the bread and popped open the cups of raita and mint chutney. She could hear Tom washing his hands. “Do you want something to drink?” he called.
“I’ll take a Coke Zero.”
“It’s kind of late...” He knew the caffeine would keep her up.
“It’s Friday night.”
“Time to get wild,” Tom said, coming back into the room with dishes and a can of pop. He stopped when he saw the food. “This looks great. I haven’t had Jaipur in forever.”
Probably not since the last time they’d ordered it together. “Sit down,” Cherry said.
Tom handed her an empty plate. They sat on neighboring sides of the table, in the opposite corner from where they used to sit.
“Speaking of the weekend,” he said, “I’m headed back to Los Angeles tomorrow.”
“Oh, yeah?” Cherry was serving herself some food. She’d ordered chicken saag.
Tom reached out and gave her a scoop of his lamb. “Yeah, just for a few days.”
“Do you have movie stuff?”
