Page 63 of Always Mine

“Are you interested?”

“I think so. Do you teach here in the summer?”

“No. I’m going back soon, though, to finish out the year.”

“You decided.”

“Yeah. In a week. I just had a session with Gemma.”

“I’m seeing Caleb today.”

“Are you glad?”

“It’s hard.”

“It is. You want to get some lunch before that? Maybe we can talk about second chances.”

“I like that idea.”

She smiled.

He smiled.

The sun came out.

* * *

The courtship lasted four days…

“You remembered!” Annie said when they were seated at La Belle Gourmande, just inside the city limits of Syracuse. The hushed atmosphere and the dim lighting coordinated with the soft white tablecloths and black napkins. This place was classy.

“Of course I did. We were planning to come here when you graduated after you came back to Westwood to live.”

She hadn’t returned to their hometown for three years. That part of their past was still painful.

Reaching across the table, he grasped her hands. His were firm and strong. “Hey, no shadows in those beautiful eyes of yours.”

“Okay. No shadows.”

He’d already ordered champagne. It arrived and when the waiter uncorked it, the pop was loud and caused patrons to stare at them. “A toast,” he said, after it was poured. “To a new courtship.”

“To a new courtship.”

The champagne was crisp and cold, just as she liked it. Annie cocked her head. “I missed you, Diego. So much. I kept trying not to admit that to myself, but I finally had to.”

“And I missed you,querida.” They smiled at each other. “Let’s talk about the future. Not the past.”

“All right. Are you excited about your new job at Pathways?”

“Very. I read the binder Adam gave me. Jackson Kane is a real innovator.”

“I’m…worried about him.”

“Because he took off like he did?”

“How do you…”

“Adam confided in me. He’s worried.”

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