He leans forward. “No, it wasn’t a girl you don’t know about.”
He grabs an oyster and lifts it to my lips. I open, letting him feed it to me.
It’s creamy and delicious with a buttery flavor. I swallow it before reaching for another one. I lift it up to his lips. He grimaces before dutifully opening his mouth and letting me feed him. He winces at the flavor.
“Slimy,” he says, reaching for his wine.
“Have you never had an oyster? I would’ve thought you ate fancy shit like this all the time.”
He shakes his head. “I’ve had one. I just think they’re gross.”
I grab another one off the tray, trying to hide my smile.
“So, who were you trying to get over? Someone from high school?”
“It was you,” he says simply.
I feel like the floor is sinking, like gravity suddenly got stronger. The corner of his mouth turns up. I grab my wine.
“What about you? What has the last decade of your life looked like?”
“I’m not done. What’s up with Noelle then? Another attempt at getting over me when you’d never done anything to even let me know you liked me?”
“Eh,likedoesn’t really cover it. I don’t think you’re ready for that conversation yet.”
“Try me.” I grip the wooden armrests of my chair.
His amber eyes darken. “I’m trying to ease you in, give you a chance to adjust.”
My mind whirls with the memory of him easing into me just a few nights ago. His eyelids look heavy, like he’s remembering too.
Maybe it’s too painful to talk about. Maybe he got her pregnant.
I lick my lips and reach for a truffle-stuffed mushroom. He sighs, shifting his weight. He looks out over the water and chuckles before his eyes come back to mine.
“It was her hair. It reminded me of yours.” He says it like he’s telling me his favorite color, not dropping a bomb in the middle of the table.
“The first time I saw her, I thought she was you. I’m not proud of it, but I kept pretending that she was after that for … a while.”
My limbs lock up. I still don’t know what to do with this information. I know Dayton has OCD and gets hyper-focused on things, I just don’t know how to cope with being one of those obsessions.
But obsession doesn’t mean we’d be happy together. It doesn’t mean he’d kiss me with morning breath and love me when I’ve got crow’s-feet on my face.
The waiter returns. “Can I interest you in any of our dinner entrées?”
Dayton orders the beef Wellington with a salad. I ask for the same as him because I forgot to look at the menu and it sounds good.
“How has the last ten years treated you? Clara kept me informed on some of it.”
It’s odd to me that my mother talked about me to Dayton so much when she knew I couldn’t stand him. I wonder why she didn’t tell me he asked about me.
I don’t know exactly where to begin, so I start with meeting Andrew.
“I met Andrew because I was hired to take his family photos on the beach. He was really sweet to his mom, which I found endearing. He asked me out, and we’d only dated for six months when he proposed. Looking back, that was really stupid. But we eloped and moved in together. He had just started working at his uncle’s law firm. When I found out I was pregnant, he was excited to start a family.”
Dayton’s eyes flash with surprise.
So, Mom didn’t tell him everything.
