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Tyler’s words came with a rush of movement, as he spooned into me from behind. His arms went around my waist, squeezing my belly. Goosebumps erupted along the full length of my arms, as his mouth dropped down to kiss my neck.
“Is it the same thing you showed melasttime?” I quipped. “When you dragged me into the walk-in and—”
“No, no,” he laughed. “Although I sure as hell wouldn’t mind a little of that.”
I twisted to face him, then smirked. “Work first, remember?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
He brushed the hair from my face, staring me in the eyes. His gaze went to one side, though. To a spot at my hairline, just over my left ear.
“Hmmm,” he said, reaching out to touch it.
“What?”
For a moment I enjoyed the feel of his fingers, gently tracing my skin. And then I knew what he was looking at, and my body stiffened.
My scar.
“We fell a lot while snowboarding,” Tyler said, matter of factly. “But I don’t remember this one. How’d you get it?”
I swallowed hard. “I uh… I hit my head.”
He chuckled. “Obviously.”
“You always did say I was clumsy, remember?”
“Yes, but—”
“So what is it you wanted to show me, then?”
Tyler let my hair fall back into place, and relief flooded through me. He nodded toward the back room and I followed. The sheer number of boxes piled here had seemed insurmountable three days ago. Now, finally, we were seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.
“I found something my mother had tucked away, that I didn’t know she had,” Tyler explained. “Thought you might get a kick out of it.”
He reached into an open box and rummaged around for a second or two. When his hand came back out again, he was holding a photo.
My eyes went wide. My mouth dropped open.
“Oh. Wow.”
“Cool, right?”
“Holy shit Tyler, yes.”
The little 4x6 photo was a beautiful shot of Luna and Giacinto, standing atop a cliff on one of their few vacations to the Mediterranean. In the background was a breathtaking harbor; pristine white boats against the deep blue waters of what could very well be the Aegean Sea.
“I was thinking of putting this up,” Tyler said. “It’s history, you know? Honor the founders and all that.”
“Put it up?” I cried. “You should blow it up, too! It belongs right behind the counter, where these people worked so hard and spent so much of their lives.”
Tyler smiled, and I thought I saw his eyes go glassy. I knew his childhood had been hard. He’d been in and out of so many homes he’d practically given up caring, until this adorable older couple had taken him in.
Still, going through all that hardship had made him the person he was. He’d told me so more than once; that if he could change anything at all, he would leave things exactly as they were.
“By the way,” Tyler added, “I also found this.”
He handed me another photo, and my whole face lit up. Within it Tyler sat with his arm around me, in our booth at the old restaurant. Jay and Maggie sat across from us, their heads turned around and smiling.
