“Hi,” he said, pulling me close.
“Hi,” I said back. He leaned down and kissed me, and I kissed him back, until we were pressed up against the side of the car, both of us breathing hard, and my pulse was galloping in my throat. “Um, do we really have to have dinner?” I asked, and Clark laughed. But I was only partially kidding. There was a piece of me that wanted to tell him we should skip it, just get back in the car and head straight back to his place.
“So,” he said as he took my hand in his and we walked up to the restaurant, “how was your day?”
“Oh,” I said, feeling myself start to come back down to reality as I thought about the day—starting with Peter showing up in our kitchen and ending with walking in on Bri and Wyatt. I didn’t want to tell Clark that everything was fine—he’d be able to see through me, anyway—I just didn’t want to have to think about these other things tonight. Tonight was about us. I’d been looking forward to it for weeks, and nothing was going to wreck it. “Well—” I started, just as we reached the hostess podium, and took my opportunity to avoid answering the question.
While Clark gave her his name, I felt my phone buzz in my purse and pulled it out.
TOBY
PALMER
Yes! Tonight’s the night!!
TOBY
PALMER
I think Toby wants a picture of what you’re wearing.
Me too.
I smiled as I read these, then sent one of the pictures I’d taken when I was getting ready, mostly because I’d had a feeling this conversation would happen. I was wearing one of my favorite dresses and the fanciest underwear I’d ever owned—Bri and I had bought it together last week, and it hadn’t even occurred to me then to wonder why she was also getting some for herself.
PALMER
You look amazing!!
TOBY
ME
Thanks, you guys.
PALMER
We can meet up at the diner and discuss tomorrow over waffles!
Keep tradition alive and all.
TOBY
I felt my smile fade as I looked at the screen. For a moment I wished I was back where Palmer and Toby were, not knowing any of this—not knowing that Bri had gone through her first time without telling any of us, without talking to us about it, without doing the diner recap. And the thought of that just made me sad—not just for Bri, but for all of us.
ME
Right. Totally!
Talk to you guys later.
“Andie?” I looked up to see Clark standing by the hostess, with menus tucked under her arm, and I dropped my phone in my bag as I hurried to join him. We were seated at a table just one over from where we’d been on our first date, and I had a feeling that Clark had done something to arrange it.
“So where was your dad tonight?” Clark asked, as I glanced at the menu and then set it aside, knowing I would get the exact same thing I’d gotten before. “He wasn’t lying in wait and telling me that he knows people who know people. Is he feeling okay?”
Clark clearly meant this as a joke, and I gave him a small smile. “He’s good, actually,” I said, making my voice much more upbeat than I was currently feeling. I didn’t really want to go into it, telling Clark how it had felt seeing Peter standing in our kitchen, seeing my dad slip back into his old mode like it was nothing, like our summer hadn’t even happened. If I told Clark about it, it became the truth in a way I wasn’t sure I wanted, not tonight. So I smiled at him brightly across the table. “It turns out that he’s going to get cleared of any wrongdoing. So he should be back to running for reelection in the fall, everything back to normal soon.” I took a sip of my Diet Coke, needing to avoid Clark’s eye and the way he always seemed to be able to read me.
“But . . . I thought he wasn’t going to run again. I thought he told you that.”
“Well, it seems like he changed his mind.”
“I’m sorry, Andie,” he said, his voice low and soft. He leaned toward me, and I felt myself, without meaning to, draw slightly back.
“It’s fine! It’s what was probably always going to happen, right?”
Clark just looked at me for a long moment, his brow furrowing. “Are you okay?” he asked softly. “You seem . . .”
“What?” I asked, not meeting his eye as I folded up the top of my straw wrapper.
“I don’t know,” he said after a long moment. The waitress came and took our order—Clark got his Reaper-ito again—and when she’d left and the menus had been cleared away, Clark looked at me across the table, his eyes searching mine.