Page 53 of Love in Tandem
“Don’t say a word.”
“All I was going to say is—”
“I mean it. Nothing.”
“But how did you know I was going to talk about—?”
“Because I know that’s all you’re thinking about.”
“That’s not true. I mean, not completely true. It’s a little bit true. Mostly true. Majority true, but—”
“Zach, I’m serious. I never ever want to speak of that one awful minute again. Got it?”
“Fine. But for the record, it was two and a half glorious minutes.”
Charlotte punched him in the arm. “Yeah, about that. Could you have fumbled to get my clothes out of the bag any slower?”
“You were bleeding and yelling at me while you were half naked. Be glad I managed to get any clothes out at all.” Zach altered his voice into a soprano. “Don’t look at me! Close your eyes! Get my clothes! Get that glass out of my foot! What are you looking at? Keep your eyes closed!”
“I said I don’t want to talk about it.”
The Uber driver adjusted his rearview mirror, shooting them a glance. “Maybe you should talk about it. I’m no expert, but it seems to me a lot of issues never get resolved unless people talk about it.”
“Exactly,” Zach said.
The driver nodded. “And if I were you, I’d start with the part about being half naked.”
“Just drive,” Charlotte snapped. “And for the record, Mr. Uber, I have tried talking through issues in the past, and it didn’t help. So no thank you. I’m done talking.”
“What issues?” Zach said.
“What issues? Are you serious?” Charlotte looked at the Uber driver. “Is he serious, Mr. Uber?”
“It’s Jon, actually. And yeah, I’d say he sounds serious.”
Charlotte scratched her side, shaking her head. “Gee, I don’t know. Maybe like some of the issues Ben and I were starting to have before the wedding. Issues like your father’s death. The fact that it led to a complete crisis of faith for him. For you too, if I’m guessing correctly.”
“That’s an issue, all right,” Jon muttered.
“Okay, Mr. Uber, that’s enough,” Zach said. “And that’s not how it all went down.”
“How did it all go down?” Jon asked.
“None of your business,” Zach said.
“I’ll tell you how it all went down.” Charlotte leaned forward in her seat and jabbed a thumb at Zach. “This guy’s brother here asked me to marry him.”
“Congratulations.”
“Thanks, man,” Zach said. Charlotte smacked him on the arm. “What? I’m just being polite.”
“We planned out our wedding, then a month before the big day, his father died.”
“Sorry to hear that,” Jon said.
Zach dipped his head in acknowledgment, then shifted in his seat. “Maybe we don’t need to talk about this.”
“See? That’s what I’m saying. He’s just like his brother. Oh yeah, it’s fine to talk about me rolling around in humiliation as I bleed to death in a patch of poison ivy, but bring up something personal to him, and ‘maybe we don’t need to talk about this.’”
