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She smiled. "Told you it's a guilty pleasure."
"Two orders of that, please," I said into the speaker.
"You can pick it up at the next window," the sales associate replied.
"Oh, and two Pepsis." Glancing at Reese, I added, "Unless you want something else."
"No, that's good."
I finished ordering, and by the time we got to the next window, everything was ready. I glanced at Reese, pointing at the parking lot. "Want to eat it on the way or...?"
"No, let's stay here in the parking lot. Otherwise, you won't be able to eat at all, and it tastes best when it’s hot."
"Good thinking. Let's see what the fuss is about. I've never been—" I stopped, thinking I didn’t want to sound like a food snob.
She gasped. "You've never had Taco Bell?"
"No."
She narrowed her eyes. "How about Chipotle?"
"Also no."
"Kentucky Fried Chicken?"
"No."
"Are you an alien?"
"My parents never took me when I was a kid, and I guess I never got into the habit."
"Huh," Reese exclaimed. "Dad didn't take us either, but guess who created that habit by stopping by after school? That's right. This girl right here."
I took a bite out of the gordita. "This is good." I frowned. "Really good, actually."
She grinned. "Yeah, welcome to the world of cheap but super-delicious fast food. It'll probably give me a coronary by the time I'm fifty, but nothing makes me feel better than this."
I stole a glance at her. She was busy with her food, but something about the way she'd phrased the sentence bothered me.
"You needed a pick-me-up after tonight?" I asked her. "Reese... I know I crossed a line."
"It's not about you," she said so quickly, the words almost ran together, but I picked up the gist of it.
"Talk to me," I urged, turning to face her even though it was dark in our corner of the parking lot. The nearest lamppost was at least five cars away.
"I liked tonight. I like you. I liked the kiss." I was sensing a but coming, so I didn't interrupt her. "But I'm afraid of liking it. I'm afraid of liking you."
I had no comeback to that, so we both ate in silence for a bit before Reese asked, "Are you mad at me?"
"No. Why do you keep expecting me to be mad at you? I'm just processing what you said. Please tell me that moron was never abusive to you."
"Not physically, but looking back, I think he was emotionally. I just didn't see it at the time. I was so desperate to please him, to make the relationship work, but I didn't realize he wasn't meant for me. He wasn't the one."
"So you don't regret that your wedding blew up?"
"No. I would have been unhappy with him. I have no regrets about not being married to him."
Once I finished my food, I cleaned my hands off on a napkin, tossed our garbage in one of the cans, and drove out of the parking lot.
