He opened his mouth, then closed it.
I watched him leave, shoulders hunched, the box abandoned on the patio table.
Someone near the grill muttered,
“About time.”
Another neighbor quietly shook his head.
And for the first time in months, I breathed all the way in.
I suddenly realized Clark was still standing beside me.
“About time.”
Even though his job was technically over, he hadn’t taken a single step away.
His hand brushed mine.
Neither of us pulled away.
Ethan hurried over once Jordan was gone.
“You okay, Mom?”
“I’m better than okay, sweetheart.”
Neither of us pulled away.
***
Clark waited until the last of the guests drifted back toward the pool before moving closer.
“Looks like my contract officially ended five minutes ago,” he said with a crooked smile.
I laughed.
“Does that mean you’re leaving?”
He looked at me for a moment.
“Only if you want me to.”
“Looks like my contract officially ended five minutes ago,”
I felt my cheeks warm.
“I spent months believing no decent man could ever look at me the way you pretended to today.”
Clark smiled softly.
“That was the funny part.”
“What?”
“I wasn’t pretending nearly as much as you think.”
“I wasn’t pretending nearly as much as you think.”
For a second, I just stared at him.
He rubbed the back of his neck.
Suddenly looking far less confident than the actor I’d hired.
“Would you let me take you to dinner next weekend?”
I looked toward the gate where Jordan had disappeared, then back at the man still standing beside me.
For a second, I just stared at him.
One had spent years making me feel invisible.
The other had spent one afternoon reminding me I wasn’t.
I smiled.
“I’d like that.”
Clark offered me his arm with an exaggerated flourish.
Laughing, I slipped mine through it.
