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I wonder if he chose to come here so there wouldn’t be any reminders of the past, but decide against making a big deal of it.
“What about since your divorce?”
“I haven’t dated anyone since Sabrina and I split up,” he says.
“Seriously?”
“Wasn’t that obvious from the way I fumbled over asking you out?”
“Not really. I can’t say I noticed too much in the way of fumbling.”
“Probably because you were worrying about my attentions, and whether they were appropriate.”
“You’re making fun of me again,” I say and he reaches out, taking my hand.
“No, I’m not. I wasn’t making fun of you before, either.”
I can feel myself blush. “I’m sorry about what happened.”
“You don’t need to keep apologizing. It was an easy enough mistake to make in the circumstances.”
“Maybe it was, but I could have been more polite about it.”
“As long as you didn’t agree to have dinner with me just to be polite,” he says, with a slight hint of uncertainty in his voice.
“Of course not.”
His eyes sparkle as he smiles and nods toward my menu. “I guess we’d better decide what we’re gonna eat.”
We both look down at our menus, although he doesn’t let go of my hand, and I like that. It feels comfortable.
“I’m definitely having the crab ravioli to start,” I say.
“So am I. It sounds amazing.”
I smile up at him, wondering how I can feel so at home with someone I barely know. It seems impossible, and yet that’s exactly how he makes me feel… like I belong. He lets his eyes drop to the menu, and I study him for a second longer, my body heating, my skin tingling, and then I go back to working out what to eat… if I can eat anything at all.
The chicken in rosemary and lemon sauce sounds good, and not too heavy, and I ask Tanner for that. He nods his head, flipping to the back of the menu where there’s a wine list. I don’t look myself. I know practically nothing about wine, and I let him make the choice.
Once that’s done, he gives the order to a waiter. He’s not the man who showed us to our seats, but he makes a note of everything Tanner says, and leaves us alone, taking the menus with him.
The moment his back is turned, Tanner moves the flowers from the center of the table to one side, and fills the space with our clasped hands.
“If anyone should apologize, it’s me,” he says.
“What for?”
“Trampling you to the ground.”
“Oh, that.”
“Yeah. That. I feel so guilty about it, but I’ve gotta say, I’m also relieved.”
“Relieved? Why?”
He leans in again. “Because if I hadn’t done it, I’d never have met you.”
“Yes, you would. Your son goes to the school where I teach. We’d have been bound to meet sometime.”
