She fixes her gaze on the oversize fork and spoon on the wall in front of her. “Thanks for letting me borrow it. I also ate all the ice cream last night. So thanks for that too.”
“I’d say I see that, too, but I don’t want to get smacked.”
She fires a playful glare my way. “Smart move.”
I settle in my seat and run my hands down my thighs. My jeans are smooth under my palms. I repeat the move a second time when I notice Haley’s attention has turned to my hands.
“You know,” she says, pulling her gaze to mine, “they say people come into your life for a reason.”
“I’ve heard that. Not sure I agree with it, though.” I take a drink from Claire. “Thanks.”
She nods, a shit-eating grin on her face as she grabs the coffeepot and skirts away.
“Do you have any thoughts about it?” I ask.
“Yeah. I’m trying to decide what your reason is.”
Leaning forward, I smirk. “Most women come up with the same reason for coming into my life.”
“Of course you’d say that.” She snorts, her perfect little pout pressing her lips together.
“Of course I’d be right.” I toss her a wink as I sit back again. “But in this particular instance, I’m here because my father married a life-size doll who needs two hundred acres and four thousand square feet for him, her, and her two poodles, and I’m on vacation and can’t sit still. It’s pretty self-explanatory.”
“You really don’t like her, do you?”
“Meredith?” I shrug. “She’s all right, I guess. Not the kind of woman I’d marry, but I didn’t marry her.”
She leans against the bar, resting her arms on the ledge. “If you were to get married, what kind of woman would you pick?”
“Are you asking me to go steady, Miss Raynor?”
“Hardly,” she scoffs. “I’m just doing some market research.”
I sit back in my seat and study her. I don’t think I could ever think about Haley like I do Meredith or Liz. She’s not like them at all. Come to think of it, she’s not like any woman I’ve ever met. I just can’t quite figure out why.
“I’m a bad person to research on because I’m not, nor will I ever likely be, in that particular market,” I say.
She stares at me with an open mouth. A spattering of freckles covers the bridge of her nose and sprays over the tops of her cheeks. From this angle, she looks so much younger than what I’m guessing is her twenty-six, twenty-seven years.
“What?” I ask.
“You don’t want to get married? Ever?”
“No. Not particularly.” I roll my cup around in my hands. “I mean, if it happens, that’s fine. Great. But it’s not on the agenda.”
“Why not?”
“Why would it be?” I ask her. “Why would you want to attach yourself to one person for the rest of your life?”
Her lashes flutter once. Twice. Three times before she shakes her head to rid it of the fog she seems to think is keeping her from understanding my point. “Because you’re in love.”
“That would work if you believed in love to start with.”
A gasp escapes her throat. “You don’t believe in love? What kind of animal are you?”
I think she’s kidding with the animal comment, but I’m not sure.
My first reaction is to make some kind of sexual innuendo. To play it off and change the subject to something lighter. But the sheer shock written across her features locks me into this conversation I didn’t start out to have.
“Fine,” I say, blowing out a breath. “I believe in love. I really do. I just don’t believe in one love for all of time.”
She looks at me like I’m from outer space and don’t understand what she’s saying. “But that’s what love is,” she says slowly.
“Is it?” I take a brown paper bag from Claire, who wisely refrains from joining the conversation. She dips out, scooting into the dining area. “I don’t know if I believe that. I mean, how can the twenty-six-year-old me know who the fifty-six-year-old me wants in life? It’s ludicrous.”
A steeliness settles over her eyes. “So this is your way of opting out of monogamy?”
“No. Why does it always have to go there?” I ask. “I’ve never cheated on a woman. Ever. Not even when I was a teenager with the sex drive of a monkey. One girl for me at a time. That’s all I can handle.” I pause and think about what I’ve said. “That’s not the whole truth, if I’m honest.