27. Dessert
“What right doyou have to tell me that I’m going to have a sad life? I have everything that I need. I have my kids, my house, and my garden. Eat.” Gia gestured to the food sitting untouched on the table, hoping they could eat the multitude of appetizers, ask for the bill, and call it quits on the lunch.
“I know that even in Brazil, following my dreams, doing exactly what I wanted to do, I never felt as complete as I did when I was with you. I came back to tell you I needed you with me. Here, there, wherever.”
Gia rolled her eyes. “Timing is everything, my friend. Speaking of which, your pull-out timing sucks. I’ve been wanting to tell you that for years.”
“Apparently,” Ben chuckled. “Gia, let me meet Aiden. Let’s see how it goes. You can tell him I’m just a family friend or something.”
“He isn’t stupid, Ben. And he isn’t five, either. He looks exactly like you.”
“I mean, if he figures it out, he figures it out, right?”
“No. Not right. It’s not that simple. Maybe this is something Aiden and I should have talked about long ago, but we didn’t. I never knew how to bring it up. First, I thought he was too young, then I didn’t want him to feel different from his siblings—and I can’t just spring something like this on him now or let him ‘figure it out’ after seeing you.”
Ben shrugged. “Listen, Gia… Let me take you out on a date. A real date. We won’t talk about the past or Aiden at all. It’ll be just two people getting to know each other and seeing if we still click like we once did.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“It could be.”
“Please, just eat,” Gia urged, sticking her fork into her salad and shoving the first bite since it’d been placed in front of her into her mouth. Her eyes opened wide. “Oh, wow! That’s amazing. Taste that!”
Ben bit into a forkful of salad and began chewing. “Yeah… that’s definitely delicious. Let’s try the pizza,” he suggested, pleased with an opportunity to change the subject and return to more casual conversation. Gia nodded and grabbed a slice of the small gourmet pizza, raising it to her lips and taking a bite before putting it down on the small plate in front of her.
“Yeah, I’ll certainly be returning here to try the rest of the menu,” Gia said. “I’d have so many ideas for a place like this!”
“I’ve got news for you: if you refuse to see me for another date, I intend to order the menu in its entirety today—over a prolonged period. And eat very, very slowly.”
“Fine, Ben! One more date. One.” Gia groaned. Well, he’s persistent. I’ll give him that much.
“One more date? Does that mean that this counts as a date, too? Ooh, do we get to kiss?” Ben asked playfully, the corners of his eyes crinkling with his smile.
“Ben…” Gia started.
“Okay, sorry. I’m done. One is all I need!” A wider grin spread across Ben’s face.
Please don’t let me regret this, thought Gia. “I just don’t see how we can get through an entire night completely disregarding the past—which, I’ll remind you, flows straight through to the present in the form of a little boy named Aiden. You can’t ‘get to know’ me without learning about Aiden.”
“Don’t worry about that. Just let me handle the details. Besides, I want to learn about Aiden. I just don’t want to fight with you over it.”
For the next several minutes, the topic of conversation shifted back to the food. Ben and Gia continued their meal, sampling the meats and cheeses and discussing which they liked best and what else they wanted to try from the entrée section of the menu. Meanwhile, Gia pointed out different ways she could re-imagine the courses using her personal garden’s produce.
“Speaking of your garden, how’s it doing this year?” asked Ben, landing on a topic he knew would be agreeable to both of them, and that didn’t pose much of a fight risk—or a flight risk, given how their earlier morning interactions had gone.
“Not bad, honestly. This year, I tried a few experiments with containers versus in-ground plantings and some new companion gardening and integrated pest management plans. Most of them seem to be working well! The pollinator garden is gorgeous, pulling more bees and butterflies than ever. I even have a few hummingbirds coming around. The best part is that it’s all native species, so it’s pretty self-sufficient! It takes so little effort compared to the other garden areas.”
“That’s incredible. I’d love to see it. I wish you’d show me.”
“Let’s get through this meal and our first official date with no more yelling or tears—then we’ll see.”
“Fair enough.”
“Ben.” Gia paused to take a deep breath.
“Yeah?”
“What are your actual plans? Are you staying around here or—” Gia’s voice trailed off as she got lost in thought, wondering if all this emotional upheaval was for nothing.
“It depends,” admitted Ben.
“On what?”
“On you.” Ben reached across the table and wrapped his hand around Gia’s, pulling it toward an empty space in the center of the table and holding it. “I’m only here for you. I have a big project in the works here, but its success depends on a few key factors.”
Gia shifted her eyes down, uncertain what to say or do, but allowed him to hold her hand. His touch still sent a shiver down her spine, a fact she refused to admit out loud.
Slowly, Gia shifted her gaze upward until she made eye contact with Ben. He really had grown up to be quite handsome. She couldn’t help but notice the difference. He was no longer a boy. He was a man, and she wondered what else had changed about him despite her efforts to keep her thoughts pure. Her eyes wandered to his broad shoulders and chest, lingering there until the waitress reappeared.
“How is everything?” she asked, clearly pleased that emotions seemed predominantly positive at the table—happy customers, bigger tip!
“Oh, it’s wonderful. Delicious, thank you,” Gia said, shaking off her wandering thoughts.
“Everything is great,” added Ben.
“Can I get you some entrees?”
“Actually,” Gia jumped in, “I think we both ate so much of the appetizers that we may be ready to jump straight to dessert and save the other options for another time.”
Ben smiled. He knew Gia loved sweets, and as long as she wasn’t complaining about staying for another course, he saw it as a good sign. “Works for me,” he said. “We’ll take a dessert menu when you have a minute.”
“Of course,” the waitress said, walking away for a moment and returning with two dessert menus.
“This all sounds incredible,” breathed Gia. “This place is my new ‘go-to’ for, well, for everything! Local honey-lavender ice cream, fruit galette, fresh zucchini cupcakes, rhubarb crumble over vanilla ice cream—what more could a garden lover ask for?”
“Seriously. I can’t decide. Let’s just order all of it and sample the goods,” Ben suggested, grinning.
“Ben, that’s going to be way too much money. My gift card isn’t for that much! Single mom, multiple kids, remember?”
“I didn’t even know you had a gift card.” Ben chuckled. “I was going to say it was my treat, but… now you can pay for part with your gift card, and I’ll pay the overage to keep things fair.”
“If we order that whole dessert menu, on top of all the drinks and apps, you’ll lose out on that deal… it’s not going to be an even split by any stretch.”
“You know what… I changed my mind. Hang onto that gift card. You”ll want to return if you love this place as much as you say. This time is my treat! I’d say I owe it to you at this point.”
“Ya think?” Gia said, rolling her eyes but secretly hiding a smile.
When the waitress returned to take their order, her jaw dropped in surprise when Ben informed her that they wanted everything on the dessert menu, but she didn’t say anything. Their visit to the restaurant hadn’t exactly been by the book so far, so why question it now? She took the order back to the kitchen, and the two fell back into garden talk inspired by the multitude of food ideas Gia had gained from the meal and the different menu options.
Gia was surprised by the level of comfort they easily fell into, chatting without much effort until the desserts began to pour out from the kitchen. They arrived two at a time, with Gia and Ben each sampling a small amount from each, then pushing them to the center of the table and awaiting the next arrivals. They planned to try to finish anything frozen first so they could split up and take home the leftovers when they were too full to eat another bite!
Gia and Ben were shocked by how little remained at the end of their dessert sampling. They’d eaten so much that they needed several minutes to digest before even considering paying the bill and leaving. Gia realized that may also have been an excuse to make the meal last just a bit longer! Once they’d stopped arguing, it really had been a fantastic meal.
When they couldn’t think of any excuses to stay and the bill was placed on the table, Ben grabbed it before Gia could see the balance. He stood up, walked over to the waitress with the bill and his wallet, and whispered something in her ear. They both laughed, and Ben shook the waitress’s hand before returning to the table. As he walked over, Gia thought she noticed Ben glance down at his phone and furrow his brow in concern, but perhaps she had imagined it.
“All set!” Ben said.
“How much?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Ben, tell me.”
“Nope! My treat. Consider it my thank you for the opportunity to spend a thoroughly enjoyable meal with the perfect company. One that started a little iffy, I might add. Honestly, I don’t think that could have gone better if I’d planned it.” He smirked. “By the way, you take the leftovers. I’m watching my figure.”