V-Day (6 page)

She smiled a sad sort of smile that gave no
humor to her eyes.

“So, everything’s fine, then?” she
asked.

“I guess so,” he shrugged. “I’ll live.”

They stood in silence a moment, each
pursuing their own thoughts and not sure which way to turn
next.

“Was this a mistake?” she asked in a small
voice.

“No,” he answered without hesitation. “This
morning, I would have said yes, but now I don’t think so.”

She nodded, saying, “I’m glad.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked,
concerned at the lack of sparkle in her. “You’re not like yourself
tonight.”

“Dan…” she trailed off with a groan. “I’m
just so messed up. Would you hate me… Would it be okay… I mean, can
I change my mind?”

“What?” he asked, shaking his head in
confusion, not sure what exactly what he was hearing.

“I shouldn’t have thrown you out,” she said,
decisiveness making her voice more like the firm tones he
associated with. “I can’t stop thinking about you, thinking that I
might have tossed away something really good without giving it the
shot it deserved.”

He couldn’t respond, so he let her
continue.

“But the thing is, I don’t know if I have
the right to ask for a second chance – if that’s fair to you, I
mean,” she explained, scanning his face for signs of how he was
taking her announcement.

“Why?” he asked, simply.

“Well,” she sighed deeply, considering the
question. “See, women live longer than men, so I figure it makes
sense for the man to start out younger in the first place…”

Recalling his answer that first brunch,
which now seemed so long ago, he couldn’t help but laugh, though he
knew he shouldn’t. A part of him urged him to walk away now, and
try to protect himself from the pain he knew she had the power to
inflict on him. But a new part of him, a part that had learned much
in the few weeks since he had gotten to know her, had always left
the door open for her return, and, in so doing, had left Daniel
open to the lessons the messier parts of life had to offer him. It
was the part of him that held new insight into the tango, and the
part of him that had given him the strength to come down to face
her tonight.

Still laughing in amazement at the strange
turn of events that evening, all Daniel had to do was nod, and
offered her his hand, which she took gratefully.

“You know, eventually we might have to tell
your mother about this,” she reminded him after he had welcomed her
back into his arms.

With a sigh, Daniel knew she was right.

“I have a feeling she might not take kindly
to cradle robbers.”

“On the other hand, she doesn’t have to
worry about me being too far away,” he said with a false
brightness.

“Well,” she said, smiling up at him, “let’s
cross that bridge when we come to it, huh?”

“I can agree to that, especially if it means
later.”

“You have plans for tonight?”

“Nothing more important than what I have
right here,” he assured her and rested his grateful cheek on the
top of her head.

“I might point out that it’s kind of stupid
to freeze our asses off out here, when I have a nice warm bed
upstairs,” she hinted.

“Fine by me,” he nodded, raising one
mischievous brow at her. “But try not to wear me out too badly,
okay? I’ve got school in the morning.”

Though she took a swat at him for the
ill-placed reminder of the differences between them, he basked in
the brightness of her smile as she led him upstairs, hand in
hand.

The End.