I nodded. "I figured that."
"And the cake is kind of pricey, too. For a cake, I mean."
"No problem. It's for a lot of people, right?"
She looked at me curiously, clearly stumped by my answers. "Well . . . I just wanted to warn you in advance so you won't get upset."
"How could I get upset?"
"Oh, you know. Sometimes you get upset when things start getting expensive."
"I do?"
Jane cocked a brow. "Don't bother pretending. Don't you remember how you were with all the renovations? Or when the heat pump kept breaking? You even shine your own shoes. . . ."
I raised my hands in playful surrender. "Okay, you made your point," I said. "But don't worry. This is different." I looked up, knowing I had her attention. "Even if we spend everything we have, it'll still be worth it."
She almost choked on her wine and stared at me. Then, after a long moment, she took a sudden step forward and poked my arm with her finger.
"What's that for?" I asked.
"Just checking to see if you're really my husband, or if you've been replaced by one of the pod-people."
"Pod-people?"
"Yeah. Invasion of the Body Snatchers. You remember the movie, right?"
"Of course. But it's really me," I said.
"Thank goodness," she said, feigning relief. Then, wonder of wonders, she winked at me. "But I still wanted to warn you."
I smiled, feeling as if my heart had just been inflated. How long had it been, I wondered, since we'd laughed and joked in the kitchen like this? Months? Years, even? Even though I realized that it might be only temporary, it nonetheless stoked the small flame of hope I had begun to nurture in secret.
The first date that Jane and I went on didn't go exactly as I'd planned.
I'd made reservations at Harper's, which was regarded as the best restaurant in town. Also the most expensive. I had enough money to cover the cost of dinner, but I knew I would have to budget the rest of the month to pay my other bills. I'd also planned something special for afterward.
I picked her up in front of her dormitory at Meredith, and the drive to the restaurant took only a few minutes. Our conversation was typical of first dates and simply skimmed the surface of things. We spoke about school and how chilly it was, and I noted that it was a good thing we both brought jackets. I also remember mentioning that I thought her sweater was lovely, and she mentioned that she'd purchased it the day before. Though I wondered if she had done this in anticipation of our date, I knew enough not to ask her directly.
Owing to holiday shoppers, it was difficult to find a space near the restaurant, so we parked a couple of blocks away. I'd allotted plenty of time, however, and felt sure we would arrive at the restaurant in time to make our reservation. On the way to the restaurant, the tips of our noses turned red and our breath came out in little clouds. A few of the shop windows were ringed with twinkling lights, and as we passed one of the neighborhood pizza parlors, we could hear Christmas music coming from the jukebox inside.
It was as we were approaching the restaurant that we saw the dog. Cowering in an alley, he was medium size but skinny and covered in grime. He was shivering, and his coat made it plain that he had been on the run for quite a while. I moved between Jane and the dog in case he was dangerous, but Jane stepped around me and squatted down, trying to get the dog's attention.
"It's okay," she whispered. "We won't hurt you."
The dog shrank back farther into the shadows.
"He's got a collar," Jane pointed out. "I'll bet he's lost." She didn't look away from the dog, who seemed to be studying her with wary interest.
Checking my watch, I saw that we had a few minutes to spare until our reservation came up. Though I still wasn't sure whether or not the dog was dangerous, I squatted beside Jane and began speaking to him in the same soothing tones that she was using. This went on for a short while, but still the dog remained where he was. Jane took a small step toward him, but the dog whined, skittering away.
"He's scared," she said, looking worried. "What should we do? I don't want to leave him out here. It's supposed to fall below freezing tonight. And if he's lost, I'm sure all he wants is to get back home."
I suppose I could have said just about anything. I could have told her that we tried, or that we could call the pound, or even that we could come back after dinner, and if he was still around that we could try again. But Jane's expression stopped me. Her face was a mixture of worry and defiance--the first inkling I had of Jane's kindness and concern for those less fortunate. I knew then that I had no choice but to go along with what she wanted.
"Let me try," I said.
In all honesty, I wasn't quite sure what to do. Growing up, I'd never owned a dog for the simple reason that my mother had been allergic to them, but I held out my hand and continued to whisper to him, resorting to what I had seen people do in the movies.
I let the dog get used to my voice, and when I slowly inched forward, the dog remained in place. Not wanting to startle the mutt, I stopped, let him get used to me for a moment, and inched forward again. After what seemed forever, I was close enough to the dog that when I held out my hand, he stretched his nose toward it. Then, deciding he had nothing to fear from me, he let his tongue flicker against my fingers. A moment later, I was able to stroke his head, and I glanced over my shoulder at Jane.
"He likes you," she said, looking amazed.
I shrugged. "I guess he does."
I was able to read the phone number on the collar, and Jane went into the bookstore next door to call the owner from a pay phone. While she was gone, I waited with the dog, and the more I stroked him, the more he seemed to crave the touch of my hand. When Jane returned, we waited for nearly twenty minutes until the owner arrived to claim him. He was in his mid-thirties, and he practically bounded from the car. Immediately the dog surged to the man's side, tail wagging. After taking time to acknowledge the sloppy licks, the man turned to us.
"Thank you so much for calling," he said. "He's been gone for a week, and my son's been crying himself to sleep every night. You have no idea how much this will mean to him. Getting his dog back was the only thing he put on his Christmas list."
Though he offered a reward, neither Jane nor I was willing to take it, and he thanked us both again before getting back into his car. As we watched him go, I believe we both felt we'd done something worthy. After the sounds of the engine faded away, Jane took my arm.
"Can we still make our reservation?" she asked.
I checked my watch. "We're half an hour late."
"They should still have our table, right?"
"I don't know. It was tough to get one in the first place. I had to have one of my professors call for me."
"Maybe we'll get lucky," she said.
We didn't. By the time we got to the restaurant, our table had been given away, and the next available slot was for nine forty-five. Jane looked up at me.
"At least we made a child happy," she said.
"I know." I took a deep breath. "And I'd do it again, too."
Studying me for a moment, she gave my arm a squeeze. "I'm glad we stopped, too, even if we don't get to have dinner here."
Surrounded by a streetlight halo, she looked almost ethereal.
"Is there anyplace else you'd like to go?" I asked.
She tilted her head. "Do you like music?"
Ten minutes later, we were seated at a table in the pizza parlor we'd passed earlier. Though I'd planned on candlelight and wine, we ended up ordering beer with our pizza.
Jane, however, didn't seem disappointed. She spoke easily, telling me about her classes in Greek mythology and English literature, her years at Meredith, her friends, and anything else that happened to be on her mind. For the most part, I simply nodded and asked enough questions to keep her talking for the next two hours, and I can honestly say that I'd never enjoyed someone's company more.
In the kitchen, I noticed that Jane was eyein
g me curiously. Forcing the memory away, I put the finishing touches on our meal and brought the food to the table. After taking our places, we bowed our heads and I said grace, thanking God for all that we had been given.
"You okay? You seemed preoccupied a couple of minutes ago," Jane commented as she forked some salad into her bowl.
I poured a glass of wine for each of us. "Actually, I was remembering our first date," I said.
"You were?" Her fork stopped in midair. "Why?"
"I don't know," I said. I slid her glass toward her. "Do you even remember it?"
"Of course I remember," she chided me. "It was right before we went home for Christmas break. We were supposed to go to dinner at Harper's, but we found a stray, and we missed our reservation. So we had dinner at this little pizza place down the street instead. And after that . . ."
She squinted, trying to recall the exact order of events.
"We got in the car and drove out to see the decorations along Havermill Road, right? You insisted that I get out of the car so we could walk around, even though it was freezing. One of the houses had set up Santa's village, and when you walked me over, the man dressed as Santa handed me the gift that you'd picked out for me for Christmas. I remember being amazed that you'd gone through all that trouble on a first date."
"Do you remember what I got you?"