Page 90 of Second Dance
“Size six,” he repeated, like he was committing it to memory, branding it into his mind alongside all the other things he knew about me.
Then he kissed me, soft and deep and full of promise. His hands slid from my face into my hair, tilting my head back as he deepened the kiss. I melted against him, my fingers clutching his shoulders, feeling the warmth of his skin through his thin T-shirt.
When we finally broke apart, both of us breathless, he was grinning like a man who’d just won the lottery. “How could anyone be this happy?”
“It’s our turn. Finally.” I pulled him down for another kiss, this one quick and playful. “But Alex?”
“Hmm?”
“You gave me back the part of myself I thought I’d lost forever.”
His eyes went suspiciously bright. “Gillie?—”
“No, let me say this.” I pressed my palm against his chest, feeling his heartbeat quicken. “When I was with you that summer, I was fearless. I felt like I could do anything, be anyone. But when Grace came into my life, I spent years being practical, being careful, being safe. And then you reappeared.” My voice cracked. “You’ve made me remember what it feels like to be alive. To want things. To believe in magic again.”
He pulled me close, burying his face in my hair. “I’ll be your magic if you’ll be mine.”
“Deal,” I said.
“I love you. God, I love you so much that I don’t even know what to do with myself.”
“I love you too. I never stopped.”
We stood there as the light dimmed, wrapped in each other, the sound of our children’s laughter drifting from the house. This was real. This was happening. I was ready for my forever with Alex. Finally.
The next night, I met my friends for dinner. We sat in our usual booth at The Pelican—Lila and Esme on one side, with Seraphina and Delphine on the other, and me on the end. I don’t know why, but we always sat in the same spots. Hunter was at the bar, pouring drinks while several servers made their rounds. After we’d ordered, they all pounced on me.
“Tell us everything,” Esme said. “Sparing no details.”
“First off, I’m sorry I’ve been neglecting you all,” I said.
“Nonsense.” Delphine looked glamorous and sophisticated in a black suit, having come straight from the gallery. Regardless, remnants of her pottery work remained under her fingernails. She never wore polish, and kept them cut short so they wouldn’t get in the way when she was at her wheel. It had occurred to me some time back that Delphine had two sides to her personality. One was the put together art gallery owner and the other wore overalls, bent over her potter’s wheel. “That’s not how we friend. We give one another space when they need it.”
“If friend were a verb,” Seraphina had her flaming hair in a ponytail, her pretty face covered with seasonal freckles, “it would look like this. Like us. Always here for one another. But also giving space when needed.”
“Yes, space to fall in love, for example.” Esme tossed her blonde locks behind her shoulders, then grabbed her glass of white wine, eyes sparkling. “Let’s not forget the subject at hand.”
Lila laughed, in the feathery, shy way she had and put her warm hand on my wrist for a quick squeeze. “We’re sorry to be so nosy, but that is also how we friend.”
“I love that you care,” I said, surprised to feel a sting of tears at the backs of my eyes. “These friendships have meant so much to me over the years.”
“Falling in love’s made her soft,” Delphine said to the others, a teasing lilt to her voice.
Esme shot her a look. “Stop that. This is wonderful. Finally, one of us is getting a love story.”
I nodded, unable to suppress a smile. “I guess I am. I still can’t really believe how it’s all unfolded.” I went on to tell them the details of the last few weeks, including the Darren mess, which they mostly knew about, and our trip to Napa. I’d shared photos of the place we stayed but not many other details, except for sharing the same room. I worried for a moment they might feel judgment about that, but, from their delighted expressions, no one did.
“Thank God. I was starting to think you were some kind of virgin mother or something,” Delphine said.
“What are you talking about?” Esme said to Delphine. “You’re just as bad. In fact, we’ve all been part of the celibacy club.”
“If someone worthy came along, I wouldn’t mind breaking out of the club,” Delphine said. “But I really doubt anyone’s out there for me. I had my true love—and then he left the earth. So there’s that.”
“Me either,” Lila said softly. “I don’t think I could ever be a normal person in a relationship. I’d be suspicious of everything. Which is not an attractive quality.”
“I’d love to get married again.” Esme’s glow dimmed slightly. “However, I have the worst taste in men. As we’ve discussed many times.”
“We can’t help who we love, unfortunately. And we’ve all had some bad luck.” Seraphina glanced toward the bar, her gaze landing on Hunter for a split second. I wasn’t sure the othersnoticed, but I caught a hint of hunger in her eyes. “Or at least thus far anyway.”
