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I thought about that for a moment. It was still kind of creepy. “Why—why didn’t you ever say anything to me?”
He sighed. “Honestly? Because I really liked you. I figured I should keep tabs on you just in case it became important to the whole entail and inheritance issue. But then I got to know you. And he never came back. So I thought…maybe it could be me instead.”
I honestly wasn’t sure what to say about all of that. There was nothing I reallycouldsay to make it okay.
“Oh,” I said. “I, um, I see.”
I almost said I was sorry but found I really wasn’t. I felt bad for him. A little. But something told me giving him a round of sympathy would lead him on. And I didn’t want to do that either. Not now.
“I know it can’t go anywhere. But I also want you to know I’m not a psycho. I wasn’t stalking you, Frankie. And I’m really sorry for any discomfort I ever caused you.” Adam shrugged, and it was almost endearing. “In the end, I was just a guy sort of in love with a pretty girl he worked with.”
“Inwhat?”
We both turned to find Xavier towering over me. He still held the wooden spoon in his hand and had the same charmingly disheveled appearance.
I sighed. Not again. The last thing I needed was a fistfight on my doorstep. “Xavi…”
He glanced at me with more softness than I would have expected. “Dinner’s ready, Ces.” Then back at Adam with a darkened expression. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“Let me guess,” Adam said, lip curling with derision. “If I don’t stop talking to her, you’ll knock my front teeth in. Or would you rather smash my nose a second time?” He touched the bridge of his nose, which did look crooked, now that I was looking.
Xavier’s jaw tightened enough that I could actually see the muscle ticking on one side. The hand without a spoon clenched into a granite fist. He obviously wanted to take Adam up on the suggestion.
But to my surprise, he just turned back to me. “Everything all right?”
Slowly, I nodded. I was expecting an explosion, but his attention was wholly on me. With less anger, more kindness. And compassion.
It was sort of like watching a horse try to waterski. Or something equally non sequitur.
“We’re good,” I said.
I quickly ran through Adam’s revelation about the letter, leaving out the rest, which I could tell him later if he really needed it. Xavier glanced at the paper in Adam’s hand, then back at me, and nodded.
“All right, then,” he said. “Adam, you need any more help with that, just call me through the restaurant. Otherwise…” He took a deep breath, exhaled, then turned to me with a half-smile. “I’ll see you inside.”
He landed a quick kiss to my stunned cheek, then left me to turn back to Adam, who watched Xavier’s receding form with something like shock on his own face.
I cleared my throat. “I’d better get in there.”
“I take it you’re back together?” Adam asked. He didn’t sound spiteful. Just sort of sad.
“I…” I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to reveal. “I don’t know what we are, to be honest. Other than expectant parents at the moment.”
“But it’s possible,” Adam pressed.
I found myself shrugging as I answered honestly. “I suppose it’s always possible with him.”
“I see.”
He backed off the steps, and I was distinctly reminded of the many descriptions in books of a nobleman surrendering a duel. I almost expected him to bow, but he didn’t.
“Thank you for the heads-up about the letter. And, um, good luck, Adam,” I told him. “With everything. Really.”
He nodded, then awkwardly handed me the flowers and raised a hand in farewell. “You too, Frankie. Have a good night.”
NINETEEN
Dinner was a distinctly more contemplative affair, filled mostly with Xavier’s delicious curry and Sofia’s chatter while her parents ruminated at the table. Occasionally, Xavier would look up and offer one of us the trademark half-smile I always wanted to turn into an all-out grin. Sometimes, he’d catch me watching him while I pushed the remains of chicken and bell peppers across my plate.
