head to look into his eyes and said, “This is why you weren't taken, to be with her. Treat her right this time, okay? Treat both of you right.”
He took a deep breath, as he studied her. Question creased the lines on his forehead as he looked from her to me, but then, he nodded. “I will.”
“Good.” Tracey turned to look at me and waved with a flourish of her fingers. “I'll call you soon. Maybe we should take this show on the road.”
With one last smile, she hurried out, leaving me alone with my once sad and angry, but always devastatingly beautiful husband. Marco brought out a pint of gelato and a few spoons and handed them over to Vinnie, who laid it all on the table.
Then, he sat down where Tracey had been and grabbed a spoon. I stared at him incredulously as he dug in, not knowing what was now supposed to happen, or what I should say, and came up with nothing.
Vinnie nudged the other spoon toward me and with a mouthful of gelato, said, “Come on, sweetheart. Eat. And while you're at it, ask me whatever you want. I won't lie to you, but you gotta do somethin' for me, too.”
“What's that?” I asked skeptically, taking the spoon.
“You gotta be honest with me.”
And for the first time in our months together, I agreed. To both him and myself.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
VINNIE
“What the hell are you doing here?”
That was her first question. Not how I'd been or what I'd been up to in the months since I'd last seen her. She wanted to know what the hell had brought me here, to this restaurant, in this moment. She probably thought it was all a set up, and I had to admit, it would've been a good one. But honestly, I'd been just as surprised to see her walk through the door. The moment had been nothing short of serendipitous and I knew that. But she didn't.
“I work here,” I answered simply, digging my spoon into the tub of gelato.
“He called you boss.”
“Right,” I said with a nod. “Because I'm his boss.”
“Since when?”
“Since I hired him two weeks ago.”
Andy rolled her eyes and threw her head back with the motion. “You know what I mean,” she groaned, before righting herself and staring straight into my eyes.
I couldn't help but smile at the way she slowly pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, a direct contrast to the steel in her eyes. A constant contradiction of bashful and fierce. She was back, the woman I’d fallen in love with, and I settled into the comfort of knowing I hadn't completely ruined her.
“Okay,” I said with resignation, dropping the spoon and rubbing my sticky fingers on my jeans. “I'll tell you what happened, but you gotta help me finish this 'cause I'm not putting it back in the freezer.”
Pinching her lips, she relented and dug in.
“So,” I began, running a hand through my hair, “you got my letter. And I'm assuming you read it, right?” She nodded, and I continued, “Cool. So, you know I was really messed up. After rehab and a shitload of therapy in Boston, I came back home. First, I lived with Zach for a little while, knowing I'd need to get back to the city eventually. But the thing was, I didn't want to go back to the city. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I didn't have anything left there. Pops was gone, Zach was living his life upstate, and as often as Jenna was in there, her life wasn't there. And, I dunno if you've noticed, but I really hate being alone. Like, Z? He can spend hours by himself and he's all good, but I don't work like that. My brain is too loud.
“Anyway, I decided it was time to go. So, we let the lease run out on the apartment and packed everything up. Jenna invited me to come live out here in her basement for a while, and I went for it. I had these plans to commute back and forth, but I talked to Goose one night, and he gave me this whole spiel about letting go and living my life for me. I don't think I've ever done that before. The most selfish thing I've ever done was marry you, and despite everything that happened, I still think it's the best thing I've ever done. I realized I wanted to live the rest of my