Page 110 of After All This Time

We spent a lot of hours in the kitchen when it came to the Jewish holidays. Passover and Hanukkah were big holidays in the Kaplan family household. My mom always invited Dani and her parents, as well as our extended family.

Dad wasn’t the best cook, but he was a master at the grill. I remember we’d have family BBQs with the Solomon family pretty much every weekend.

I’m taken out of my memories as Dani grabs ceramic bowls for both of us.

“Can you turn on the faucet for me?”

“Yeah, sure.” I go over to the sink, running my hand underneath the water. The chill is taking off the edge of the heat expanding throughout my body.

She turns the heat off where the pot was, bringing the boiling hot tortellini over the sink. The woman is dumping out most of the hot water.

I tilt my head, raising an eyebrow. “Aren’t you going to save that?”

“Some of it, so I can thin out the sauce. I mean I can leave all the water in there. That way we can have mushy tortellini for dinner, if you want.” Her hands land on her hips, a smirk growing on her beautiful lips.

I put my hands up. “I’m good.”

“When I put the tortellini in the pan, can you stir them into the sauce for me?”

I’d do anything for you.

I nod my head, signaling to her that I understand what she just asked me to do.

I make my way over to the hot stove. The sauce is bubbling, thickening up as it sits in the pan.

She puts a few generous spoonfuls of the tortellini into the pan. “You don’t need to ask my permission to start stirring, you know.”

“I wasn’t going to.”

“Yes, you were. I’m not the only one that makes weird facial expressions, Noah.”

I squint my eyes together, sticking my tongue out. Picking up the wooden spoon, I start combining the pasta with the sauce.

She moves to my side, resting her elbows on the counter with her palms on her cheeks.

I watch her facial expressions and body language.

A smug look appears on her face before her lips form a cute smile. She’s standing upright with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

“Are you going to pick on every little thing I do that doesn’t measure up to your standards?”

She exhales. “I’m just observing. I have to say for someone who doesn’t really know how to cook, you’re pretty good at it.”

“Growing up with a home cook for a mother and a sous chef for a sister will do that to a person.”

That gets a cute little giggle out of her.

I swear I will do everything in my power to make Dani laugh. I want to listen to her laugh on repeat for the rest of my fucking life.

“Are the bowls ready to go?” she asks.

I nod, pointing behind me at the island.

She swipes them off there, placing them next to me. “You can sit down if you want. I can fill up the bowls with the pasta.”

“Is that an order or a suggestion?”

“If it was an order, I would’ve told you to go sit your ass down at the table. Did I do that? No, I didn’t. You can do whatever your little heart desires.”

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