When he knocked on the door, she raced to open it, then stood there staring at him. He was a little taller than she remembered and slightly more handsome. She smiled.
“Hi,” she said, stepping back to let him in. “It’s good to see you.”
“It’s good to be seen.”
They laughed and she led him into the kitchen.
It took a few minutes to unpack all the food. She offered him a beer, which he refused.
“Just because I can’t drink doesn’t mean you have to suffer, too,” she said.
He raised his water glass. “In solidarity.”
They settled across from each other at the table. She breathed in the delicious smells and tried not to moan.
“This is so bad,” she murmured. “All the sodium and the spices, but I don’t care. It’s just one night and then I’ll go back to my regular food in the morning.”
He handed her a serving spoon. “Dig in.”
She filled her plate, then took a bite of kung pao beef. The flavors exploded on her tongue.
“I can’t thank you enough for this,” she said when she’d swallowed. “You have saved me. I was having an actual meltdown in my car when you called. I didn’t think I could do it.”
“Eat your healthy food?”
“Have the baby.” She waved her fork. “Sorry. I don’t really mean that. I’m sure everything will be fine, it’s just hard right now. I’m getting used to things and I’m emotional all the time. Bernie is so attentive and I know she means well, but she’s driving me crazy and it’s not like I can tell her. Plus the whole list of shoulds and shouldn’ts. I don’t actually drink very much and I’ve never been that fond of Brie, but I would kill for both. Or coffee. Or sushi. I can’t remember the last time I was in a Jacuzzi but now that I’m not allowed, I daydream about them. It’s ridiculous. I can’t go surfing, I can’t do hot yoga. I’m a strong, motivated person. I want to do this for my friend, so what’s wrong with me?”
He reached for an egg roll. “It happened pretty fast, Zennie. Not you saying yes, I would have expected that, but actually getting pregnant. Most people would have more time to get used to the idea. But you got pregnant right out of the gate.”
“How would you know?”
He smiled. “I know how long it’s been since I’ve seen you and I can do simple math.”
“Oh, right. It was quick.” She told him about the appointment and how she’d been ovulating. “Hayes came in and did the deed and here we are.”
Clark looked uncomfortable. “I’m not sure I could have handled the pressure of knowing several people were waiting on the, ah, sample.”
She giggled. “That’s what I thought, too, but I guess he was motivated.”
They talked about Clark’s work and the improvements that were planned to the orangutan exhibit and the grant money his department had received. She talked about her family, bringing him up to date on Finola and Ali.
“It turns out we all got dumped on the same weekend,” she said, serving herself more fried rice. As soon as the words were out, she groaned. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it to come out that way.”
“If you’re not upset, I’m not either.”
She looked at him and had no idea what he was thinking. “There wasn’t anyone else,” she told him.
“I know. And you swear you’re not a lesbian.”
“I’m not. In fact my mom fixed me up with one. C.J. She’s great. If there were going to be girl-on-girl sparks they would be with her, but nope. Maybe I’m just meant to be alone.”
Words she’d thought before but saying them now made her feel sad. Did she really want to be alone for the rest of her life, with no one to depend on? Maybe it was the pregnancy making her feel more vulnerable than usual, but for once, she didn’t want her future to be so empty.
“You’re not meant to be alone,” he told her. “You simply move at a different pace than other people. There’s nothing wrong with you.” He hesitated. “I meant what I said before. I’d like to be friends, if you’re interested.”
She felt shy as she smiled at him. “I’d like that, too, but you have to be okay with the pregnancy thing. It could get messy.”
He smiled. “I think I can handle it.”
“Even when I’m moody?”
“Especially when you’re moody.”
“Then I’m in. Want to stay and watch a movie?”
“There’s nothing I’d like more.”
Simple words, she thought, but the exact ones she wanted to hear.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“You’re sure?” Daniel asked.
“Yes.” Ali hoped her voice sounded more confident than she felt. “It’s the right thing to do. Okay, not the right thing, but the correct thing.” She paused, not sure there was a difference. “You know what I mean.”
“I do. I just want to make sure you’re up to it.” He backed his truck into her mother’s driveway, then turned off the engine. “You could ask her again.”
Ali shook her head. “I have literally asked her five times and every time she’s said no. Apparently I’m not mature enough or whatever. She would rather give the clock to charity than let me have it. I don’t care. No one wants it but me and we’re going to take it.”
Steal it, actually. She and Daniel had driven over on a Saturday when Ali knew her mother would be at the boutique, for the express purpose of stealing the clock. Ali had texted her intentions to Finola so her sister could not be home and therefore avoid having to take a stance on the issue. Her sister had also left the front door unlocked for her.
Armed with tools and instructions for dismantling downloaded from the internet, she and Daniel walked into the house. He paused in the living room and looked around. She glanced at him.
“Second thoughts?” she asked.
“No, just getting a sense of what it was like when you were little. You grew up here.”
She tried to see the living room as he would, with worn furniture and too many small tables and lamps. It was a comfortable house in a pleasant enough neighborhood, but she’d never felt like she belonged. The downside of being the third child with parents who could only have one favorite.
It wasn’t a new concept for her, but for the first time she could remember, she was more understanding and less bitter. She hadn’t heard from her father since that one pathetic text and she knew she wasn’t going to—not unless she reached out to him. Her mother was friendly enough but Mary Jo had never really been that involved in her life. Ali had her sisters and a few friends, but had never felt connected to anyone. Not the way other people did.
That was why she’d wanted to marry Glen, she thought suddenly. Because with him, she would be the most important, the first, the one he loved best. She’d been so enamored with the concept of finally being like everyone else that she’d overlooked some pretty big red flags, including the fact that she’d never truly loved him. She’d been that desperate and she’d paid the price for it.
Daniel walked over and put his hand on the side of her face. “What?” he asked, his voice gentle.
“Just having a bit of an emotional revelation. I know why I got engaged to Glen even though I wasn’t in love with him. I wanted to be special to someone.”
He kissed her. “You are special.”
To him, she thought, letting his caring wash over her. “Now,” she said, her voice teasing. “Not so much before.”
“You were always special.” He kissed her. “Come on. Let’s go commit a felony.”
She chuckled as she followed him over to the clock. It was huge and old-fashioned with an ornate face and hadn’t been wound in years. The finish was dull from years of neglect and she was sure it needed a good tune-up or whatever it was clocks required to stay working.
“I know what you’re thinking,” she began.
“I doubt that.”
“I know it’s ugly and not what most people want in their houses. It’s just, I love this clock.”
He frowned. “Ali, you really don’t get it, do you? If you love this clock, then I want you to have it. My house is huge. There’s plenty of room. I was thinking we’d put it in the dining room.”
She’d been thinking the same thing. “On the shorter wall by the opening to the kitchen?”
“That’s the one.”
“That’s perfect. It has to be on an interior wall so there’s no sudden change in temperatures and it can’t be near an air vent and...” She pressed her lips together. “Sorry. I’m enthused.”
“You are, now let’s get going.”
They laid out the instructions on the coffee table. Daniel went to work taking apart the working parts of the clock while Ali unscrewed the hinges for the glass door.
Daniel took pictures as he went to help them with reassembly, and separated the small pieces into plastic bags. Ali got the hand truck. Together they carried all the pieces out and laid them on the truck’s back seat, then returned for the main housing. The wood frame was heavy but they got it outside and into the back of the truck where Daniel tied it down.