all the trouble to make these and then you ditch me."
"Why would I ditch you?"
"Who knows? You took off this morning without warning."
"I didn't just take off. I told you I had stuff to do."
He holds up the plate. "You gonna eat this or not? They're getting cold."
I pick up a pastry and take a bite. As always, the outside is toasted a flaky golden brown and the inside is soft and warm, done to perfection.
"Lemon?" I ask, pointing to the filling.
"It's new. Saw it at the store and had to try it. What do you think?"
"I love it. Reminds me of lemon bars. Grams makes the absolute best lemon bars."
"She didn't seem happy to see me tonight. Not that she ever does, but I'm pretty sure I got the death stare tonight."
"She has no reason to be mad at you. She's just upset about Walter. I think she's frustrated because she doesn't know what to do."
"Tell her to apologize, or at the very least, talk to him. He's been moping around all day, looking over at your house, waiting for her to come over."
"He has? That's so sad. I'll talk to her tomorrow." I lean back on the swing as I savor the last of my pastry. "Are you ever going to tell me your secret for making these come out so perfect?"
"If I told you it wouldn't be a secret."
"C'mon. You have to at least tell me before you leave. I can't go the rest of my life life eating half frozen toaster pastries after having these."
"Maybe I'll come back and make you some."
"I doubt it. I'll probably never see you again after you leave."
"You could come visit me."
"I don't know where you'll be."
"I'll call and tell you."
"By then you'll have a girlfriend. She won't want me visiting."
He laughs as he sets the empty plate down on the floor. "You got my whole life planned out or what?"
"I'm just assuming you'll find someone once you're settled somewhere."
"I told you I don't want a girlfriend."
"Because you're leaving town soon. Once you find a place to live, that'll change."
He nods. "Good to know. Do you have her name figured out too? What does she look like? How old is she? Is she tall? Short?"
"Yeah, I get it. I'll stop assuming. But you make assumptions too."
"Like what?"
"Like assuming Keith is a stuck-up jerk just because he's a lawyer and drives an expensive car."
"I didn't call him a stuck-up jerk."
"You keep making negative comments about him."
"The only negative comment I made was that a pie place wasn't a great first date. I thought it was lame. But it doesn't matter what I think. You're the one who has to like him, which apparently you do because you keep going out with him." He pauses. "Unless you're going out with him for some other reason."
"I'm not dating him for his money."
"That's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean?"
"Never mind." He leans back on the swing, putting his arm up behind me as he looks out at the darkness.
"Tell me what you meant."
"If I did I'd be making assumptions, which I shouldn't be doing, so I'm choosing to keep quiet."
"I don't care if you're making assumptions. I want to know what you're thinking."
He looks at me, like he's about to tell me, but then doesn't.
"Tyler, c'mon. Just tell me."
He shrugs. "Maybe you're going out with him to try to make me jealous."
I laugh. "And why would I try to make you jealous?"
"Because you want us to be more than friends and you think me seeing you with some other guy will make me change my mind."
"That's ridiculous. And insulting. I don't play games like that. And I don't use a guy to make another guy jealous. I can't believe you think that about me." I get up. "I'm going home."
"Faith, no." He grabs my hand. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said it. This is why I didn't want to tell you. And why I don't like making assumptions."
I sit down. "I would never do that."
"Can we just forget I said it? I'm sorry, okay? I just can't figure out why you're going out with that guy. If you really liked him, you wouldn't be home this early from your date."
"It's because I—"
"I don't know why I act this way," he says, interrupting me before I could tell him I'm no longer dating Keith.
"What way?"
"Getting involved where I shouldn't." He runs his hand through his hair. "I normally keep to myself. Stay out of