Page 44 of Revived

“No shit! Good for you guys! I like you for him.”

“Thanks. It’s just complicated and fragile, and the further we get into this thing, the more I question what will happen. I don’t want to get my hopes up because I feel like I’m going to get hurt. But I also know that I can’t help the way I feel about him. He’s such a great guy.”

Pfeiffer and Clara both smirk as I roll my eyes.

“It’s been a while since his wife died though, right?”

“Yeah, almost five years. But you can’t really put a timeline on how long it takes to mourn someone, especially since she died so suddenly and Grayson was so little when it happened.”

“Well, all I know is that Luke seems happier since you came around, at least that’s what Cooper has said. So trust in what you feel and own it. I wish I had the common sense to do that when Cooper and I were sneaking around… would have saved me a lot of trouble,” she chuckles as Kadence starts to fuss.

“You and Cooper snuck around?” I’m dumbfounded right now, oblivious to the whole story I feel like I’m missing.

“Oh yeah. Let me feed her and I’ll tell you all about how stupid I was and almost let the best man ever slip away from me.” She trades places with Pfeiffer in the rocking chair, latches the baby to her breast, and then dives into her love story with Cooper, providing us many laughs and cringeworthy moments for the rest of our visit.

Fresh off a reminder that love can conquer all, I arrive home around dinnertime, where I’m granted with Luke and Grayson in the kitchen with aprons on and giant smiles.

“What’s all this?” I ask, dropping bags by the door and walking towards the kitchen cautiously. On the table to the left of the kitchen are electric tea-light candles and a dozen orange and pink roses in a vase. The table is set with glass plates and cloth napkins, the lights in the house have been dimmed slightly, and the smell coming from the kitchen makes my mouth water. I ate a light lunch, so I’m near starving now.

“Rachel! We made you dinner!” Grayson shouts, running for me and clenching his arms around my legs in a tight squeeze.

“Really? Well, thank you! This sure is a surprise.” After hugging Grayson back, I look up and see Luke walking towards me with a glass of wine in his hand.

“For you. Come sit, let us get everything, and then after dinner,” he leans into me, his breath brushing against my ear, “we can spend some time together and talk.” My body instantly heats, my pulse ignites, and images of Luke and I not talking are flashing through my mind.

“Sounds good,” I grit out, clearing my throat before taking a sip of my wine and sitting in my usual seat.

Luke brings a casserole dish to the table, filled with noodles and bubbling cheese.

“What did you make, Grayson?” I ask as he bounces with excitement in his chair.

“Grandma’s mac and cheese. It’s my favorite!”

Luke chuckles beside me, spooning a mountain onto my plate.

“Thank you. This was unexpected.”

“We just wanted to do something nice for you. Plus, I haven’t really been home lately, so I wanted us to have dinner together.” My anxiety from earlier melts away with his words, knowing he’s aware of the disconnection between us—that it wasn’t just me who felt it. “I also added chicken and broccoli, so all the food groups were represented,” he boasts as Grayson chimes in.

“I don’t like chicken.”

“I know. Unless it’s in the shape of a dinosaur, right?”

He nods. “Yup.” Digging his fork into his pile, he blows on it in a less than sophisticated way and shovels the bite into his mouth.

“This is delicious,” I say after taking a bite of my own.

“Thanks. Now dig in so we can have dessert next.” He winks at me across the table and the thought of dessert other than food enters my thoughts once more.

After dinner, Grayson rushes to get ready for his bath, but then exclaims he has to go to the bathroom first. He’s potty trained completely, but still has some trouble with wiping, like most kids do.

“Rachel!” He shouts as I help clear the plates from the table.

“Yeah?”

“Can you come check me please?” I chuckle as I hand Luke the dishes and make my way down the hall, shocked by the vision in front of me as I turn the corner into the doorway of the bathroom.

“Oh, my God! Grayson!”

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