Jon hurried aroundhislittle kitchen, collecting this and that from cabinets and the refrigerator.Every so often, he’d glance at me and flash me with his reassuring smile,letting me know everything was going to be okay. Somehow, I knew he was right.It didn’t feel much like it now, but one day, I’d be all right.
Hell, if he could beokay, after everything he’d been through, anything seemed possible.
“I hope you likeHamburger Helper,” Jon chuckled, looking over his shoulder. “I’m not the bestchef on the planet, but the girls aren’t starving, so I guess that amounts forsomething, right?”
“It’s fine,” I assuredhim, propping my chin in the palm of my hand.
Honestly, it just feltnice to be taken care of.
“So, let’s play agame.”
I watched the back ofhis head and asked, “What kind of game?”
“We’ll ask each otherquestions, but the catch is, wehavetoanswerand wehaveto be honest.”
I found my grin at thememory from Connecticut. “Okay, I’ll go first.” I chewed my bottom lip and tappedmy fingers against my cheek. “If you could go anywhere on vacation, where wouldyou go?”
“Jeez,” he muttered onan exhale. “You know, I’ve never really been on a real vacation. I mean, wewere alwayskindabroke when I was a kid, and myparents could never afford to take us anywhere other than the zoo or thecircus. That’s why I relied on books and music so much; they were my escape.And it wasn’t much different when I grew up. Beth’s parents would sometimesoffer to take us along with them on their cruises or trips to Paris or whereverthe heck they went, but we’d always turn them down. We didn’t even have ahoneymoon.”
Memories of travelingwith my grandmother flickered through my mind. She had taken me all over thecountry, for book signings and our adventures. I’d seen things many peoplecould only dream of, and at such a young age, too. I had never taken the timeto realize just how privileged I was.
“You’re always supposedto want better for your kids,” he continued, stirring other ingredients intothe pan. “I wanted better for mine. My parents wanted better forme. I never thought it’d ever happen, itseemed for a while like my life ended a few years ago and I was just supposedto slide through it until it was over, but now …” He lifted one shoulder in ashrug. “Itsortafeels like my life is onlybeginning, and I think, when I finally go on a real vacation, I’ll take thegirls to Disney World.”
He turned his back tothe stove and crossed his arms over his chest. “Was that satisfactory?”
I was swooning.Sufficiently swimming in my adoration for this unlikely hero standing beforeme, and I nodded. “Yeah. Definitely satisfactory.”
“Good. My turn.” Heflashed a mischievous grin before turning to stir. “How old were you when youlost your virginity?”
I laughed and rolled myeyes. “Oh, my God, why’d you have to gothere?”
Shooting me a grimaceover his shoulder, he said, “I’m a nice guy, Tess, but I’m still a guy. I’mcurious.”
“I was sixteen,” Igrumbled, still laughing. “His name was Eugene—”
Jon turned withincredulity masking his handsome face. “Eugene?You lost your virginity to a guy namedEugene?That couldn’t have gone well.”
Giggling and blushing,I clapped my hands to my cheeks and shook my head. “It wassobad. He spent more time trying to figure outwhereit goes than actually having sex.”
“Jesus. That’sterrible.”
“What about you?” Icocked a brow and leaned back in my chair.
“Is that yourquestion?” He spooned the food into two bowls and when I eyed the secondquestioningly, he shrugged. “It’s never fun to eat alone.”
Jon had these little,nearly innocent ways of tugging at my heart. Pulling it further and furtheraway from me, to ensure he held it captive where I would never find it again.
“Yeah,” I managed tosay, nodding. “That’s my question.”
Placing one bowl infront of me and taking a seat, he said, “I was nineteen.”
“Wow, I was youngerthan you,” I said, like it was a contest.
“Yeah, well …” He pokedaround the bowl with his fork. “I did have friends in high school who’d sleepwith whoever would take them and then they’d brag about it, but I couldn’tunderstand the point. I mean, it’s not that I was waiting until marriage oranything; I just wanted to wait until I found someone special. So, then I metBeth, and—”
“Wait a minute,” Iinterrupted, my fork stopping mid-bite. “You lost your virginity to her? Andyou weren’t with anybody else?”
Jon’s cheeks pinkedjust a little as he nodded. “Yeah.”
