Page 23 of The Last Time

“I know. Doesn’t it feel so weird to be back in here?” I respond.

“It looks exactly the same. Minus the huge holes in the walls and no furniture.”

I laugh. “Yeah, your brother said he has two men coming out tomorrow to patch up the drywall.”

I lead her outside to sit on the deck again for lunch. I’m slightly obsessed with the view from here. It’s magical. I spent the entire evening sitting out here after Asher left, mostly reflecting on my conversation with him.

“How are things going? So far, it’s just the water that’s been repaired? What else is on the agenda?”

She starts to pull out some to-go boxes. When I see one of them is her calamari, I may slightly freak out.

“I’m sorry. I want to answer your questions, but my brain is short-circuiting with the knowledge that your calamari is sitting right in front of me.”

She cracks up. “Dig in. Here,” she hands me a plate, “I brought a couple of things so we could eat a little of each.”

“I’m in on all of them.” I scoop up some of each dish. “Anyway, your questions. Things are going better now. It was a little overwhelming when I first got here, with the water issues and all. Next on the list is the deck this weekend, then I think the floors. I’m gonna start painting the walls as soon as the drywall is fixed.”

“Yeah, I’m sure it was a lot to walk into this with no real idea what you were in for. So, you’re working on the deck this weekend?”

“Yep,” I reply before I take a bite of calamari. “Sanding and then staining.”

Layla halts. “Oh, you’re going to sand this entire thing on your own?”

“That was the plan until Asher insisted on helping me. He seems to think I can’t handle it on my own.”

“Well, hiring him for the job is a good idea. That’s a ton of work.”

“Oh, I’m not hiring him. He offered to help free of charge.”

“Really? He offered to help you all weekend?” she asks, seeming shocked.

“Yeah,” I say with a shrug.

She leans back in her chair with a strange look on her face. It’s making me feel uneasy.

“What?” I ask.

Her shoulders lift non-committedly. “Nothing. Just doesn’t sound like him. That sounds more like the old Asher.”

That piques my interest. I can’t help but press her on the subject. “Yeah, I’ve noticed he is definitely not the man he was the last time I saw him.”

She smiles. “You mean the man you had a massive crush on?”

“What? You knew?” I can’t believe she never told me she knew. I feel slightly mortified.

Her head falls back with laughter. “Are you kidding me? I lost count of the times I would be talking to you while you were too busy drooling over him and had no idea I was even in the room.”

I cringe a bit. For some reason, I thought I was stealthier than that.

“I was so shocked when I first saw him again, and he was just so…different. But now that I know what happened, it makes a lot more sense. I feel so bad for him.”

“How do you know what happened?” she asks me.

“Oh, he told me while we were eating lunch the other day.”

“You two were eating lunch together? What world are we in right now?”

I don’t know what she’s freaking out about.

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