“That’s precisely what I was thinking, and if Kylie MacDonald ever winds up single again…” Matt took a long, thoughtful pause into fantasyland. “Hell, mate,” he said, “I don’t have to tell you how fantastic she is.”
“No, you don’t,” I said, trying to keep my eyes away from Cheryl and my head as far away from the past as I could and even further away from the future. “No, you don’t.”
“Well, enjoy your lunch, you two,” Matt said, getting up. “And I know I’ve said this before, Zach, but brilliant job on the Hazmat case.”
He headed toward the door. Cheryl stared at me without saying a word. Ten seconds into the silence, she burst into a girlish giggle, and I immediately started laughing with her.
“Well, that certainly gives new meaning to the phrase embarrassingly awkward social situation,” she said. “You thought he had the hots for me, and it turns out he has the hots for Kylie. How do you feel about that?”
“I feel like it’s something I don’t want to talk about,” I said. “Certainly not now, and absolutely not within a hundred yards of Gerri’s Diner.”
“How about a hundred miles from Gerri’s Diner?”
“I don’t understand.”
“I think I’m ready to take this relationship to the next level,” she said.
“Okay…”
She slid her iPhone across the table. “I know I’ve mentioned it, but I’ve never even shown you a picture.”
I looked at the screen. It was a picture of a white house, its roof, front yard, and driveway covered with snow.
“It’s even prettier in the summer when the flowers are out, or in October when the leaves are turning,” she said.
“Is that your house in Woodstock?” I said.
“Half the time. The settlement says that Fred and his child-bride-to-be have it the other half, but…”
“But what?”
“They won’t be using it for a while. The soon-to-be-next Mrs. Fred Robinson is pregnant.”
“Hmmm,” I said, stroking my imaginary beard. “And how do you feel about that?”
“I feel like it’s something I don’t want to talk about,” she said. “Ever. So, would you like to drive up to Woodstock this weekend, rake some leaves, breathe some country air, lie by the fireplace, and drink wine?”
“It sounds like it could be almost as much fun as the paperwork I’ve been grinding out.”
“You’ll love it. That house was once a very joyful part of my life, and then one day it wasn’t. I’m finally ready to go back there and find the joy again, and I’d like it to be with you. So, what do you say? This weekend?”
“Are you kidding? I was wondering if you were ever going to invite me.”
“Well, now you can stop wondering.”
Me? Stop wondering? Never happen. Even now I was wondering if Spence would make it through rehab, and if he didn’t, would Kylie leave him, and if she did, would Matt ask her out, and if he did—
Cheryl smiled at me, reached across the table, and, without caring who was watching and who wasn’t, took my hand in hers.
I smiled back, covered her hand with mine, shook all the other baggage out of my head, and wondered, How the heck did I get to be this lucky?