Page 60 of Wishing for Love

“Not as well as I wish.”

“Do you want to come up and talk when Elsie is in bed?” she asked.

“I’d like that,” he said.

“Then I’ll see you in a few hours,” she said, then left to go up the stairs.

“What are you making for dinner?” Elsie asked him.

“I’m not sure. What do you want?”

“Can we see what is left over from when your mom was here?”

Exactly what he’d been hoping to do. “We can,” he said. “Want to go together?”

Elsie jumped up. “I hope there is lasagna in there.”

“I’m pretty sure there is,” he said. His mother made a few small ones and he didn’t think he ate more than one.

“Do you have bread too?” Elsie asked. “I like bread and butter with sauce.”

“We’ve always got bread,” he said. He walked out into the garage and to the freezer chest he’d bought when his mother was here. He found a lasagna and pulled it out. It was three right now, but with this thing frozen, he’d have to microwave it for a bit before he stuck it in the oven.

Might as well start it now so they could eat by five.

The sooner they got on with their night, the sooner Elsie would be in bed and he could talk with Crystal.

A little after eight, Elsie was sleeping and then made his way up the stairs to Crystal’s. He heard her on the phone saying that she didn’t know what she was doing on New Year’s Eve yet and would let them know.

He hadn’t put much thought into that and it was only two days away. She’d probably want to go out with her friends and he had Elsie home with him.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hi,” she said. “Elsie sleeping?”

“She is,” he said. “Fell asleep before I finished her story.”

“That is nice. She wears herself out so much that she sleeps hard.”

He moved over and sat on the couch next to her. “Did you want to go out on New Year’s Eve?”

“No,” she said. “I’ve never put much thought into it. Maybe years ago it was fun, but in the past few years not really. I’d rather go to someone’s house and hang out, but no one has parties anymore.”

“I haven’t done much on New Year’s Eve in a while. Maryn would have some people over now and again, but once Elsie got older, she stopped it. Or I stopped going because of Nora.”

“How long has it been since Nora left?” she asked.

“Over a year,” he said. “So she wasn’t around for the last set of holidays but was the one before. Nora was jealous of me.”

“Why?” she asked. “It’s not like you were romantically involved.”

“No,” he said. “But Nora had been with a few men and Maryn never had been. I think she thought that maybe Maryn would be persuaded to try something. No clue.”

“I told you how I feel about that,” she said. “I know a lot of people who have experienced relationships with men and women, but I’m willing to bet Maryn was like me. She knew who she was attracted to.”

“She did,” he said. “Anyway, back to New Year’s Eve.” He didn’t want to talk about Maryn or her ex. They had no place in what he was trying to build with Crystal.

“I’m not doing anything,” she said. “I’m assuming you aren’t either?”