“Okay.”
“I want you to imagine it’s our rehearsal evening.”
“Done.”
“And I want you to think about what you liked most in the world.”
“Okay.”
“Tell me what you’re thinking about,” he said quietly.
“You,” I whispered. “I loved you.”
“I loved you, too,” he said. “But think about the other things you loved. Think about the things that weren’t me, or that weren’t Matthew.”
“Books,” I said. “I loved books.”
“And?”
“Music,” I smiled.
“And?”
“Fresh cupcakes,” I laughed.
“Open your eyes, princess.”
I opened my eyes, and Bob pointed to a little shop across the street.
“Savored,” I whispered. It was a sweet little bakery that had been there for a few years. It wasn’t the place we’d gone to a million years ago when we’d been about to get married, but it was there now, and it was cute and lovely.
“Come on,” Bob took my hand. “Let’s go inside.”
6
Bob
We stopped just outside of Savored, and we looked inside.
Like that night so many years ago, there was just one person working. It was a younger gal, and she looked like she was having a great time. She was tidying up the shop, and there were still a few cupcakes in the display case.
“I think they’re closed,” Helena said, slightly disappointed.
“There’s only one way to find out,” I said, and I reached for the door.
The knob turned easily, and I pushed the door open. The woman inside looked up and smiled.
“Why, hello,” she said.
“Good evening,” I nodded. “Are you still open?”
“I’m just about to close up, but I have a few cupcakes left, if you’d like one,” she nodded toward the display case.
“I would like one,” I said. “Do you have any dark chocolate?”
“We do,” the woman walked over and pointed down at the cupcakes. “There’s a dark chocolate with white buttercream frosting, a dark chocolate with no frosting and just a thin glaze on it, and there’s a dark chocolate with red frosting.”
“We’ll take the one with red frosting,” I told her.