A Year to Remember(33)

“Your brother used to talk about you while we worked out at the gym. I hoped you’d come out to New York for a visit but you never did. Then when I saw your picture in his apartment, I knew I had to meet you.”

“What picture?”

“He has a picture of you and him from your cousin’s wedding.”

I immediately knew what picture he referred to. It’s one of those pictures you wish you could burn, because you look awful, but the picture doesn’t belong to you. I weighed two hundred and fifty pounds in that picture. Even though I wore a beautiful dress and my hair looked halfway decent, I never saw anything but my three chins. That’s the picture he saw and liked?



“I hate that picture.”

“You looked amazing in that picture. When we met at the rehearsal, I kept trying to approach you, but I was too nervous. When you gave the toast at the wedding, I couldn’t wait any longer. I had to get you to notice me. I’m pretty shy when it comes to dating, and I don’t have a lot of experience with it. I really wanted to kiss you.”

Did he mean he wanted to kiss me, or was he implying it was he that had kissed me in the dark that night? Was he my mystery kisser? I didn’t want to ask him, in case he wasn’t, since that would put a damper on our conversation. That left only one way to confirm it.

We had to kiss.

“Is that why you didn’t call me? Because you’re shy?”

“That, and because I’m not Jewish.”

I knew he wasn’t Jewish, but it didn’t occur to me until now that it could be a problem. If we became serious, it could become the kind of issue that would end our relationship. Should I risk it? I’ve never dated anyone that wasn’t Jewish. I’m also still single. Maybe, I should broaden my horizons.

“I think we should worry about our religion if we get serious. Now, we’re just two single adults trying to see if there’s anything with potential between them. Certainly, we shouldn’t deny ourselves the opportunity to find out.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” he whispered as he leaned into kiss me.

His lips touched mine, as soft as a feather, before he lifted his head to peer into my eyes. He touched my cheek and smiled. I remembered whoever kissed me that night had also touched my cheek. I had a good feeling I’d solved the mystery.

“Would you like to take our walk now?”

“I would love that.” I meant it, too.

We walked along a path through the nature trail, which before Caleb had never interested me at all. Now, as we walked hand-–in-hand while the snow lightly fell around us, I noticed the beauty of the trees I normally ignored. The leaves of the trees had started to blossom with little purple flowers. Hopefully, they’d survive the snow.

With no one in sight, we could hear the sounds of the animals scampering in the woods. We discussed our fears, me of sharks and him of dying young. We debated whether our country owes it to the world to interfere on sovereign nations’ internal struggles. We chatted about the places we’d most like to visit. For two hours, I forgot about the rest of the world, while Caleb and I absorbed everything we could about each other.

We found a bench to rest our feet. He put his arm around me and I rested my head on his shoulder, hoping he would take the opportunity to kiss me. Then we saw a deer as she darted from one side of the wooded path to the other, followed by her fawn. Caleb swept my hair off my face and watched me intently. This time, I leaned into him for the kiss. His lips were soft as they found mine, but in a moment, the kiss became hurried and passionate. I could taste the Sumatra on his tongue and I moved in closer to press my body against his. We must have kissed for five minutes and in that time, Caleb never groped or fondled me, verifying he was a perfect gentleman. Only when we heard the voices of approaching runners did we pull out of the kiss.

“We should get back.” He took my hand, and we made our way back to the car in silence.

When we arrived back at my condo, I felt disappointed our date had ended. Luckily, my messy condo kept me from even considering inviting him in, because I didn’t want to rush into anything with Caleb. I wanted everything to remain perfect.

“I want to see you again. Are you busy next weekend?”

I didn’t want to go out on dates with anyone but Caleb. He had me wrapped around his finger already. I had made a commitment to my dates for this weekend. I owed it to myself to play the field until I was sure I had found “the one.”

“I have plans Friday and Saturday night, but I’d love to see you on Sunday if you any time available.”



He looked worried when I mentioned being busy over the weekend. I didn’t explain my plans, and Caleb rightly inferred I had scheduled dates. After all, he did hear my toast at my brother’s wedding. Unlike the other men I had dates with, Caleb knew I was trying to get married before a deadline.