Page 41 of Slowly, All at Once

“Mia had moved here that summer and your parents came to you guys for the holidays.”

“Yep. And you and your family were here.”

“I took a break from training. The 2016 Olympics were the next year.”

He nodded and stared into his glass. “You seemed so happy, so focused. I wanted to help you so desperately. I wanted to talk to you but you acted like I was nothing. I was so stuck in my own head that I hadn’t considered how you felt. I told myself that maybe I never knew you like I thought I had. Maybe that was just an excuse to help me feel better about my own bad behavior. I don’t know.”

My heart ached. “Jacob.”

He swallowed. “Do you ever think about it? What it would be like?”

“The baby?”

He nodded.

“All the time.” I put my hand to my belly.

He reached for my hand. “We’re different now, Camille.”

He was right. Now that the walls were coming down, I realized we were different people.

I took a chance. “I’m not sure what you’re going to tell me Jacob, but I still care about you. I want you. I want us to be us again.”

“I want that too Camille. I know we’re different, and I haven’t exactly been pleasant to you. I’m sorry for that. I’d like us to start over—if you think we can.”

Repentant Jacob was hard to resist. Instead, I said, “Well, I don’t know, it is a horribly inconvenient time.”

“Don’t joke.”

His vulnerability cracked through me. I stood and went to him. He pushed his chair back. I didn’t even care that people could see us. I sat in his lap, held his face, and kissed him. “I’m sorry too. I assumed so much. I would like us to start over very much.”

It was a sweet kiss. A promising kiss.

The waitress appeared, cleared her throat, and said, “Halibut?”

I giggled and removed myself from his lap. “That’s mine.”

The rest of our evening passed peacefully, with a lot of laughter. He talked about missing the NFL, and I shared with him what Nora had suggested about teaching.

“Camille, that’s amazing.”

“Yeah, I talked to Lane and he said I can use their arena, until I find a permanent location.”

He rolled his eyes. “Lane.”

I poked him. “You are so jealous.”

“Am not.”

His childish response had us both laughing again.

“Anyway, I think I’d be really good at it.”

His eyes were tender when they met mine. “I think so too.”

Conversation flowed easily after that. Our discussion was more mature. I continued sharing my vision with him. I told him about my meltdown at the Foundation and how I found out the calendar expenses had been paid.

“Really?” He asked as he took his last bite of his dinner.