finally she laughed. “I mean, wow. Either you’re terrible with faces, or I’m that forgettable.”
“Wait. I remember.” His face darkened a little. “It’s just … it’s been a long time since I’ve been to the market. I do remember you. Your hair was different…”
“It was blue then,” she said, fingering her blond locks.
“It looks a lot better now,” he said, and when she raised an eyebrow, he flushed. “Sorry, that came out wrong—”
“Wrong meaning rude?”
“It … shit. I meant … blond, blue, it looks great either way.”
“Did you just say shit to a barista? And here I gave you a free cookie.”
“Now it’s free? I thought you paid for it with the huge tip I gave you.”
“Wow.”
“You know what, I’m just going to sit here and shut up.”
“That may be your best option.”
Their eyes met, and both of them burst out laughing.
“McKenzie,” she said, holding out her hand. “You can call me Kenzie. For today, anyway. I’m sure the minute you leave, I’ll cease to exist to you.”
“Derek.” He reached a hand out. She shook it, noticing he held hers a couple of seconds longer than was necessary. “And I don’t think that’s possible now.”
He released her hand, somewhat reluctantly, and she glanced down at his. He was wearing a wedding ring. He noticed her noticing and dropped his hand into his lap so it was no longer visible. He needn’t have worried.
It’s a myth that wedding rings prevent women from hitting on men. Some women are drawn to wedding rings like moths to a flame. For those women, the ring is exactly what they’re looking for.
After that first meeting, Derek started coming into the coffee shop every few days, and then every other day, and she couldn’t get over how different he seemed from the guy she remembered from the market. The guy at the market was so full of life and vigor. It radiated in the way he moved.
The new version of Derek was haunted. Lonely. And aching to talk to someone who wasn’t going to ask him anything about what was haunting him. At that point, she hadn’t let on that she knew about his son. She and Derek had never exchanged last names.
“Are you on a break?” he said a couple of weeks later, when Kenzie came out from behind the counter without her apron. “Have a seat. Take a load off.”
“Are you sure? I didn’t mean to interrupt.” He had his laptop open, and all she could see was a spreadsheet filled with numbers.
“Please. Interrupt.” To punctuate his point, he shut his laptop and moved it to the side, then pulled out the chair opposite him.
She took a seat, and they smiled at each other. She gazed at him openly.
“What?” he asked. “Something on my face? Did I cut myself shaving this morning and nobody told me?”
“You’ve been in here a lot lately,” she said. “My coworker thinks you have a crush on me.”
“I…” He stopped, his face reddening. “I’m too old for you.”
“And too married.”
He looked down at his wedding ring, twisting it with his other hand. “Yeah. That too.” He looked back up at her with a rueful smile. “I like coming here. I used to live a few blocks from here back in college. It reminds me of … less complicated times. That was a million years ago, by the way.”
“Yeah? What programs did they offer back then? How to Make Fire? Mating Rituals of Woolly Mammoths?”
He laughed. “I double majored in business and math.”
“That sounds awful.” She looked through the window at his car and chuckled. “But I guess that’s why you drive the Batmobile and I take the bus.”
“What did you just say?”
“Batmobile.” She rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on, you’re a man of a certain age, Batman should be right up your—”
“My son used to call it that,” Derek said, looking out at the car. “The Batmobile. He was absolutely delighted when I drove it home the first day. Wife hated it immediately, said it was too flashy and that it made me look like a dick, but I’d had a great year, and I bought it in a moment of spontaneity. When she saw the look on Sebastian’s face, though, she relented. That’s why I can’t bring myself to get rid of it.”
Kenzie didn’t know what to say at first. It didn’t feel right to pretend she didn’t know about Sebastian, but his pain was so palpable, she was worried she might say something and make it worse.
“He’s