Page 121 of Keepsake
Zach: I hope four days goes fast. Love you.
Lark: <3 <3 <3
“What do you think, Zach?”
I looked up quickly to find Chastity’s questioning face across the big dinner table. As I tried to rewind my brain to come up with the topic of a conversation I was supposedly following, Chastity grinned. “Aw. The poor guy can’t concentrate.”
“Quick, someone deal a hand of poker!” Griff cried. “I can earn back the money I lost to him last night.”
May set a salad down in the center of the table, and then patted Zach’s shoulder. “Hang in there. She can’t be long now.”
I touched the button on my brand new phone and checked the time. Again.
It was one minute later than the last time I’d checked.
Another glacial minute ticked by while I tried to listen for tires outside over the hum of the family gathering.
Down the table, Chastity was taking some flak about her new hairdo. She’d shown up tonight with her hair dyed pink.
“That’s very Strawberry Shortcake,” Kyle said.
“Dude,” Kieran argued. “What do you know from Strawberry Shortcake?”
His brother socked him in the arm. The cousins had come over for dinner tonight and to talk Griff into going to the Gin Mill later. Or the Goat. They’d probably go another seventeen rounds before it was settled.
There was a lull in the conversation, and that’s when I finally heard it—the sound of gravel pinging the undercarriage of a Volkswagen Beetle. My stomach got tight with anticipation. I’d get one night with Lark before she went back to Boston again. Our time together was precious.
I stood up and headed for the door.
“There he goes!” Kyle yelled. “Go get her, man.”
“Is she here?” Audrey asked as I passed through the kitchen. “Just in time for dinner.”
Without a word, I strode past her and out the back door. The motion sensor lights came on, illuminating Lark’s face as she stepped out of the car. My heart stuttered.
Then she smiled, and it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. “Hi there, handsome,” she said. “I sure did miss you.”
I made it over to her in three long strides. And when I got there, Lark threw her arms around me and planted her nose in the center of my chest. “Happy New Year. Almost. It’s going to be a good one. I just know it.”
We just stood there holding each other in the cold nighttime air, and I’d never been happier.
“Dinner is just about ready,” I said finally. She kissed the underside of my chin. And who knew there was a direct line from my neck to my dick? So instead of heading for the door, I gave her a kiss.
“Mmm,” she said against my lips. “Dinner first. But I want to get you alone later.”
“Deal.”
Inside, Lark made the rounds, greeting her friends. “Wild Child!” Griff said, giving her a squeeze. “You look great.”
“Thanks,” she said, her expression bashful. “I’m doing a lot better.”
Everyone wanted to hug her. “Where’s May?” Lark had to ask.
“Primping,” Daphne said. “She’s going to a party later. There are clothes all over every surface of her room.”
“Then I’ll save her a seat,” Lark said. “Move over, Kyle.”
Ruth carried the platter of ham into the dining room, and then Audrey hurried in to set down a covered crock. Griff opened up a growler of cider and began to pour it for whoever was drinking. “Pace yourselves, fellas. New Year’s is still five hours away.”
