She chuckled and pressed her lips together. “I had a crush on the crab, it’s no big deal.” She snatched the page from me.
That was quite possibly when I laughed the hardest all morning. Hell, possibly all month. “What like the voiceover actor?”
“No. The crab itself. Sebastian was hilarious. And so romantic.”
I covered my mouth with my hand. “This is priceless information. Do you know what I could do with this?” I warned.
She shrugged carelessly. “I have no shame.” She tore into a buttered pancake with delight that melted me and I wanted to reach for her. It occurred to me that I’d barely touched her since we woke up this morning and it felt odd.
“Have you ever thought of altering your list?”
She dipped back. “What’s wrong with it?”
“People change. I’m sure you’re not the same person you were three or even two years ago.”
“The list doesn’t change. But I suppose there’s no harm in adding to it.”
That’s a start.
After a few minutes, Harper moaned, setting her fork down on a half-eaten platter. “I’m stuffed.”
I laid some cash on the table and stood, holding out my hand. “Come on. Let’s do it.”
“What are we doing?”
“Playing hooky.”
Her mouth dropped as she considered it. “I have to be at work in twenty minutes and I thoughtyouhad someplace to be.”
I shrugged. “We’re killing two birds with one stone. Seizing the day when it feels right.”
14
Aboutfifteenminutesintoour walk down the Brooklyn Bridge toward the Manhattan side, August and I stopped to admire the view. We were right near the pylons and it was hard to see much with all the cables and nets surrounding both sides of the pedestrian walkway, but I managed to get some amazing shots with my camera phone.
“I can’t believe how surreal this is,” I said as August tugged me out of the way of a biker.
“All this time, I’ve been admiring the view of the bridge from the city streets, never realizing that it’s so much more magnificent looking out of it.” I wasn’t sure if I was making any sense, but then August basically summed it up for me in his own words.
“The city is much more attractive from afar, I agree,” he chuckled.
I tucked my arm under his as the cool wind blew against us. He squeezed it and we continued to stroll down the walkway.
We talked more about my list and August joked about my spending any more time with him. “At this rate, you’ll be done with your list by next week, then what will you do?”
I laughed it off like the joke that it was, but as I considered it, I wondered if I would need to carry it around anymore. If I’d keep doing things on the list just to keep her alive. My chest ached at the idea of letting go.
“What’s wrong?” August picked up on my mood shift and I wondered what gave it away.
“Nothing, why?”
“You were leaning against my shoulder and then you disappeared somewhere.”
“Well, I thought better of it. Wouldn’t want to get too clingy.”
He opened his mouth to respond but I cut him off. “I promise the random occurrences of showing up at your apartment will stop.”
“Don’t make promises I don’t want you to keep.” His words came fast, I almost missed what he said until he winked.
