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Curious, I turned the tree over to look at the bottom, and sure enough, the year was etched there, along with my name. Rubbing my hand across the etching, I choked back tears as I said, “How did we get to this point? I don’t think I’ve cried this much in my entire life.”
Jacob gave me a sad smile. “Let’s sit first, and I’ll try to explain.”
He pulled out my chair, and when I took a seat, he scooted it in when I sat down. No one had ever done that for me before. I watched him settle into his own seat and marveled at the fact that he was sitting right in front of me when only moments before I’d been mourning his loss. I admitted I couldn’t have been happier, even though I was still incredibly pissed at him.
Jacob appeared to be channeling my thoughts because he said, “It’s really good to see you, Millie, I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too. But there is one thing I need to ask you—did I really see what I thought I saw that day?”
Jacob nodded. “Yes. I had hoped to tell you in another way.”
He sighed and placed his hand on the table, palm down. Looking at it for a second, I didn’t hesitate to lift mine and place it on top of his. He immediately flipped his hand over and wrapped his fingers around mine, rubbing his thumb across the back of my hand.
I let his admission sink in and gave myself permission to accept the truth of something I’d never thought possible.
“Food is here,” a voice said from the only other door in the room.
We watched as an older Asian woman came walking toward us, two big bowls of steaming hot soup in her hands.
“Bubbie!” I said. “What are you doing here?”
“This is my place,” she said with a beaming smile. “It’s really good to see you again, Millie. I was very happy when Jacob asked me to cook a feast for you two.”
“Bubbie’s a phenomenal cook who used to own her own restaurant,” Jacob said.
“Jacob flatters me,” she said, giving him a kiss on the top of his head.
Warmth spread through me at the sight of their obvious affection for one another.
She placed the bowls in front of us. “This is one of my favorite noodle soups. It has noodles with pork and pickled greens. Enjoy!”
“Oh, this is one of my favorites too!” I said. “I haven’t had this in so many years. I can’t even remember the last time Mom made this.”
“I’m glad to hear,” Bubbie said. “Eat up. I’ll bring out the rest in a second.”
I was already digging into the soup, too busy to respond. I heard Jacob and Bubbie chuckle, but I didn’t care. This was divine.
We ate in quiet for a bit before I came up for a breath. Looking over, I noticed Jacob had already finished and had been watching me eat. “Are you always so creepy with girls?” I asked him.
He laughed. “No, just with you.” And winked.
That made me laugh. “That was absolutely delicious, and I can’t believe you brought your grandmother here just to cook for us.”
“It’s her favorite thing to do, and she insisted. You don’t say ‘no’ to Bubbie.”
“I like her.” And I did. She had a motherly warmth about her that I craved.
“I’m glad. She’s one of the best grandmothers one can have.”
I sighed, feeling content. I had delicious food, the warmth of a grandmother, and Jacob. I looked up to see him looking at me, and I couldn’t look away. There was something about him that not only calmed me down but caused a warmth to envelop me. No one had ever made me feel like this before.
“Good to see the two of you enjoying my food,” Bubbie announced, coming back through the door and putting down a bowl of sticky rice and dumplings in front of us.
“Oh my goodness, Bubbie, you’ve made so much food,” I said.
“All my favorites for you two.” She winked and walked back through the door.
“How are we going to be able to finish all of this?” I asked Jacob with a laugh as I eyed the food.
