Page 42 of From Nowhere

He brushes some crumbs off the table. “Imprinting, huh? You’re going with that?”

“I am,” I say, swirling my wine.

“Now you’ve put me in a predicament.”

“How so?” I adjust my leg, and he adjusts his, but he keeps it touching mine.

“We’re supposed to be sneaking around. But that cat has partially imprinted on my daughter, so now I feel like she’ll deserve visiting rights at some point.”

“I love that you’ve put a positive spin on things, like this kitten and your housing situation. In your shoes, I think I’d have trouble not resenting Lola’s grandparents for attaching conditions to the help they’re giving you—a grown man.”

“What’s the positive spin?”

“This. Sneaking around like teenagers past curfew.”

Ozzy’s grin has its own personality. It’s like there’s Ozzy, then there’s his grin. And I’m starting to read the subtleties of how he bends those full lips.

Flirty.

Innocent.

Sad.

Mischievous.

Vulnerable.

And my favorite—the sexy grin. This one starts with his teeth pressed to his lower lip, then he wets it, and finally, it curls into something that makes my insides melt.

It’s that slow dance.

“Lola is the positive spin on my life. And tonight, I’m beginning to feel a little dizzy from the spin you’re putting on my life too.”

I hum, just short of closing my eyes. Everything feels good when I’m with Ozzy. “Tell me about Brynn.”

With a hint of confusion pulling at his brow, he fiddles with the white paper under the remaining nachos. “You want me to talk about my wife on our date?”

“Yes. But only if you’re comfortable with it.”

“Why?”

“Because you created another life with her. And I think the most beautiful thing about a man is how he loves a woman. I’m giving you a chance to shine after ghosting me.”

Ozzy runs a hand through his hair while pulling in a long breath. He tells me how he met his wife at a concert in California, where she lost her wallet.

Love never dies. I see it in his eyes, the glimmer of memories.

“Brynn was older than me. She had two years left of her PhD, and I was working in Arizona. We didn’t set out to have a long-distance relationship, but that’s where it led, and somehow it worked. Over those two years, I made a dozen trips to California to visit her. We talked onthe phone daily, and by the time she donned her cap and gown, I had a ring in my pocket.”

With a faraway look in his eyes and a pleasant smile, he continues, “She was so smart, an expert in linguistics. And I was a grease monkey with jumbled thoughts and mumbled words. She was delicate and refined; I was an ox with stained fingernails. But I loved everything about her that was nothing like me, and I think that’s what she liked about me too. When we had Lola, it all made sense. Everything we did together was better. You know—the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. That was us.”

I smile when that faraway expression subsides, and he’s back with me. “How did you end up in Missoula?”

“We’d been living in California. Lola was seven. My parents lived here, and hers lived in Yellowstone, where they owned a ranch. There was a position available at UM, and I knew there was a chance I could eventually get a job here. I sent an application to Cielo and stayed home with Lola for that first year. A job opened up. Things were looking good for us. Lola liked her school. My parents loved having us in Missoula, and we were closer to Brynn’s family. Then ...” Ozzy frowns, gaze cast at the empty beer mug before him.

He doesn’t have to finish. I don’t need to know the details of the accident or what came next. I’ve pieced those together pretty well.

“See.” I nudge his leg, prompting him to look at me. “You’re even better than I thought. Your wife was a smart woman with a PhD, and I do not doubt that the smartest thing she did was marry you.”

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