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By the time I finish my story – ending on how I woke up alone in the tent on the last morning – Maddie’s ordered a second drink and we’ve nearly finished our burgers.
“I’m so jealous,” Maddie grumbles.
A laugh rolls out of me, “You should be.”
I feel so much lighter, like some sort of burden has been lifted off my mind just from telling Maddie about Beckett. I knew he’d been consuming my thoughts, but I hadn’t realized how much it’d been weighing me down.
Maddie sags against the back of her chair, “Seriously though, I haven’t had sex in...” she drums her fingers on her chin, “I don’t even know how long it’s been.”
“Technically, I didn’t have sex either.”
She scoffs, “No, you just had a hot-as-hell fingerbang and a face fuck session with the man you’ve been pining over for 23 years.”
I grin, “I mean, if you’re gonna word it like that.”
“You’re the worst.”
I grab the bottle of ketchup and squeeze more onto my plate. “I won’t deny that it was a good time.” I pop a fry into my mouth. “But you could be getting some too, if you took the time to start dating.”
“Not everyone has a childhood crush to just walk back into their life and sweep them off their feet,” she gestures around the room. “How am I supposed to meet anyone new while living in this dinky town and working all the damn time?”
When I lift an eyebrow, she waves me off, knowing what I’ll say.
We’ve had the online dating discussion too many times to count. Granted I’ve never used a dating app either, but I’m also not the one who’s complained for years about wanting a boyfriend.
“So-” Maddie starts, changing the topic, “did you make plans to see each other again?”
“No,” I sigh and it’s my turn to sag in my seat. “I don’t know if he had something pressing to get to, but he was gone from the campsite when I woke up. Like all the way gone. He didn’t even stick around to get his sleeping bags.”
“I mean, that could be good…” Maddie drums her fingers against the table. “You said it was high end stuff, so he’ll probably want it back.”
“Maybe,” I shrug a shoulder, “but we didn’t exchange numbers or anything so I’m not sure how he’d accomplish that.”
Maddie purses her lips and hums.
Shaking off the thought, I sit up straighter, “I just wish I knew what he was thinking.”
Maddie laughs, “Right. As if men have any fucking clue what they’re thinking themselves.”
“Fair.”
A devilish look comes over Maddie’s features, “Okay so now that I know the good stuff, I need you to remind me what he looks like. I remember when he came into the coffee shop that one time, but that was forever ago and I just remember him being hot. And I remember you making a fool of yourself.”
“Har har,” I fake laugh then heave out a breath, “I dunno. He’s just hot. I’m not good at describing people.” I let my gaze track over the people in the restaurant, like I might suddenly find Beckett’s doppelganger. “He looks like…”
My eyes keep jumping around, no one close enough in appearance to even point out.
Until movement near the door catches my attention.
My stomach clenches and a wave of nausea rolls through me.
“He looks like that,” I whisper, staring at Beckett as he walks past the bar and towards the main dining area. Not alone.
Cueing into the change in my tone, Maddie leans into the table and lowers her voice, “Wait, is he here?”
I nod, watching as the waitress brings Beckett, an attractive woman, and a kid to a table. They’re just at the edge of my sight line, but when the waitress stops to set the trio of menus on the table, Beckett drapes his arm over the woman’s shoulders.
I only got a glance of her as she passed, but she looked to be about Beckett’s age. And she’s pretty. Her light brown hair and features reflected back in the small boy standing just behind them. He looks to be about 8 years old and something about him feels vaguely familiar, but I can’t focus on him right now. I’m too zeroed in on the woman leaning against Beckett’s chest. At the smile on his face as he looks down at hers.
