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“Thank you, Goldie,” he said, this time louder. More sincere. “And I apologize for my snapping when you walked up. It’s been a…” He released a weighted sigh. “Thank you.”
I nodded. “Of course. Good luck. Let me know if you need anything else. I’m sorry again for your loss.”
He opened the driver’s door to his car and hesitated as he held his hand against the door. “I didn’t despise her,” he softly stated. “She was the salt.”
I raised my eyebrows. “The salt?”
“Teresa was the salt of the world—she added flavor to everything. She was eclectic, weird, and unique in the most bizarre ways. She drank wine in the mornings and coffee at night. She didn’t believe in organized religion, but she had the strongest amount of faith in God, which I still struggle with. She cursed like a sailor and prayed like a saint. If you ever saw her not wearing a cross necklace, it was because she gave it away to someone on the street who she thought needed it more.
“She was messy. Her house was always stocked high with books because she was packed with knowledge. She never finished high school but was the smartest woman ever. She grew up with nothing and somehow made everything. She marched to the beat of her own drum and lived her life against conformity. She was the opposite of me, but that was a good thing. Because to all my darkness, she added light. She was the only person I’ve ever known who saw me for who I was and still loved every part. She taught me everything I knew about being in a kitchen, and I owe my life to her.” His voice cracked as he took a pause. I felt it, too—his shattering heartbeats. “She was my best friend when I had no one else, and a part of me left this world when she went away without me. The world’s a little darker without her here, and all food seems to be missing a little bit of salt.”
There he was. The real, gentle Alex he’d kept hidden from the rest of the world.
He didn’t give me a chance to reply before he climbed into his car and drove away.
Still, his words lingered in my head as I crossed the street and wiped the tears that found a way to fall down my cheeks for my grumpy business neighbor who loved his aunt so much and missed her so deeply.
As I entered the restaurant, I shook off my emotions and returned to Avery, who held up the clock on her phone to show I was gone for a solid fifteen minutes. “I ate your appetizer because it was getting cold,” she told me as she stuffed the last dumpling into her mouth.
I laughed. “Fair enough. We’ll order more.”
“Sorry, sorry!” Willow shouted, darting into the restaurant. Her curly hair was bundled up into a bun on top of her head with a headband of flowers—flowers she’d probably picked earlier that day while she was hiking. She wore one of her long, flowy dresses with giraffes all over it. One thing about my little sister was she’d always have flowers in her hair and a smile on her face.
She slid into her chair beside Avery and melted into the seat like a deflated balloon. “Am I late?” she asked.
“As always,” Avery replied with a disappointed look.
Willow’s grin only grew deeper as she placed her hands on Avery’s cheeks and leaned in and kissed each one. “Time is only real if you allow it to be.”
Avery gave Willow a blank stare and then shook her head. “You’re so weird.”
“It’s why you love me,” Willow countered. “So what was the SOS? Why did you want to do dinner?”
Avery took a deep breath and reached for her purse. As she dug through said purse, she pulled out three ring boxes and set them on the table in a line. She then opened each box, revealing three beautiful diamond rings—one pear-shaped, one princess cut, and one emerald.
“Oh my goodness,” I breathed out, covering my mouth.
“Did you rob a jewelry store?” Willow asked, picking up one of the rings and studying it up close. “Are you on the run?”
“Wesley proposed,” Avery explained. “Well, kind of.”
“How does one kind of propose?” I asked.
“He sat me down, put these three boxes in front of me, and said, ‘pick one.’ I, of course, panicked, shoved the rings into my purse, and then put out the SOS to you both.”
“Wait. Wesley proposed and you took the rings without answering him?”
She nodded. “Yup. He’s waiting back at home for an answer.”
“Avery!” Willow and I scolded at the same time.
“What? This is a big deal. I cannot make a big-deal decision without my sisters.” She bit her bottom lip, and her eyes flashed with emotions. “And I mean, what if I’m not a wife?”
