Page 32 of Unexpecting

″Where were you when the World Trade Centre fell?” I asked him suddenly.

″What?” There was a car chase happening on-screen. Maybe I should have waited for one of the slow parts.

″9/11. I was just thinking about all the stuff that happened when we were together, and it just hit me that so much more has gone on since then and I don’t even know…” I shrugged helplessly. I wasn’t really sure what I was trying to express, but suddenly I had this need to find out all the bits of his life that I’d missed. I shared so much with David. You could say we grew up together, but did those years make him the man he was now? Did it make me the person I am now—kindergarten teacher, part-time wine store manager, with my hopeless romantic life and so desperate to have a baby? Is it because of David that I am who I am?

Is this getting way too deep for a Sunday movie night?

″Never mind,” I whispered to David.

He gave me another quizzical look. “I was traveling in Europe,” he said after a moment. “I was due to go home that weekend, but because of everything, it took me ten extra days to get a flight home. I was totally broke, and whenever I had to eat out, I would steal the breadbasket for the next meal.”

″Where in Europe?”

″Milan. I eventually went back to Rome, because I, uh, had met someone there so I could stay…” I raised my eyebrows in the ahh expression. Okay, I knew he hadn’t lived as a monk since I broke up with him. Hearing about other women isn’t that bad. “What about you?” he asked.

″I was teaching. Most of the kids got picked up early by their parents. There was a lot of crying, but most of them were too young to understand. They thought it was a movie.”

″Maybe it’s better that way.”

″Maybe.” Would I like to go through life innocently believing things were just like they were in the movies? If that’s the case, then things are looking good for me and David. If this were a movie, then we’ve already had our meet-cute moment at the wine store and are moving toward the start of the second act. Soon, we’ll have some sort of conflict that we’ll need to overcome before we come together for the crescendo of the movie’s love song. Sounds like a movie I might want to watch.

But with David as the romantic lead?

We were good together once and could be again. I’m a better person now, more mature and better prepared for the relationship and the life we could share together. If I could go back in time, it would be the years I spent with David that would definitely be the ones I would want to revisit.

I was heartened when, after the movie ended, David and I couldn’t stop talking. We started rehashing the film as we walked out of the theatre, and that led us to talking about other movies, and the next thing I knew, half an hour had gone by and we were still standing in the parking lot. Like on Saturday, it was like we’d slipped back into our twenty-year-old selves, but only more mature and worldly. I felt like I could stand there for hours talking, but all too soon, David started checking his watch.

″Oh, wow, Casey, I really have to get going,” David said regretfully. “I’ve got an early morning tomorrow.”

″That’s okay. I should get home, too.” I shifted uneasily. “David, I really—”

″There’s stuff I need to talk to you about,” David blurted out. “I wanted to tonight, but movies aren’t really the best place. Are you busy tomorrow night?”

″I am,” I admitted reluctantly, thinking of my long-standing date with Brit and Morgan and how I’d never broken plans with them because of a man. “I’ve got—”

″Tuesday then?” he asked before I could explain. “Maybe we can do dinner and talk?”

″Tuesday will be great.”

″Can I pick you up this time?”

I hesitated, but J.B and Cooper both work Tuesday nights, so it was safe. “Sure. I’ll text you my address.” I happened to glance in his car and the very messy interior. “You really need to clean up that mess,” I told him.

David smiled at me. “You always used to say that.” He put his hand on the side of my head, an affectionate gesture, reminiscent of stroking a dog. His hand was large and warm and smelled of popcorn. His eyes were warm and almost liquid. Something inside me melted. The part that hadn’t already melted when David first asked me out, that is.

″I did miss you, Casey,” he said softly.

″I missed you too, David.” Before I lost my nerve, I quickly leaned forward and pressed my lips against his. I smiled into his brown eyes as I pulled back.

″Ah,” is all he said and pulled away. “Tuesday, then. Lots to say.” I nodded, and he walked me over to my car. He was just getting into his as I drove away, waving.

I didn’t want to think about how David didn’t kiss me back.

Chapter Fourteen

“Pregnancy is a time of discovery and new experiences, many pleasant, but some may prove to be a challenge. Enjoy all of them. This period in a young woman’s life will change her forever.”

A Young Woman’s Guide to the Joy of Impending Motherhood

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