Isaac stood holding the large roasting pan full of turkey between them. “We didn’t exactly plan ahead,” Dani said. “Can you clear a space on the counter?”
I shifted Darius’s pies to the edge of the island and moved a package of celery and a bag of carrots back into the fridge. “Where’s Darius?”
“He had to go buy more butter for the mashed potatoes,” Isaac said. “Apparently, we underestimated just how many pies he intended to make.”
“I should have warned you,” Chase said from the doorway. “Even when it’s just the two of us and his Mom, he makes at least two pies per person. The man feels strongly about his dessert.”
“Two pies per person,” Isaac said. “I think this is a tradition we should try and implement when Mom and Dad come home.”
“If they ever come home,” Dani said with a laugh. “I did not anticipate them loving Europe this much.”
“They’ll come home eventually,” Isaac said. “I mean, sooner or later one of us will get married or have a kid. They’re bound to come back for something like that.”
At once, Dani’s gaze flew to mine. The conversation we’d once had about children popped into my head. We’d been walking in Central Park after attending a fashion gala at the Met a couple of months before we’d broken up. We’d just passed the zoo, where some sort of children’s charity event had been taking place. “Do you want kids?” Dani had asked bluntly, looping her arm through mine.
“I do,” I’d said, hardly taking time to think about my answer. “I’d like them to come with blonde curly hair and bright blue eyes.” I’d stopped walking then, and turned her to face me, slipping my arms around the small of her back. “Just like their mother.”
She’d closed her eyes and I’d wondered for a moment if I’d spoken too plainly, too boldly. “What about you?” I whispered. “Do you want kids?”
She’d smiled then, her cheeks full of new color. “Yeah. Twins might be fun. But I’m kind of partial to brown eyes.” She’d pulled herself closer to me, reaching up on tiptoe to kiss me just beside my left eye. Her lips trailed a row of kisses down to my earlobe, and then across my jawline until she found my lips. Her hands moved to my cheeks and she’d kissed me right there in front of a homeless woman, a hotdog vendor, and a pair of teenagers who appeared to be high on something, but not so high to keep them from whistling at us when the kiss didn’t stop. We’d kissed so many times in our relationship. Every day. But there was an unexpected tenderness to that moment that I wouldn’t ever forget.
“One of each then,” I had said when she’d finally pulled away, my voice thick with emotion.
“It’s a plan,” she’d whispered back.
“Yo, Dani, we carving this bird or what?” Isaac said.
Dani gave her head a little shake, turning her eyes back to Isaac. Had she been remembering the same conversation? “No. I mean, yes. Just not yet. It has to rest first.” She pressed a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes. “I think I, um . . . I’ll be right back.” She pulled her apron off and draped it over a kitchen chair before sliding into the garden through the back door.
“What was that all about?” Isaac asked, looking to me.
I shrugged. “She’s probably just too warm from all the cooking.” I moved to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. “Maybe I’ll see if she needs this.”
“You better let me,” Chase said, showing up in the kitchen and reaching for the bottle. “I have a feeling you are not the man Dani needs to see right now if the goal is to cool her down.”
“Wait, what?” Isaac said. He watched Chase leave then turned his gaze on me. “Is something going on with you and Dani?”
“No,” I said quickly.
He narrowed his eyes like he didn’t believe my response.
“No,” I said again. “Nothing has happened.”
“But you want it to?”
I forced out a breath. “I don’t know. Possibly?” I sank onto a barstool and dropped my head into my hands. “But after what happened, I’m not sure it matters. I don’t think she’ll have me.”
Before Isaac responded, Darius pushed into the room and dropped a grocery bag full of butter onto the counter. He looked from me to Isaac, and then back to me again. “Did I miss something?”