“The usual, thanks, Suzie,” he told her with a warm smile. He’d always been so generous with his smiles, Kenny thought with a pang. Seeing it now drove home how very little he’d smiled around her over the last six months.
Suzie returned his smile, then shifted that same smile to Kenny, who had placed her order just a couple of minutes before Smith had walked in.
“Would you like us to serve your meals at the same time?” she asked and Kenny slanted Smith a questioning glance. He gave a brief, barely perceptible nod and Kenny smiled at the server.
“How thoughtful,” she said warmly. “Yes, thank you. That would be lovely.”
“Will do,” Suzie sing-songed and flounced away to the next table.
“How did you get here this morning?” he asked.
“Uber.”
“And how’s your toe?”
“Improving.”
“Are you overdoing it?”
“You know me,” she said casually.
“Do I?”
That made her pause and she tugged her lower lip into her mouth.
“I’ve been trying not to do too much,” she said. “In fact, the reason I’m here is because I hired a service to give the place a deep clean today.”
“Good.” His left hand was resting on the table and hetapped his index finger rhythmically for a few moments while staring at her in contemplative silence.
Kenny quelled the impulse to fiddle with the ends of her hair, and endured his perusal with a calm she was far from feeling.
She dropped her gaze to his hand and then stilled.
“You’re still wearing your wedding ring,” she blurted without thought, then immediately cringed when the measured tapping stopped and his hand curled into a fist. The gold of his wedding band gleamed mockingly before he withdrew his hand to beneath the table.
“Iamstill married,” he pointed out, sounding cool and controlled. He nodded toward her hand, which was curled around her coffee mug. “You’re wearing yours.”
She looked down at the twin bands of her wedding and engagement rings. The diamond of her engagement ring gleamed in the sunlight and she felt a pang of guilt at the sight.
She shouldn’t still be wearing it. She’d never really been entitled to it.
“You’ll want your grandmother’s ring back,” she said, her breath snagging in her throat as she began to tug at her rings.
“What?” He looked taken aback by her words.
The painkillers she’d taken that morning had caused her fingers to swell a little and the rings refused budge.
“I’m sorry.” The apology came on a panicked hitch of breath. “They’re stuck. Just…”
She sucked her finger into the mouth, hoping the lubrication would help, but the rings remained where they were.
“God,” she whimpered, head bent as she frantically wrenched at the rings once again.
“Jesus, Kenna.Stop.” Smith’s large hand came into her field of vision to wrap around her abused finger. “You’re going to hurt yourself.”
“It’s your grandmother’s engagement ring. It doesn’t belong to me. It never has.”
“I never said it was herengagementring,” he mumbled, sounding uncomfortable as he withdrew his hand from hers.
