He pulled her into his arms once they were in the kitchen. “I didn’t mean to do that. But I also didn’t want you to go in thinking she’d be fine and then get hit with dynamite.”
She frowned as she pulled out the filets she’d bought to let them get to room temperature.
“Was she normally hard on women you were dating? I guess I never asked if there were other women you were in relationships with besides Rene.”
“Rene wasn’t a relationship,” he said. “Not a real one. As for other ones, yes. I’ve had a few that lasted a year or longer. Nothing over two years. My mother met those women.”
“Why didn’t they last?”
She pulled out big russet potatoes, washed and cut them into thick wedges, then added olive oil and salt and pepper.
She put one layer of them in the air fryer at high. They’d take twenty minutes. Then she’d add another batch to cook while the filets were going.
“Not one specific reason. Sometimes our futures didn’t line up. I’d want kids, they wouldn’t. They’d want to travel, my job didn’t always allow a lot of time off. I’d say I parted as friends with them if that helps.”
She walked to the wine fridge and pulled out a pinot noir; he took it out of her hands to open while she got the glasses down.
“That helps,” she said. “Unlike me with Jonathan. He wanted to stay in touch, but there was no way that was happening. It was all to save face, as if everyone didn’t know he cheated on me.”
Brennan snorted. “He wanted you two to remain friends?”
“That’s what he said, but it was a line of crap. It had to do with his job more than anything. He was afraid of getting fired.”
“As he should have been,” he said, lifting one eyebrow.
“Don’t be that way,” she said. “It’s not my style to get revenge. I feel as if karma will get him in the end anyway.”
He poured them both a glass and handed it over. “I never used to think that way but didn’t have a reason to. I can’t waste my energy on people not in my life anymore.”
“That is how I choose to think of it.” She moved into his arms. “I’d rather focus on us. I know it’s only been a few weeks.”
“Months that we’ve known each other.” He kissed her on the forehead. “I like to think that we were leading up to this.”
“It’s a nice thought for sure. But for me, I want to center our time together on us.”
“I like that,” he said. “Anything I can do to help you with dinner? You shouldn’t be doing all the work.”
“I’m good.”
She moved out of his arms and put salt and pepper on the filets. The air fryer went off at the halfway mark so she turned the thick fries over and then grabbed the asparagus to cook.
“Then I’ll just do all the work after dinner.”
She laughed. “That had been my secret plan the whole time.”
She went about cooking dinner, searing the filets in a cast iron skillet, then throwing them in the oven to finish. The fries were in a basket ready to go and the asparagus was just about done.
“The least I can do is set the table,” he said.
She pulled plates down, he took them out of her hand and put them on the small table off the kitchen.
Five minutes later, they were sitting down with their plates full, their wine glasses topped off.
“Thanks for this quiet night in,” she said. “I feel like we’ve had so many gatherings this time of year and it’s nice to relax.”
“I agree. It’s been a long week for me. I wouldn’t bring Becca to pre-K yesterday but wanted to give my mother a break knowing she was taking her overnight for us.”
Both she and Brennan had taken today off. She’d done a little work from home before she went to his house. It wasn’t as if shehad anything else going on and sitting around thinking about how she wanted this night to end was only working her up.
