Just a Little Reminder (12 page)
After a few minutes of listening to Luke’s speech—whatever that may have been—Charlie excused himself. At Charlie’s absence, Luke took a deep breath and let it pass slowly through his lips. He passed his cloth napkin through his fingers and never once touched the bread in front of him. After another minute, he dropped his head back and stared at the ceiling, and then he slowly closed his eyes.
He sat quietly in that position for nearly thirty seconds, and then he finally opened his eyes and sat a little straighter in the chair. He leaned to the side, pulled his cell phone from his back pocket, and started smacking his thumbs against the screen.
No sooner than he set his phone aside on the table, a loud ringtone echoed against the four small walls of the bistro’s anteroom.
My cell phone!
I sifted through the college catalogs and all the other junk lining the bottom of my purse, but I couldn’t find my buried phone. The longer it played, the louder it got. And suddenly everyone in the restaurant had turned in their seats to watch my frantic search.
I found my phone buried beneath my wallet and pulled it out. I hit a single button to kill the sound, and then I took a deep breath as I read:
One New Message
Luke
I opened the message and read:
Sorry about earlier. I’ll call soon. I love you.
My lip curved into an involuntary smile, and when I looked back up to see him, Luke was turned in his chair—like many of the other patrons—staring directly at me.
I guessed my phone had made more of a commotion than the formal diners typically preferred, and I stared nervously at each face before letting my gaze fall back on Luke.
He watched me from across the room with a skeptical gleam in his eye.
Ah… yes. He wanted to know why I’d followed him.
I looked down at the note again and then back up to him.
I saw that he’d noticed the paper clutched in my fingers, and he reached around to feel his empty back pocket.
He took another deep breath, twisted his lips, and then his eyes met mine again.
I held the note a little higher.
What’s going on? What are you doing here?
I didn’t have to ask. I knew he could sense those very questions.
He picked up his phone again and started typing, and I held mine close—ready to silence it the moment it went off.
One New Message
Luke
I took a deep breath, feeling my heart grow heavier and heavier with each slamming beat against my chest.
I opened the message, and my eyes filled with tears.
For what it’s worth, he hasn’t said no
.
I tore my eyes from the screen after reading the message at least a dozen times, and Luke was still turned in his chair.
With a discreet wink, a crooked smile, and a simple shrug, he turned back around to face my uncle just as he returned to the table.
For what it’s worth, he hasn’t said no.
What did that mean?
Had Luke asked Charlie to dinner because of the alternate ending I’d given him?
And if so, wouldn’t that mean that he’d planned to ask my uncle for his blessing?
And wouldn’t that mean that….
No.
Surely not.
I looked back up to Luke and Charlie and caught a breath in my throat.
Was Luke going to propose?
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Just a Little Reminder
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