Page 20 of It Started with a Sunset
Deja chuckled. “Okay, then, you do you. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t reading it wrong. Hey, I haven’t heard you say boo about your dates for the past few weeks. Have you not been dating or have you just been keeping your mouth shut about it? Because hearing all about them is like a possum eatin’ a sweet tater to some of us.”
“Oh, you know I’d tell you all about them. I’ve just been busy lately.” Summer was never too busy for dating—that was something she would always make time for. The truth was that she hadn’t been as interested in dating ever since her thoughts started focusing themselves in Brock’s direction lately. It was probably a bad thing, but she couldn’t quite convince herself to stop thinking of him.
“Nope, nope, nope,” Deja said, shaking her head. “Don’t allow yourself to get too busy to stay on the lookout for the one! Having a large base of friends is amazing, but it’s nothing compared to having a partner in life.”
Deja’s words weren’t so different from sentiments she’d heard the woman say many times over their years working together, but this time, they hit her in a way they hadn’t before. “How did you get to be so smart?”
“Girl, I was born being right about everything. It’s right there in my name—Deja Wright. ‘Deja’ means again, so my name literally means ‘Right, again.’”
Summer couldn’t hold back her smile. “Is that why you married Trent—so you could gain a last name that would encapsulate you?”
Deja held up a finger. “I married him for his last nameandbecause he’s a fine hunk of man,andbecause I constantly just want to grab him with both hands and kiss his face like it’s made of sugar,andbecause I enjoy a stroll hand-in-hand with him along the shore of Lake Baldwin,andto face anything in life that tries to whup us,anddo it side-by-side. Every single bit of all of it.”
“Aww,” Summer said, “that’s so sweet!” And she wasn’t just saying that—it did sound sweet.
Deja looked at the paper in her hand for a moment. Not like she was reading anything on it, but like she was trying to decide whether to say something. She apparently decided yes, which, knowing Deja, was kind of inevitable. “I know you want a family and kids someday. Do you ever think about why you never have serious relationships, even though plenty of guys you’ve gone on dates with have seemed to really want that?”
Summer shrugged. “Not really.” Okay, it was somewhat a lie. She had thought about it, then quickly started thinking about other things.
“Well, honey, maybe it’s time that you start to wonder if it’s because you just haven’t met the right guy yet—and if that’s the case, you keep doing what you’re doing. If it’s not that, then maybe it’s time to wonder if you’re afraid of commitment.”
“I might not like commitment, Deja, but I’m not afraid of it.”
Deja held her gaze for a long moment, then gave a quick nod. “Okay, then, good to hear. Now, I’m going to get home to my man. Don’t stay too late, you hear?”
“I won’t.”
Summer was finishing up her email when she got a text from Valeria.
Valeria:Don’t hate me, but I have to cancel tonight. My mamá called and said that my abuela is having a rough day and apparently I’m the only one she remembers today, or at least the only one she trusts today, and she won’t stop asking for me. So I’m going to have to drive to Sunrise to spend the evening with her. I’m sad to miss out on our girls’ night!
Summer:[three crying-faced emojis] You know I could never hate you! Go be with your abuela—make her smile that smile she only gives you.
Summer put down her phone, sent the email, shut down her laptop, and let out a big sigh. Now, what was she going to do tonight? She and Valeria had planned their girls’ night for tonight precisely because nothing was going on with their friend group or at the lake or at the college. She couldn’t even call her dad to chat because he was at a work event.
She could just go have a quiet night alone at her apartment.
Yeah, like she was going to hang out alone with her thoughts about whether her life was headed in the right direction and if she was going to still be single five or ten years from now, and then wonder if she was ever going to have that family of her own that she wanted.
No, thank you. She needed people. Maybe Brock was right and she did deserve to feel whatever feelings she had. But that didn’t mean that shewantedto.
She looked through the glass front of her office and across the common area to where she could see part of Brock through the glass front of his office. Before she let herself think about whether it was a wise idea or not, she stood up, grabbed her purse, turned her office lights off, pulled her door shut, and walked straight over to Brock’s office.
“Hi.” She was a pro at dating and flirting, yet “hi” was all her brain came up with.
He looked up at her and smiled big enough that it lifted his glasses just a bit, and it made her entire insides warm. “Hello.”
“Are you doing anything tonight? Or do you want to?”
“As long as it includes getting food, yes. I’m starving.”
Thirty minutes later, they were sitting in a booth at a cute Indian restaurant in Golden Springs that Summer didn’t go to nearly often enough, eating naan bread under a dimmed light, the scents of simmering curry and turmeric surrounding them.
And the warm light hanging just over their table flickered every once in a while, making it feel sort of like candlelight and cast the most amazing glow on Brock. She was glad it was just the two of them at dinner because then she could gaze at him all she wanted as they chatted and it would just seem like she was present and attentive.
They both reached out for a vegetable samosa at the same time, and their hands brushed before Brock pulled his back, motioning for her to go first. But she didn’t want his hand pulled out of the way. She wanted it back where it was, so she could see if the slight touch still held the same zing after it had been touching hers for more than a quick second. Like maybe all night.
“So,” Summer said, “have you started having the pre-Aquamoose Tracks nightmares yet?”
