Before I can react, it’s over, and I feel emptier than I ever have before as she steps back. It takes everything in me to force myself to return the smile she’s sending my way.
“I can’t believe you found them all,” she says, still marveling over the plates as if I’m not seconds away from hauling her back to me and kissing the hell out of her.
I clear my throat. “Yeah, me either.”
“How? Where?”
“It was in Minnesota, I believe. I had some time before the game and was poking around a thrift shop when I happened across the last one I was missing.” I grab the Pegasus plate and hold it up. “Collection complete.”
She takes the dish from my hand. “It’s marvelous. Perfectly scratched up and used. I love it.”
I would hope so. I got it for her.
We settle into our chairs at the small dining area, and I try not to notice how we go for the same ones we used to sit in before—me with my back toward the door and her opposite me. She always wanted to be able to see if someone broke in.
“You’d still have to fight them off, but I’d be able to warn you,”she tried to rationalize. It didn’t make sense then and it doesn’t make sense now, but I let it happen anyway. I’d do whatever she wanted if it meant spending an evening with her like this.
“Wow. You weren’t kidding about this order,” she says with wide eyes as I try to divvy things up.
“I got extras. I wasn’t sure how hungry you were, but I’m starving. That muffin was the first thing I had all day.”
I pause, fearing I’ve revealed too much, but Chloe just laughs.
“Oh my gosh. Me too. I, uh, I was nervous for today.”
I look over at her as I set a dumpling on her plate. “Really?”
She nods, pushing an errant strand of hair behind her ear. “Yeah, I mean, we haven’t seen each other since…”
“The airport,” I provide, remembering it well.
I didn’t want her to go to London, but Ididwant her happy, and if that meant a few months apart, then I could do it.
If I had known when I kissed her in the car sitting outside the airport that it would be the last time I saw her for three years, I would have put more into it, would have savored it more. I damn sure would have spent more time memorizing every little detail about her.
I give her two more dumplings, then put a few on my plate and sit back down. We dig into our meal, both lost in thought, and while it’s not an uncomfortable silence that stretches between us, it’s not a comfortable one either. It’s just…there. And we’re just here.
She picks up one of the dumplings, and I watch as she takes a bite. Her eyes roll into the back of her head, and the sound that leaves her could rival that of a porno.
“Holy shit,” she says through a mouthful. “This might be the best damn dumpling I’ve ever had, and I’ve had a lot of them.”
I grin. “I thought you might like them.”
“I thought the ones at that little place we used to frequent in New York were the best I’d ever had, but I think I have to change my mind about that.” She smiles softly. “Remember how the owner—gosh, what was his name? Anyway, he used to always put double in our bag because he knew one wasn’t enough?”
“Kenny, and yes, I remember. He was the best.”
“He was.” She slaps the table excitedly. “And his wives! We could never figure out which Amy he was talking about.”
“I’m still convinced it was both. There’s no way. They looked nothing alike, but I saw him kissing both.”
She snorts, stabbing her hot and sour noodles with her fork. “You did not. You were drunk.”
“It was the middle of the season. I was perfectly sober, thank you very much.Youwere drunk.”
“Oh, I definitely was.”
It was our dating anniversary, and we always celebrated it, no matter how many years had passed. Most people only care about the wedding one, but to us, that was just as important. It was the start of our relationship. Why wouldn’t we acknowledge it?
