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I laughed. “I won’t.”
Bettina grabbed a breadstick from the middle of the table and waved it at me. “Did your father ever stop pulling his pants down? I forgot all about him and Tommy Miller’s shenanigans until Elsie just reminded me.”
“Stop…pulling his pants down?” I said.
Elsie chuckled. “When they were about ten, your father and Tommy made a contest out of mooning each other when the other least expected it. Tommy would knock on Henry’s door, and Henry would answer by pressing his butt cheeks up against the storm door. Or Henry would be riding his bicycle behind Tommy, and Tommy would drop his shorts and flash him where the sun don’t shine. It went on for years.”
“I definitely never heard about any mooning before.”
“This one time, half the girls in our grade saw your daddy’s backside. Henry was in the marching band. When it rained, they would practice in the auditorium on the stage. Tommy didn’t play an instrument, but those boys were connected at the hip. So Tommy did the stage lighting and worked the curtains and stuff. One afternoon, Henry thought it would be funny if he was bent over on the stage when Tommy opened the curtains to get ready for practice. He hadn’t anticipated that the girls’ soccer team would walk into the room right before Tommy drew the curtains.Withtheir coach.”
Everyone laughed, and it set the mood for the next hour. Elsie had a million funny stories to share, but the others all interjected little bits and pieces along the way. It made me envious of how they’d gotten to grow up. Sure, people were in each other’s business, but the upside of that was the community felt like one big family. It was the polar opposite of how I’d been raised—going to private school where people were too busy with things like cello lessons and fencing competitions to get to know each other. My sterile house where only the nanny was ever home lacked the warmth the people of Laurel Lake exuded when talking about their childhood. It made me question how I’d want to raise my own kids someday, something I’d never given any real thought.
We were in the middle of ordering dessert when Opal elbowed me. She lifted her chin toward the hostess stand. “Look what the cat dragged in. And it’s not even Tuesday…”
I looked across the room, and my heart skipped a beat. All eyes at our table joined me in looking at the man talking to the hostess.
Fox glanced up, probably feeling ten eyes burning into him. He locked gazes with me and smiled. But the corners of his lips quickly fell when he took in the other people at my table. He shook his head and closed his eyes.
“You better not be trying to pretend you don’t see us!” Opal yelled across the restaurant.
For a second, I thought Fox might make a run for it. But after he finished talking to the hostess, he walked over. The look on his face was something I might expect when a man walked to take his place in front of a firing squad. He didnotlook thrilled.
“What are you doing here?” Opal asked. “Last time I looked, it was Thursday. Pork tenderloin is your Tuesday meal.”
Fox’s eyes slid to me. “Came to get a piece of cheesecake, since I can’t bake one for shit.”
“You don’t eat sweets.”
I smiled, touched that he’d remembered what I’d told him about my dad using his homemade cheesecake as a peace offering. I wiggled my fingers. “Hi.”
We shared a wordless smile, and a minute later the hostess walked over with a brown paper bag.
“Here you go, Fox.”
“Thanks, Syl.”
Fox didn’t seem to know how to handle himself in front of the crew I was seated with. He was uncharacteristically awkward, which I found endearing. He nodded toward the door. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Sure.” I put my napkin on the table and looked to four beaming women. “Excuse me. I’ll be right back.”
Fox and I walked into the empty lobby. Once we were out of sight, I pointed my eyes to the bag in his hand. “Hankering?”
He shoved his empty hand into his pocket and looked down. “I was hoping to bring it over when you got home later, if it’s not too late. I owe you an apology.”
I wanted nothing more than to spend some time with him. A few days had felt like forever. But I also recognized that a quick fix now would only make breaking the addiction harder in the long run.
I smiled sadly. “Fox, you don’t have anything to be sorry about. You didn’t do anything wrong. You’ve been clear since the first time we met that you weren’t looking for more than what we had. And quite honestly, it was the absolute last thing I was looking for, too.”
Fox’s eyes seared into mine. “Sometimes what you’re looking for comes when you’re not looking at all.”
It was like someone took a bicycle pump to my deflated heart and pumped it back up again. Hope bloomed inside my chest. Though there was still fear there, plenty of it, and I needed what he meant spelled out. “What are you saying?”
Fox reached for my hand and lifted it to his lips for a kiss. “Text me when you get in. Let’s talk without an audience.”
I hadn’t thought we had one, but Fox lifted his chin causing me to turn. All four of my dinner companions were out of their chairs, leaning to one side of the table to spy into the lobby. One head on top of another, they looked like a totem pole. Seeing us turn and catch them, they all scurried back to their seats. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“I shouldn’t be too much longer. We’re finished with dinner.”
