Page 102 of I Knew You
I investigated the open flaps and took in the creation. It was made by someone who knew nothing about pie-making. The crust edges were extra crispy brown, but it wasn’t a run-of-the-mill frozen pie crust. It had been hand-rolled and poorly shaped within the tin.
“Blueberry, maybe?” I said, grabbing the note that was slipped into the side of the cardboard.
Julianna,
After fifteen years without you, your absence has been torture. I hope you think of me as often as I think of you.
Happy 9-day anniversary. Enjoy this pie. It was the least burnt of the batch. Lakey enjoyed the other ones.
With Love,
Bram
I ran my fingers over the smudged black ink of his scratchy handwriting and felt my heart squeeze.
He’d made me a pie.
“He made you a pie,” Kallie said as if reading my thoughts. “I guess he knows how much you like pie?”
“Yes,” I simply replied. I met Kallie’s understanding gaze. “I have to text him.”
“Do it. And if you want to go over there, or if you want me to go home?—”
“No,” I said, grabbing her arm. “Not yet. Please stay until Sunday. I…I will text him, but I don’t want to see him until next week.” I needed time to gather courage.
She nodded, although the facial expression she gave me didn’t match her nod.
After going inside, I grabbed my phone and gingerly sat in the comfortable living room recliner. I typed, then erased it all. And retyped again. Erased again.
“Are you kidding me? You’ve been at this for ten minutes! Send something!” I looked up to see Kallie watching me from the kitchen island, knife in hand.
I shifted uncomfortably in the recliner. “I am being cautious. I want it to be perfect.”
She went back to cutting her lime. “Tell him you want to suck his dick.”
“Kallie!”
“What?”
I pursed my lips and looked back at the blank screen again. I was spiraling, worried I would say too much or not enough. What was he expecting? Did he want me to apologize for leaving?
You miss him. Tell him that.
I swiped the words “Thanks for the pie” on the keyboard and pressed send before I could double- and triple-think it over.
The phone dinged with an immediate response.
“That was quick. What did he say?” Kallie walked toward me with a plate of tacos.
I opened the text.
“It says, ‘You’re welcome.’”
She paused. “That’s it? What did you say?”
“I said, ‘Thanks for the pie,’” I whispered, watching as my best friend’s face went slack.
“What?! You didn’t say, ‘Come over here right now and take me?’”
