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He let out an audible breath. “I was worried because you didn’t answer your phone.”
I was stunned. “We’ve never talked daily, and I just returned from spending the last five days with you.”
“So, maybe I got used to talking to you every night and got concerned when you didn’t answer. I could tell on the plane you were nervous about coming back here and trying to figure out what to do.”
I’d grown accustomed to spending all of my time with him lately, too. “I should probably tell you the same thing I told Brian, then, which is I’m a big girl. As much as having people worry about me is sometimes nice, I think it’s time for me to do the grown-up thing. Maybe tomorrow, though, because tonight I’m having Captain Crunch for dinner.”
He chuckled. “Any ideas thus far?”
I decided to throw out a notion I’d been kicking around while I was running. “I was thinking about traveling at the end of the summer.”
“You mean go on vacation?”
“I’m not sure, but I feel like I need space.”
“Space?” He paused before asking, “This isn’t because of our kiss, is it?”
If it was, I wouldn’t admit it to him—ever. “Contrary to your belief, the world does not revolve around you.”
He laughed at my ego shot. “It does from my point of view.”
“It’s more about trying to figure out what it is I want from life. I need to Eat. Pray. Love or some shit like that.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“The book: Eat. Pray. Love. Obviously I have no problem with the eating part, and the rest is about finding yourself. This woman in the book, after a divorce, traveled to three places in the world and—”
“I’m going to stop you there to say there’s no way you’re wandering around the globe by yourself.”
“Know how to get a twenty-something-year-old woman to do the exact opposite of what you want her to do?”
“How?
“Tell her she can’t do something. We only end up seeing it as a challenge.” Unless it came from my mother, in which case I couldn’t seem to manage that mindset.
He chuckled. “Duly noted.”
“You said you’d be supportive.”
“Well, if it’s a vacation you need, we could plan one. We can go to one of my hotels in Cabo or Cancun or travel to Europe, if you prefer. I can’t take off right now with the baby getting here and helping Josh with some of the business, but I could make time at the end of the summer for a couple of weeks.”
Holy mixed signals Batman. “I don’t have a clue how to respond to that.”
“Then think about it.”
“Okay.” And since we were unable to spend five hours apart without talking and evidently planning vacations together, I decided to go with it. “What do you think about coming over for dinner tomorrow night? I’m craving lasagna and need someone to help eat it.”
He hesitated. “I have a thing, but if you don’t have any plans for Friday night, we could do dinner then?”
“Is it a date? Your thing tomorrow night?” My mind, which had been complacent in not knowing the truth for many years, now needed to hear it.
He sighed audibly. “It’s an engagement that includes a date, yes. Are you okay with hearing that?”
Not really, but I hated even more to remain purposefully oblivious. “Yeah, and do me a favor: don’t tiptoe around your plans anymore. The days of you having to act sensitive because I was a little girl with a crush are appreciated but no longer necessary. A real friend shouldn’t have to hide the fact he has a date.”
His smile was evident in his reply. “Okay, deal. I’ll see you Friday, then?”
“Sure, sounds good.”
