Chapter 43
My heart takes flight and I want to dance around the room. Which is stupid. If he isn't sure whether he likes me or not, my terrible dance moves would bump him solidly into the anti camp. “Amy, I promised you before and I'll promise you again. No matter what, I'll always be your friend. You guys are moving soon, but if you ever come back to visit Atlanta, you're welcome to stay here with me, or come to dinner.”
“Unless you marry someone else,” she mutters.
She's way too smart for a little kid. “Well, then it might be kind of weird.”
“Not for me, it wouldn't be.”
“You have so much to look forward to right now,” I say. “Let's enjoy playing together and seeing the dog while we can, okay?”
“I wrote Santa a letter,” she whispers.
“Oh?” I ask.
“I asked him if you could be my mom, and we could get a dog. The perfect puppy.”
“Well, maybe you'll get a puppy,” I say. “Who knows?”
She shakes her head. “I think Santa knew there was something better than a puppy. Andy is the best dog I've ever met. Now I just need the other part.” The corner of her mouth curls up into a smile and she scampers off to wash her hands just as the little boys come barreling into the room, each of them holding a truck.
Troy and Amy love the clam chowder, but Chase won't even try it.
“It looks yucky,” he says.
I make him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. “Here you go, sweetie.”
He beams at me.
“You'll regret that precedent,” Luke says. “At my house, if they don't like dinner, they go to bed hungry.”
“You can't be serious,” I say.
He nods. “It's the only way to make sure they learn to eat new things.”
“When they get hungry enough, they'll eat what you offer,” Trudy says.
I suddenly feel left out, like the only person here who knows nothing about kids, and has no right to an opinion.
I stand up and grab the cake from the fridge so I don't have to meet anyone's eye. The frosting was a little runny, so I tossed it inside to firm it up. I start slicing pieces and passing them out. When Chase sees the cake, he bolts his sandwich in three bites.
“Whoa there, slow down,” I say. “You might choke.”
Chase chews and swallows. “I love chocolate cake.”
Luke laughs. “To be completely fair, Chase loves any kind of cake.”
“I'm glad I picked this for dessert, then,” I say.
“Mary doesn't cook dinner very often,” Trudy says. “She always hated it when we were kids, but she's a gourmet dessert chef.”
“Hey now, don't set the bar too high.” I carry the slices over to the table and set them in front of everyone.
Amy takes a big bite and coos. “Oh, Mary. Can we save some of this for Santa Claus? I bet he's sick to death of cookies, and this is really good!”
“I think that can be arranged,” I say. “I'll send your dad home with some.”
“Wait!” This time, it's Chase objecting. “Won't we see you tomorrow? We're having a big party!”
I pat his sticky hand. “It's wonderful you'd like me there, but I have a party to attend tomorrow, too.”
His face falls. “Oh no.”
Amy chimes in. “Can't you skip it? We're moving soon.”
My heart constricts and I want to tell them I'll miss it, but I can't do that. “I'm so sorry Amy, but I'm sure I'll see you again before you move.” I glance at Luke and he reaches over and takes my hand in his.
“You certainly will if I have any say in the matter.”
“Oh fine,” Amy says. “But you'll be sad when you hear how good Uncle Paul's pumpkin pie and Dad's ribs are.” Her eyes widen. “Not as good as your cake, but really close.”
I don't care as much about the ribs or the pie, but I do wish I could be in two places at the same time. When dinner's over, we let the kids play for a bit while we chat.
“So tell me about this Uncle Paul,” I say to Luke as I stand up and move to the sofa. “Is he your brother?”
Luke follows me and when I sit down, he sits right next to me. “You have one sibling, a sister. I have one sibling, and it's a brother.”
“And?” I ask.
“And what?” He puts his arm around me.
“Is he older or younger? Taller or shorter? Are you close? What does he do, and where does he live?”
“Call 911,” Luke tells Trudy, who has followed us over. “I'm being interrogated by the Gestapo!”
I roll my eyes. “Seriously. You've met my sister now, but I'm just hearing about Paul.”
“I'm older than him, by five years. I didn't want to admit it, because then I'd have to admit that I'm forty.”
“Oh no.” I hold my hand to his forehead. “You didn't tell me you were on death's door.”
He takes my hand in his. “I didn't want to scare you off, but I managed to anyway.”
“I toughened up,” I say. “I won't be scared so easily again. Not that I'm at risk, with you leaving in like two weeks.”
He nods. “Not much time left for scaring, I'm afraid.”
“But we do have time for you to tell me more about this younger brother.”
He grins and leans back in his chair. “He's smarter than me, by a wide margin. I was always good with my hands, and he always had his nose in a book. When he wasn't reading, he spent a lot of time in science labs, blowing things up.”
“Sounds like a real dork,” Trudy says. “But I'm not sure I believe you. Older siblings are a little too critical sometimes.”
“You're both welcome to come tomorrow. You could meet him yourself,” Luke says. “He lives in Atlanta, so he's around pretty often. He travels all the time for work, but when he's here, he comes to play with my kids.”
“Does he have any kids?” I ask.
“Oh, I know where this is going.” Luke puts his arm around me. “He sounds like a better candidate than I do, is that it? He's local and isn't planning to move, he has no kids, and he's brainy. Well, I got news for you, sister. I already called dibs.”
“I'm not the last drumstick.” I feign displeasure, but really I'm floating on cloud nine. “You can't call dibs on me.”
“Watch me.”
Luke leans forward, with Amy on the floor curled up with Andy, and Trudy sitting in the chair next to us, and kisses me square on the mouth. When he pulls back, I can't help sighing. I've missed Luke. A lot.
“Dibs,” he says. “Witnessed, right?” He glances over at Trudy and she giggles.
“Yep, I saw it. Sorry, Mary, but you'll never be able to date his brother Paul. It would violate the rules of sibling ethics.”
“Phew,” Luke says. “Glad we got that cleared up.”
I lean my head against his shoulder. Before too much longer, my eyelids get heavy. Luke and Trudy are talking and laughing, but I'm so tired, I just want to curl up and go to sleep with Luke by my side.
Gentle hands shake me awake. “I fell asleep? Again? I'm sorry.”
Luke's breath on my face makes me want to close my eyes again. “You've been working two jobs. I don't blame you.”
I rub my eyes and notice that I'm not the only one. Amy's asleep with her head on Andy's belly. Luke picks her up, and Andy sits up, looking at him with mournful eyes.
“You know, before you came over,” I whisper, “I was Andromeda's favorite person. I have a feeling that's no longer true.”
“Don't worry. You're still someone's favorite person.” Luke brushes his lips against mine, careful not to jostle Amy. “Thanks for inviting us over.”
I slip into a pair of Hunter boots, but don't bother with a jacket. I scoop up Chase, and Trudy hands me a Tupperware with chocolate cake for Santa. I walk out to the truck, and notice the temperature has dropped again. I buckle Chase in while Luke shushes Amy, who has awoken thanks to the freezing night air, and buckles her in, telling her it's going to be okay.
Her whimpers turn into tears when she realizes they're leaving. “I don't want to go, Dad. I want to stay with Mary. Please! I'll be so quiet she won't know I'm here.”
I walk over and give her a hug and a kiss. “I'm sure I'll see you soon.”
“Tomorrow?” she asks.
I bite my lip. “I'm not sure. I've got my delivery to make, and some last minute presents to wrap.”
“Christmas day, then?” Her tiny hands grab mine, and she squeezes. “Please?”
“You just want me for my dog,” I joke.
She shakes her head, deadly serious. “Even if you didn't have Andy, I'd still love you.”
I want to unbuckle her and give her a marathon hug. It's like her words are gluing the fragments of my broken heart back together. I kiss her forehead. “It's time for you to go now, but I promise I'll see you soon. And in the meantime, I put some of my cake for Santa in a container underneath Chase's feet. Okay?”
She nods, and I step away, turning back toward the house. Instead of climbing into the driver seat, once the door shuts on Amy, Luke grabs me gently, spins me around and pulls me into his arms. He's fast this time, not slow. He kisses me urgently, his lips covering mine, his arms wrapping all the way around me. The ground beneath me spins, my heart beats a staccato rhythm, and my arms twine around his neck. I don't ever want him to stop.
But of course, eventually he does. He can't let his kids sit in a running truck forever. I stand outside while he backs out, ignoring the freezing gusts of wind as long as I can still see his truck. Once he's gone, I walk back inside. I notice the wrapped horse stuffed animal is still sitting on my end table.
I text him right away, in case he wants to turn around.
-YOU LEFT THE HORSE TOY.
Ten minutes pass. Then another five. No response. Which probably means he's a responsible driver, which is good.
Finally, I hear a bing.
-UH OH. GUESS THAT MEANS YOU'LL HAVE TO COME HELP ME DROP OFF TOMORROW.
WAIT, DID YOU DO THAT ON PURPOSE?
He replies with a single word.
-COSTANZA.
I show it to Trudy. “What the crap does that mean?”
A quick Google search shows me that George Costanza is a character on an old sitcom, 'Seinfeld.' Trudy and I stay up half the night watching episodes until we figure out what he meant. In one episode, George Costanza leaves an alarm clock at the home of a woman he likes. He confesses it's part of his plan. Ladies may not like him initially, but if he spends enough time around them, he grows on them. He leaves things intentionally, so he can have a reason to see them. He does this over and over until they've fallen under his bizarre and awkward spell.
It's a cute reference, but Luke doesn't need gimmicks. He's already grown on me. In fact, I think he's more than grown on me. I think I might love him.