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“Mia had moved here that summer and your parents came to you guys for the holidays.”
“Yep. And you and your family were here.”
“I took a break from training. The 2016 Olympics were the next year.”
He nodded and stared into his glass. “You seemed so happy, so focused. I wanted to help you so desperately. I wanted to talk to you but you acted like I was nothing. I was so stuck in my own head that I hadn’t considered how you felt. I told myself that maybe I never knew you like I thought I had. Maybe that was just an excuse to help me feel better about my own bad behavior. I don’t know.”
My heart ached. “Jacob.”
He swallowed. “Do you ever think about it? What it would be like?”
“The baby?”
He nodded.
“All the time.” I put my hand to my belly.
He reached for my hand. “We’re different now, Camille.”
He was right. Now that the walls were coming down, I realized we were different people.
I took a chance. “I’m not sure what you’re going to tell me Jacob, but I still care about you. I want you. I want us to be us again.”
“I want that too Camille. I know we’re different, and I haven’t exactly been pleasant to you. I’m sorry for that. I’d like us to start over—if you think we can.”
Repentant Jacob was hard to resist. Instead, I said, “Well, I don’t know, it is a horribly inconvenient time.”
“Don’t joke.”
His vulnerability cracked through me. I stood and went to him. He pushed his chair back. I didn’t even care that people could see us. I sat in his lap, held his face, and kissed him. “I’m sorry too. I assumed so much. I would like us to start over very much.”
It was a sweet kiss. A promising kiss.
The waitress appeared, cleared her throat, and said, “Halibut?”
I giggled and removed myself from his lap. “That’s mine.”
The rest of our evening passed peacefully, with a lot of laughter. He talked about missing the NFL, and I shared with him what Nora had suggested about teaching.
“Camille, that’s amazing.”
“Yeah, I talked to Lane and he said I can use their arena, until I find a permanent location.”
He rolled his eyes. “Lane.”
I poked him. “You are so jealous.”
“Am not.”
His childish response had us both laughing again.
“Anyway, I think I’d be really good at it.”
His eyes were tender when they met mine. “I think so too.”
Conversation flowed easily after that. Our discussion was more mature. I continued sharing my vision with him. I told him about my meltdown at the Foundation and how I found out the calendar expenses had been paid.
“Really?” He asked as he took his last bite of his dinner.
