Page 3 of Thought You Were the One
“And the next year, my parents died in a terrible wreck on the highway.”
His grip on my hand tightened.“Oh, God, I’m so sorry.I didn’t hear.”
“Well, why would you?You were on the other side of the country by then.”
“I was…right.Of course, studying at university.”
“And you won’t remember, but I have a younger brother and two younger sisters.”
He winced.“Yeah, I didn’t remember that.”
“One blueberry milkshake and one T-bone dinner.”
Gawain released my hand, of course, but I missed the warmth.The connection.I had so little of that in my life these days.I tried to hug my siblings whenever I could—Mom and Dad had been big huggers—but they resisted for the most part.Well, Andie would accept and roll her eyes.I didn’t have powerful memories of my grandparents.One set had been back in Manitoba, and the others, my Dad’s parents, had passed when I was quite young.He’d been an only child, and Mom hadn’t been close with her sister back on the prairies.When my parents died, no adult had come to rescue us.So I’d become the rescuer.
“Anything else I can get you, gentlemen?”Sarabeth’s wide smile hid her own problems at home.A sick mom and a neurodivergent younger brother.She’d worked here since she’d been legally allowed and struggled to pay the mounting bills.I was pretty certain she had no idea how much I’d gleaned from our interactions over the years.
“This is perfect.”Gawain offered a wide smile with perfect, white teeth.
“Yes, thanks, Sarabeth.”I snagged the glass and the straw in the wrapper.I wasn’t a huge fan of paper straws, but I understood the world I wanted to leave for my siblings and their future kids.I wouldn’t be having any.I wanted to…but that wasn’t in the cards.
“Hey.”Gawain gently tipped my chin up so I met his gaze.“What’s up?”
I tried to smile.“I hate paper straws.Do they have them in Japan?I understand the environmental impact of plastic, but the paper gets soggy.And if it takes a long time for you to finish your drink—”
He shoved a forkful of steak into his mouth and grinned as he chewed.
Yeah, okay.So he didn’t want to hear my complaints about paper straws.That was totally fair.
I sipped slowly as he devoured his food.In fact, he didn’t speak again until he sopped up the last of the gravy with his biscuit.
He caught my gaze and shrugged sheepishly.“I haven’t eaten all day.”
“No worries.I was pretty hungry when I was here earlier.”I’d eaten a chili dog and fries—just at a more sedate pace, trying to prolong the enjoyment and ambient company before I headed home to an empty house.Andie was away at university, Korden had moved out two years ago, and Deanna was on a night flight to Singapore.She was damn close to getting her commercial pilot’s license and was so freaking excited.I’d also invested so much money in this venture.I wondered if she might be too young, but her talent and enthusiasm had won over the small airline who’d arranged her training.She was cutting her teeth on the 737, but her eventual hope was to work up to long-haul 767 flights.I worried constantly, but I also understood she was safe in the air.Safer than on the highway…
“Hey, what’s going on?”Gawain again touched my chin.“You thinking about your parents?”
“Sort of.”I swallowed.“I was thinking about how I have the house to myself tonight.How my sister’s getting her commercial pilot’s license and how safe flying is compared to driving.”
“That’s the truth.”He grinned.“I love the little two-seater prop planes that can go places the big airliners can’t.”
“There are a lot of prop planes in Japan?”I winced inwardly at the dumb question.Certainly, Japan had all kinds of planes.Most countries did.“You visited the wilds of Japan, I mean?”Again, complete ignorance.I had no idea of the Japanese landscape.Just that they had earthquakes and tsunamis.The ring of fire, which we also sat on.“Oh, they have volcanos, right?”We didn’t have those in Canada, really.Well, we had them, but none had erupted for about two hundred and fifty years.But we could see the dormant Mount Baker just across the border in Washington State.
“Uh, yeah, Japan has volcanos.”He wiped his mouth with his napkin.“Do you still pay at the cash register?”
“They have a machine they can bring around, but I usually just go to the front.”
“Great.”He slid out of the booth.“And then…can I come home with you?”
My jaw dropped.
“Unless I read the situation wrong.”Gawain offered up another huge smile.Not leering…but not innocent either.
“I…” I swallowed.“I had a crush on you in high school.I didn’t think you noticed.”
He shrugged.“I noticed everything.I wasn’t out back then—but I am now.I mean, if you don’t want to, that’s cool.I can grab a room at the Grand Hotel.They’ve undergone some amazing renovations, right?I’d be interested to see what the rooms look like.”
“I’ve never seen the inside of the hotel.”They had a pub, but that wasn’t my style.They also had a liquor store attached, but I didn’t drink.
