Part of my heart breaks, but I understand. “That does sound wonderful. God, we’ll miss you so much.”
“But is okay,mon petit chou. You now have restaurant.”
I choke on my wine. “I now what?”
“I own building, and I now rent to you for brunch place. Diner of sorts. And I charge low rent, so is no problem.”
At first, I don’t register what she’s suggesting. Then it hits me. “You think I should open a restaurant?”
“Just for the brunch menu, okay?” Nicole clears my plate and walks away as she calls back, “But you stay open when you like. Does not have to be just morning time. Evening eggs Benedict? Afternoon omelet? All sound nice.”
Those do sound nice. And I don’t think it’s just my full stomach and the glass of wine that are talking.
My drive home is slow, and Shallots keeps his head in my lap for the whole ride. He knows something has been wrong before tonight even though I have tried to smother him with lots of positive chatter and a regular routine, but animals know all.
The idea of seeing Danny at my house is both wonderful and also terrifying because I have no idea what he will say. Nor what I will say. But I do know that I have missed the hell out of him. And now, I have this brunch-restaurant bullshit rolling around in my head.
My heart sinks when I pull up to an empty driveway. He’s not here. After I feed the hungry dog and pour him a fresh bowl of water, I see how the sunlight sprays into the kitchen in a way that makes me look up.
The ceiling.
He was here today.
God, the glorious green tin tiles are in. And the light fixture I chose and that Danny installed is outrageous.. A gold bulb hanging inside an iron rectangular frame, both encased within a glass dome. It finishes off the kitchen in a way that only he could have seen. I scan the tiles over and over because they are beyond what I could have hoped for.
Suddenly, one tile that is not like the others catches my eye, and I zoom in on it. A polar bear is etched into the tin. My heart swells.
There’s also a very large item, heavy and wrapped in thick white paper, resting outside the kitchen. No delivery information, no return address, nothing. Likely something I ordered after too many glasses of wine. But there’s a note taped to it that makes my heart jump.
SOMETHING TO FILL THAT EMPTY SPACE IN YOUR STAIRWAY.
I’ve only barely torn back the paper when I know that this is from Danny. Right away, I see the fragments of glass that he shattered in the greenhouse, now grouted, and when I peel back more, I am looking at the most beautiful mosaic of glass pieces ever. He took the shards of glass from what he’d destroyed of his mother’s work and found beauty and worth despite his pain.
It only takes me a minute to see that the colors in this piece are made up of the ones Danny showed me were mine.Ours.The ones that he stroked over my skin. I cannot wait for us to hang this piece together.
His mother might be a complete disaster, but she also created such beauty—and not just with her art. She gave me and so many other people a gift with this boy.
Later, I sit on the dock because I know this is where he’ll show up. It’s over two hours of waiting, but I’m right.
“Did you know that the San Diego Zoo has other live cameras?”
Hearing his voice shatters me with relief, and I slump over, trying to hold back tears, but I can’t look at him just yet.
“Like the ape cam? Today, the orangutans and simians were munching on heads of lettuce and playing around with—I kid you not—old calendars. Like printed calendars of I don’t know what, but they were having a blast. Staring at pictures and then using the pages to shield themselves from the sun. Holding them close like they were reading them, studying them. It was awesome.” His steps reach closer. “And they love lettuce. And some kind of shredded wood material. I tweeted the zoo about this, but now, I’ve forgotten what it is exactly because I cannot stop staring at your figure—the impeccable shape of you—and I’m so flustered. But it’s bundles of wood shavings that these guys love and roll around in for hours. We should be watching that shit together.”
“We will.” When I finally bring myself to turn, I’m stunned. Danny is killing it in a fitted black suit, and I cannot hide my reaction. “Fuck, Danny.”
“You brought one of my truths to life. I wanted to wear a suit, and I finally felt like this was an opportunity.”
And he is wearing it to the nines. It’s tailored so perfectly to his body, and he’s showing off a sexy white shirt, the top few buttons undone. I don’t know what to say because everything that runs through my head is all about how much I’ve missed him, how much I’ve wanted to hold him, protect him, and give him everything he’s given me. Nothing about how he should have trusted me enough to talk to me, to open up to me, because that doesn’t matter now. He’s back, and I know that he’s not leaving.
But I just smile and say, “So, you just left the top few buttons of your shirt undone so that I could about lose my mind? And you think I care about a live ape cam now? Although we’ll have to get back to that because I admit that I’m intrigued. But you arefarmore intriguing right now.”
He raises a hand and waves a piece of fabric. “I didn’t know how to deal with this tie, so …” He walks slowly down the dock and reaches down to take my hand.
I stand and quickly press my body against his, trying to bring us close enough so that we’re shielded from everything. Just for a heartbeat.
Relief floods every part of my body when he lifts me up and crushes me against him.
