Chapter Forty-Three
“That’s pretty romantic,” Eli said as he pulled out a barstool at Herbsaint for me as I explained how I stumbled upon Hollis in the lobby. The restaurant was packed and we’d gotten lucky to snag two seats at the bar for lunch.
After retrieving my room key, I’d returned to Eli’s room, where he pulled me back into the shadows and kissed me against the wall until one of our stomachs growled.
He led me by the hand for the five-minute walk. I kept waiting for him to let go and for things to return to how they’d been, but he didn’t. And it was nice to not be the person constantly fighting for something.
Eli ordered several dishes for us to share and swore the spaghetti would change my life.
While we waited for our food, the sky outside opened with rain.
Each drop practically steamed as it hit the pavement.
I asked about Eli’s dad. He was retiring soon and a cousin would take over the practice.
He discussed it so bitterly that I had to assume his cousin was more in line with the version of Eli his father had hoped for.
“I see my father every other year,” he explained. “Brigid or I will go for Christmas or Thanksgiving. He remarried to a woman a few years younger than me, and”—he shook his head—“after my mother died, we didn’t really have a reason to maintain the appearance that we liked each other.”
I talked about my mom and how she’d wanted to go back to school for social work but never did.
After we got our food, I sent Ruby a brief question to see if she needed me for her events today.
My wish was that she and Hollis had mended things and hopefully Hollis would attend to her.
The only response I received was an ominous I’m fine . . .
I held out my phone for Eli to see as he placed a napkin in his lap.
“Does your dad do this shit with the ellipsis?” I asked.
He grunted. “Yes, and he writes texts like they’re letters. He even signs off with his name.”
I shook my head and dropped my phone back into my bag. “Red flag.”
“Huge red flag,” he confirmed.
We talked about Hollis and Ruby and missed connections. It was hard not to wonder if we were also talking about ourselves.
Just as Eli started to prod me about my writing, a drenched young couple sat down beside us.
“It’s okay,” the girl with long black braids said to the other girl, who had cropped blond hair. “Rain on your wedding day is supposed to be good luck.”
Eli and I shared a sympathetic look as I twirled some (obscenely delicious) spaghetti around my fork.
“It doesn’t feel lucky,” the blond said, plopping her head against the other girl’s shoulder. “We should have just gotten married in Vegas when you proposed.”
“That’s where we got married,” I blurted.
Eli’s eyes widened. Whether it was because I was making small talk with strangers or because I’d mentioned our wedding, I couldn’t tell. Probably both.
But it only took a moment for him to recover and take my hand in his. “Twenty years next spring,” he told the couple.
“Wow,” the girl with braids said. “That seems like forever.”
“Sometimes it feels like it,” I muttered as I began to feel a little uncomfortable with the direction this was heading.
Eli chuckled. “I’m Eli and this is Vera.”
The blond leaned over her fiancée. “I’m Lilly and this is Tori.”
“Congratulations,” I offered. “How did you two meet?”
Lilly and Tori shared a knowing glance and then Lilly rolled her eyes. “We met on an app. Sometimes we lie to make it more interesting, but the truth is, we were both looking for a hookup and ended up with—”
“More,” Tori finished for her.
“How did you guys meet?”
“In college,” I said just as Eli said, “She was obsessed with my roommate.”
Tori waggled her eyebrows. “This sounds juicy.”
“And so tortured,” Lilly said. “How did you two actually start dating?”
Eli squeezed my hand gently. “That’s the funny thing. We never did.”
Okay, I could play along for the sake of entertaining two nervous brides. “We were on a trip to Vegas just before Eli graduated, right, honey?”
He nodded. “Indeed, we were. A few drinks turned into truth or dare and then my roommate dared me to marry Vera at one of those twenty-four-hour wedding chapels.”
Tori’s jaw dropped. “Seriously?”
“Did you two even like each other before then?” Lilly asked.
Eli let go of my hand and slung his arm around my shoulder, nestling me in closer to him. “At the time, I had convinced myself she was annoying, but looking back, I was just annoyed by how much I liked her.”
My head swiveled back to him. “You liked me?” I asked softly.
“Don’t pretend you didn’t know,” he said conspiratorially.
But I didn’t know. Truly.
Without turning back to Lilly and Tori, holding a steady gaze on Eli, I said, “And I was always curious about him.”
It was his turn to be surprised now. “You were?”
I nodded sincerely.
After a moment, Tori let out a fluttery swoon. “You two are so dreamy. What a story.”
“And you’ve been together ever since?” Lilly asked.
A wave of emotions passed over him. Hope, regret, and then something soft and vulnerable. “There have been a lot of ups and downs,” he told them without looking away from me. “But we’re here now.”
A soft smile formed on my lips and I nodded once before we both turned back to our companions.
“They’re so cute,” Lilly said to Tori, and then in unison, they both said, “They should come to the wedding.”
My body physically retreated from the two girls. A little fib over lunch was one thing, but dragging this out into one of the most important events of their lives felt flat-out unethical.
“Please say you will,” Tori said to us both.
Lilly nodded vigorously. “With a story like that, you two have got to be some kind of good-luck charm.”
I turned to Eli and gave a subtle shake of my head, but his mouth was already moving. “We’d love to.”