Table for Two

by Briggs, Laura

  "I know you told me once before that romance is a diverse field, but how diverse is it, actually?"

  Onscreen, Logan looked hesitant. He was trying not to hurt her feelings, she could tell. She swallowed the lump in her throat, pushing it low.

  "If you want to sell books, then you write a story just like you described," she said. "Unless you're really good. Then you can sell them on a romance that doesn't end with a perfect happily-ever-after, just ... happiness. Real happiness for real characters."

  "Is that what you want?" he asked, carefully.

  "I don't know," she answered. "When I'm writing ... this is what comes to me. That Rob is an ordinary guy ... maybe a little better-looking than average ... who wants to be faithful to the woman he promised to love and honor for the rest of his life. And who wants to be in love with the woman who knows and understands him in ways nobody else does. And that's Ginny."

  Logan was quiet. "I think you're a great writer," he said. "I think your instincts are good. If this is the story you want to tell, I think you can do it. And if you truly love it, and you truly fight for it to be the best, purest version of it you envisioned, then it will be a good book. And it will be worth it to you, no matter what happens afterwards."

  "Thanks," she said, softly.

  "For what?" he asked. "That's my honest opinion. One that made you a little uncomfortable, unless I'm imagining things," Logan admitted.

  "Thanks for being honest," she said. "That's what I wanted, even if it hurt a little." She swallowed her pride once again. "And for not promising me it'll make a million dollars and buy me a mansion somewhere."

  He laughed. "It might," he answered. "I don't know. Honestly, all I can tell you is that I believed in Rob, and I believed in Ginny. And as a reader, you sold me on the reasons why he would never leave Laney."

  "I did?"

  "If you want me to describe it in one word, I would say ... 'beautiful.' It was like poetry turned into prose."

  He was teasing her a little ... but he was also serious, too. Danni could see that, and it melted her heart more than his previous words.

  "Enough about that," she said, lowering her face for a moment so he couldn't see her blush. "We should talk about something else. Did Chad finally drag you to a Broadway road show?"

  "I resisted," he answered. "He took Lisa instead. I think they saw Thoroughly Modern Millie."

  "You lucked out."

  "I thought so." He played with a random object from his desk — one of those little magnetic towers made of individual moons and stars. After two months of being settled, his apartment and work space finally had touches of his character — little splashes of color that made Danni feel better about his surroundings.

  "I miss you."

  "I miss you, too."

  "We should move," she said, impulsively. "I'm tired of sitting in one spot." She reached over and picked up the computer, leaving her cold coffee cup behind.

  "Where are we going?" Logan's voice sounded puzzled over the speakers.

  "You'll see." She crossed the cafe to the sofa, which was currently unoccupied. Shoving aside a few oversized pillows, she plopped down on it, resting against the plump, plushy arm. She settled the computer on her stomach, her face now close to his own. No annoying bud vase in between, she thought.

  He laughed. "This is cozy," he said. "Although, I think it might be a little inappropriate, me sitting on top of you like this. People are watching."

  She rolled her eyes. "You are so corny sometimes," she told him.

  "This from the queen of corny lines."

  "I'm comfortable," she said. "Are you saying you're not?"

  "More than comfortable," he answered. "I like being this close to you. Close enough to see the little flaws in your skin, the smear of makeup near your nose —"

  "I'm closing the lid now. Bye."

  "Kidding, kidding. You look beautiful."

  "Thanks." She squirmed into a more comfortable position, adjusting the laptop's camera angle. "You look good. You cut your hair. It's different."

  "It was getting a little too wild. Time to correct my business image, I decided," he answered.

  She tilted her head, trying to decide if she liked it better than his old style. This was a little too short against his neck, she decided. Those adorable curls he would ruffle sometimes were gone. She missed them already.

  "Let it grow out a little before you come back," she told him. "Just a little."

  He smiled. "I will," he answered. "My sister said the same thing when I was home a couple of weeks ago."

  He had spent the Fourth with his family. He'd posted pictures of his family's pool party, of their dog Stella playing in the sprinkler with two of his cousin's kids, of his father flipping burgers and chicken breasts on the BBQ grill. She had viewed them all multiple times, trying to match faces and names with stories. Marissa was seventeen, her boyfriend's name was Doug. Logan's father Martin was retired, his mom Caroline volunteered at the library.

  Danni had posted pictures of her weekend at Gabby's, herself in a group of girls playing a backyard game of bocce, then at a fireworks show at the harbor. She knew Logan had seen them. His comment below, wish I was there, too, made her heart flutter.

  "I'll bet all your sisters friends come by when you're home," she said. "I'll bet they find you attractive and whisper and giggle every time you enter the room."

  "Cut it out," said Logan. His face looked fire red, even on the computer screen. "None of them came over while I was there. Nobody but Doug, and I'm pretty sure he finds me repulsive, as most seventeen year-old snots do."

  "He just knows you'll break his arm if he gets too fresh with your sister," said Danni.

  "Well, maybe I planted a little doubt in his mind about his safety around me," joked Logan. "But only once or twice."

  Danni didn't say anything. She was too busy gazing at him, pretending for a moment there was no screen between them. It was still hard, after all these months. And instead of getting easier, she thought it was getting harder. Missing him was still painful. Thinking of all the times before, when he was here, made her feel like crying sometimes. A random memory here or there — it shouldn't be like that, should it?

  She touched the screen, one finger tracing his cheek, then his jaw. Pretending she could feel his skin.

  "What are you doing?" he asked.

  "Cleaning a spot off the screen," she answered.

  "Liar."

  She smiled. "I can't wait until you come back," she said, softly.

  "Next month. I know it's only for a weekend, but ..."

  "... but a weekend is more than enough," she said. "Two whole days. We can do anything and everything."

  "You don't have to make it sound like an adventure," he said. "I know it's hard, Danni. It's hard for me, too. It's driving me crazy."

  "I want to make it sound like one." Her voice was stubborn, refusing to give in to the ache she felt over missing him. "I want to make every moment count, even if it's a moment from miles away. I don't want to cry in front of you, and I don't want you to see the moments where I resent this happening to us."

  "They're real, too," he reminded her. "They deserve as much attention as the happy ones."

  "They'll make you regret a choice you had to make," she said. "That's not fair. That's not who we are, Logan."

  He sighed. "I love you," he said.

  "I love you, too."

  "Will you send me more of your book, when you write it?" he asked.

  "Maybe." She smiled. "Give me time to decide." She needed to lick her wounds after her first critical evaluation, as gentle as it was. Right now, she didn't know where it would take her, only that she had taken the first step.

  Homecoming

  September

  For Logan's return home, Danni had planned a surprise party and invited all their friends. The manager at Pauline's had allowed her to string up a huge 'Welcome Home' banner above the front counter, and had made a giant version of Logan's favorit
e pastry, the cream cheese Danish.

  "Welcome home, bro." Eric hugged him hard, pounding his shoulders with one hand.

  "Thanks," said Logan. He glanced around at the smiling faces — Marshall, Jamison, Danni's friends Gabby and Alyson, Mandi and her latest boyfriend — then at the person who mattered more than all of them. Danni, standing to one side, a satisfied smile playing around her lips as she watched his friends mob him.

  "Did you bring us presents?" Marshall asked. "Some cool free app codes, maybe —?"

  "You wish," chuckled Logan. "Sorry, but I was in a hurry to get back to my old life. I forgot to swipe company property on my way out."

  "Who wants pizza?" asked Mandi. She opened a box on the two tables pushed together to make one long one — he could see three pizza boxes from his favorite wood-fired pizzeria, and one giant Danish pastry cut into serving squares.

  He met Danni's eye as she helped serve the food. She smiled at him, and that smile — finally real again and not merely on a video screen — made him feel that a long flight after a sleepless night was worth it.

  "Gabby! Alyson! Get off the sofa and grab those lattes, will you?" Danni called.

  "Hey, what gives? This Chutes and Ladders is missing half its pieces!" Eric sounded indignant. Logan caught Danni's eye and they both laughed.

  Gabby had brought Taboo and Catchphrase; they ended up playing those until nearly eight o' clock, when the first wave of friends began to drift in the direction of home. Eric took the last of the pizza in its boxes, while Gabby gave Logan and Danni lots of knowing little looks before she and Mandi departed with the last of the party gear, including the banner.

  Now nothing was left but a square of cream cheese and pastry, a half-empty latte in Danni's cup, and pieces of Chutes and Ladders scattered across the coffee table. Logan didn't care that the party was over. He stretched out against the back of the sofa, feeling Danni snuggle next to him — it was like New Year's Eve all over again, he thought. The same shiver traveling across his skin as Danni's hand rested against his chest.

  "Did you have a nice time?" she asked him. She kicked off her flats, curling her legs up close to his as she rested her head on his shoulder.

  "The best," he answered. "You shouldn't have gone through all this trouble, though."

  "What? They wanted to see you, Logan. They're your friends, and they missed you, too," she reminded him.

  "Dinner with you would've been enough for me," he said. "A nice evening with the two of us at my place ... with me taking a shower after a four hour flight ... then you, me, and a pizza on the sofa."

  "Why do you think everybody went home at eight o' clock?" Danni asked. When he met her gaze, she grinned at him.

  "Sly girl," he said. "That cunning nature is going to do me in someday, probably."

  "Not today," she answered. "Today I'm just glad to have you back. And all to myself." She kissed his cheek and his jaw, then brushed her lips against his forehead.

  "It's good to be back," he said. He sighed. "I can't wait to unpack my stuff. To wake up on Monday morning and go back to work ... but I know it's going to seem different. Weird, even."

  It had been five long months. Longer than he wanted to admit to Danni, who had done everything she could to make him feel that nothing would change. Right now, it felt as if nothing had; but Logan knew better than to believe it. Things had definitely changed — whether for better or worse was up to him.

  "I've been thinking about the future," he said. "About talking to my boss to make sure I stay permanently in the city. No more transfers." He glanced at Danni again. "It might mean less money or fewer career opportunities, but I'll tell him it's worth it to me."

  "You're sure?" Her voice was soft.

  "Very sure," he answered. "Being apart, it changed the way I thought about things. About us." He hesitated. "It made me realize how important this life is to me. When I had to lead a different one, to start over ... I realized I didn't want to do it. Not ever again."

  There was a deeper meaning in those words; one Logan wasn't sure Danni understood. She was looking into his eyes, and all he could see was the love and passion he'd known for all these months they had been together. But was there trust? Commitment? A picture of the future as vivid as his own?

  He'd begun to picture a future. It wasn't crystal-clear in his mind, but he could see enough of it to know that he needed her to be part of it. He couldn't imagine anybody else now that he loved her. He was head over heels for her. If five months apart couldn't change that, then nothing would. Nothing he could prevent or control, at least.

  "I want you to stay here," said Danni. "I don't want you to leave again. I don't want either of us to leave until we're sure of what we want."

  She sat up now, facing him. "I thought about you every minute of every day," she said. "I couldn't help it. I can't stop it — does that sound crazy? Because it seems like something a crazy person would do, not someone who is ... who is rational about love."

  "You're not a rational person," he reminded her. His grin was less a teasing one, more a response to her irresistible self. "That's what I like about you."

  Tell me you love me as deeply as I love you, he wanted to say. Tell me you think you could be happy with me forever. That way I know we're in the same place, Danni.

  He traced a long strand of her hair between his fingers, feeling its softness. Gently, he tucked it into place again, so nothing was between her face and his own.

  She settled against him once more. "If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?" she asked him.

  "Here," he said. "Maybe home, to be closer to my family. You?"

  "Here. Someplace exotic and foreign. France. Maybe Spain."

  "That's a long ways from here."

  "Maybe we can get a castle," she said. "We'll split the expense. You can design award-winning software programs, and I'll write sappy romance novels."

  "We'll vacation in Italy. Have our anniversaries in some Tuscan vineyard."

  "We'll see the Louvre and the Hague. Catch an opera in Berlin."

  "And when is this future?" he asked. He played with her fingers, weaving his own in between them. "Two years? Three?"

  "A million years from now." She kissed his lips. "We have all the time in the world to make it happen."

  "Futures start somewhere," he reminded her, softly.

  "Tomorrow, then." She kissed his lips again, her hands cradling his face as he kissed her back, gently, then with more intensity. He had a lot of months without kisses to make up for, and now seemed the time to start.

  Pumpkin Pancakes and Tiger Stripes

  October

  "You're having the pumpkin pancakes, I trust?" Logan glanced over the mini menu on Pauline's table, one with a glittery pumpkin sticker in the corner for fall.

  "Of course. It's the seasonal special," answered Danni.

  "Who came up with pumpkin pancakes, anyway?" he asked. "Is this the new thing, to make a flavor of pancakes for every holiday? Didn't they have red velvet ones for Valentine's?"

  "It's just a trend. Relax, they're only serving them until tomorrow," said Danni, sarcastically.

  "What'll it be today?" Kevin was back, Danni noticed. The gig at the coffee bar across town must not have worked out. "Our specials are the Boo-berry Frappuccino, the Marshmallow Macchiato, and our Pumpkin Pancakes. Limited time only."

  "Two plates of pumpkin pancakes, please," said Logan. "And two coffees, one plain, one caramel."

  "Got it. Be right back." As he left, Danni glanced at Logan, who shrugged.

  "Like you said, it's the last chance," he answered. "I might as well find out what the fuss is about."

  Danni folded her arms on the table. "So about tonight," she began. "Let's get the details out of the way first thing.

  "I picked up my costume already," Logan said. "And I'll meet you there by eight, as you requested."

  "Good." She pulled up the map on her smart phone's screen. "Here's the address of Gabby's new
place, since I know you haven't been there yet."

  "I'll copy that." He held out his phone, syncing it with hers. "And I'm supposed to bring — chips?"

  "No, that was Jerry. You don't have to bring anything," said Danni. "I was supposed to bring this marshmallow ghost cake from the bakery, but that was before I weaseled out of party setup this year."

  "Forgot to pick up your costume early?" Logan grinned.

  "Shut up. It's on reserve. I just didn't have time to stop by when I left work yesterday." She gave him an impish smile. "It'll be worth it, though. I promise. You'll find me irresistible."

  "I can't wait." He laid aside his phone as two plates of pancakes and two coffee cups joined their table.

  "Will that be all for now?"

  "That's it, thanks," said Danni. She cut into the pancakes and took a generous bite. "Mmm," she said. "These are the best."

  "That's what everybody says," Kevin remarked. "Customers are already complaining that they're leaving the menu." He tucked his tray under his arm and moved to the next table.

  Logan took a bite. "Not bad," he admitted, after chewing it for a second.

  "That's the best you can do?" she asked.

  "I'm a slow convert," he answered. "Give me time." He took another bite. "So about this costume —"

  "No hints," she said. "You won't tell me, so I'm not telling you."

  "Give me a little hint, anyway. I'll give you one back."

  Danni considered his offer. "Okay," she said, reluctantly. "But only a tiny hint."

  They had made a deal to keep their respective costumes for Gabby's Halloween party a surprise — it was Danni's idea more than Logan's. Mostly because she didn't want to be one of those couples who wore matching costumes, one of them always getting shortchanged in the process.

  "How about 'Yes or No' style?" he asked. "I'll ask you three questions, and you'll answer them honestly. Help me narrow the field of possibilities."

  "Okay. Shoot."

  "Is it human?"

  "Yes," she answered. "Do you think I think you would find another species irresistible?"