The jangle of the bell announced the arrival of customers. Gail excused herself, and I finished my pie.
I brought my plate to the dish bin and had just sat back down when Gavin walked in.
“Starting without me?”
“Hey, sorry. I got here early.”
“It’s fine. I’m going to get something.”
“You don’t need to do that. Here you go.” Gail arrived with a cup of coffee for Gavin. “Your date’s been waiting long enough.” She winked at me before walking away.
“See, that’s what I love about this town.” Gavin took a sip of his coffee.
“Yeah, Gail’s pretty awesome.”
“I didn’t really keep you waiting, did I? I thought I was early.”
“You are. I was just even earlier.”
“Dating another early bird might be pretty nice.”
“Using that word again?”
“We’re dating, Becca. Accept it.”
I laughed. “Okay, I might one day.” I took another sip of coffee and then looked back over at him. “There’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”
“What is it?”
“I think we should forget what happened—”
“What? No way. I thought—I mean, you seemed—”
I decided to put him out of his misery. “Forget what happened that morning. I didn’t mean we had to forget what happened that night.” My whole body got warm thinking about that.
“Oh. Yeah, I like that idea.”
“Me too.” I smiled.
“So tell me, how was your week?”
“My week? It was good, full of surprises.”
“Yeah?” He stretched out his legs under the table, and they brushed against mine.
“Some really good surprises.”
“Good, you deserve good surprises.”
I smiled. “You’re sweet.”
“Sweet? I’ll take that. I’ll also accept thoughtful or amazing.”
“What’d you have to bribe Molly with to get all the insider information?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh, you just happened to know my taste in cocoa or the one Gilmore Girls season I was missing.”
“Okay, so I might have had some help.” He smiled sheepishly.
“She’s a good friend.”
“Yeah, she is. She just wants you happy.”
“I know. And I love her for it.”
We spent another hour talking before we decided to head out. I had plans with Molly I didn’t want to break.
“I know you’re busy later tonight, but want to get together tomorrow?”
I didn’t answer at first.
“I’m going to take your lack of response as a yes.”
“Hey, you can’t do that!” I argued.
“Yes, I can. If you really had a problem with it, you would have told me. I know you have no trouble telling me what you’re thinking.” He grinned wickedly. “Be ready at nine tomorrow morning.”
“Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise, but wear a swim suit—preferably the one you were wearing when we played volleyball the other day.”
“I didn’t think you’d noticed. You seemed more concerned with winning.”
“Oh I noticed. I definitely noticed. Everyone noticed, and I wasn’t too happy about it.”
“Let’s make a deal.”
“What kind of deal?”
“I’ll go if Molly and Ben can come too. I really need to spend more time with her.” I could already see where things might be heading with Gavin. Spending time together was one thing, letting anything happen again, at least anytime soon, was another altogether.
“You’re hanging out with her tonight...”
“So? That’s tonight.”
“Fine. I accept your terms.”
We were in front of my car when I got brave again. I leaned in toward him and whispered. “So were you being serious about the dreams, I mean about having them…?”
“Yeah, I was being serious.” He picked up my hand and laced his fingers with mine. “Were you?”
“I had one.”
“So you’re still claiming it was just one?”
“One really good one.”
I reached for the door latch, but I felt his hand on my arm. “Before you go, tell me, Becca. Did the real thing live up to your dream?”
“It surpassed it.” I got in the car before I could see his reaction. He really was bringing out a different side of me.
Chapter Nineteen
Becca
“Hey, Mol, you home?” After knocking a few times, I tried the door and was surprised to find it opened.
“I’m up here,” she yelled.
I walked inside with a sinking feeling growing larger by the second. Something was going on—something was wrong.
Molly sat cross legged on the light pink tiled floor of the master bathroom. She didn’t look up.
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
“I don’t know.”
I sat down next to her, finally realizing she held something in her hand.
“Is that what I think it is?”
“Yes.” She held out the piece of white plastic so I could see the two pink lines.
“Wow, congratulations. I didn’t know you guys were trying to get pregnant.”
“We weren’t.”
I took a moment to formulate a response. This was one of those situations where you had to say the right thing. “Oh. Well, congratulations anyway.”
“Ben’s going to freak out. I still can’t figure out how to tell him.”
“Did you just find out?”
“No. This is my third test.” She pulled out two more sticks from under the sink.
“Seriously? You didn’t trust the first two?”
She shrugged. “I wanted to be sure before I told Ben.”
“I’m sure he’ll be happy.”
“What if he’s not?”
“Why wouldn’t he be? You guys are married, and he has a good job. What’s the problem?”
“I’m not ready. What if he’s not either?”
“What do you mean you aren’t ready?”
“I haven’t even settled on a career yet. It’s too soon.”
“Then how’d it happen?” I tried to keep the bitterness out of my voice, but this was a really sensitive subject for me.
“I forgot a few pills last month.”