Then There Was You(83)

I wiped a giggle-induced tear from the corner of my eye and caught my breath. “I have some great memories from that place.”

Chris nodded. “Me too. I learned a lot about love and life in that place…” his voice trailed.

Not wanting to be reminded of past pains, I changed the subject. “You hungry?” I asked eagerly.

He smiled, patting his flat stomach. “Starved.”

I imagined the rippled abs underneath his shirt and wondered what it would be like to touch them… to feel his reaction to me touching them…

“Well, let’s eat!” I shook myself from my fantasy and grabbed a plate, filling it full of scrambled eggs, fried livermush, and fresh fruit.

Turning around, I handed Chris the plate. He tore his biscuit apart and slopped some gravy on top of each side. I hadn’t eaten gravy biscuits in years; I’d almost forgotten how to fix them. Thank god for the internet.

I fixed my own plate, and we sat down across from each other at the small rectangular table in the middle of the kitchen.

Chris enjoyed his food moaning with almost every bite. It made me laugh how vocal he was. It also made me think about that dream, and how he moaned in my mouth when I kissed him. Don’t even go there, Salem. But I couldn’t help it. “Salem, this is the best damn sausage gravy I’ve had since my grandma made it for me before she passed away eight years ago.”

Whoa. I felt honored being compared to his grandmother. I suddenly felt like I’d won a lifetime achievement award for my kitchen skills. “Thank you,” I said, taking a deep breath and leaning back in my chair. I’d barely eaten half of what was on my plate. My eyes were bigger than my stomach.

Chris, on the other hand, devoured his food, practically licking the last drips of gravy off of my Mikasa French Countryside dinner plate. “Now all I need is a pillow and a blanket,” he said with a very satisfied smile, rubbing his full belly.

I laughed, loving all of this. Chris in my home. Sitting at my table. Eating my homemade food. It was all very fulfilling in a way I’d never even noticed I was missing.

“I guess it’s funny the first time you hear it,” he said, leaning his elbows on the table. “My grandfather always told the waitress that at every single restaurant we ever went to. It was embarrassing when I became a teenager. After about nine hundred times, it just wasn’t funny anymore. But I knew you’d get a kick out of it.”

That reminded me. “Speaking of family, how are your parents?”

He grimaced. “I don’t talk to my folks as often as I should.”

“But your dad’s doing better?”

He nodded, smiling, “Yeah, once he got out of prison, he got his life straight. I was already living at the beach by the time he got home, so I was one less kid to have to pay for. They didn’t have to struggle so hard to make ends meet. And now they don’t have to struggle at all. I make sure of that.”

“That’s sweet of you.” I glanced down at the food I’d pushed unconsciously to one side of my plate.

“Eh, I do what I can. It’s the least I can do, really,” he said humbly, shrugging his shoulders and staring off into the distance.

The look on Chris’s face suddenly became very serious. “Salem,” Chris sighed. “There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

The tone of his voice made me nervous. “What is it?” I asked fretfully.





I’d been waiting for a chance to talk to her about Ethan. My stomach churned and my heart pounded in my chest. It would be the first time I’d admit aloud to anyone what happened between me and Kaitlyn at the beach. Not even Jeremy knew the whole truth. I barely had the courage to tell Salem, but it had to be done. I didn’t want any secrets between us.

“It’s about Kaitlyn…” I sputtered, feeling my heart thumping wildly.

“What about her?” she asked, looking tremendously concerned.

I glanced out the window, too nervous to look her in the eyes. “Remember I told you that I saw her at the beach several years ago?”

“Yeah.” The intense stare she gave me as I watched her out of the corner of my eye almost made me lose my nerve.

“Well, it was more than just me bumping into her on the street,” I explained, looking down, embarrassed.

Her face fell. “I figured so,” she whispered.

Suddenly, as if I’d opened a flood gate, all my transgressions tumbled out of my mouth faster than I could button it up. “She was married at the time. But when we saw each other it was as if no time had passed. You remember, we were ripped apart all those years ago. We never had any real closure. You remember all of that.” She nodded as I spoke. “Well, that weekend at the beach, we had long talks about everything. About us. About life. I found out her mom had been keeping my letters from her.”