Page 60 of Rules Are Meant To Be Broken

“You sure this is going to work?” Xavier whispered.

She slapped his arm. “Have you seen yourself? You look like Ryan Gosling had a love child with Chris Hemsworth. No woman could resist you,” she said.

He squeezed her hand in response. At the doorway they parted ways, she straight to the bar, and Xavier went on a scouting mission. Her eyes followed him as he did a slow lap of the room, nodding politely and saying cheerful hellos to anyone who caught his eye. After a few minutes, he re-joined her, and she handed him a drink.

Before he could speak another much lighter voice said, “That’s a darling dress.”

They turned to see a couple in their sixties, dressed up to the nines. They weren’t wearing masks, the only ones at the partywho weren’t. Rules were apparently not made for them. Hope had an affinity with them immediately.

“Thank you,” Hope replied. “I bought it today. Uh,hebought it for me today.”

“Well, isn’t he a dear?” Her eyes sparkled. “It’s been a long while since a handsome man bought me a dress.”

Her husband sloshed his drink in her direction. “I bought you that dress,” he said.

In mock seriousness, she replied, “I stand by what I said.”

They both laughed with a warmth bred through years of familiarity. The husband leaned down to kiss his wife, and she chuckled affectionately.

Hope beamed.

Introductions were soon made. General chit-chat exchanged. Gretchen and Luther Cline had been married for forty years and had never spent a night apart. They were there because Luther had served twenty-five years on the force, long since retired.

“How long have you been married, er, Hope? It’s an unusual name, isn’t it? So how many years?”

“Oh, we’re not—” Hope started.

“Not long, she means, we’re newlyweds,” Xavier chimed in. “Just married. So new I keep forgetting to wear the damn ring.”

The man could be devilishly charming when he wanted to. Hope had to stop herself from swooning.

“Really?” Luther said. “There’s no way I would have picked you two as newlyweds.”

It seemed their jig was up. Maybe Luther had been a detective.

Gretchen nodded her head. “He’s right. You two seem far more comfortable with each other than newlyweds. Did you live together before the wedding like they all do these days? Living in sin is what we used to call it. We would have if we could have, but it wasn’t the done thing back in our day, you understand. Notthat it stopped us from sinning before the wedding anyway. Did it, my love?”

Xavier nudged Luther in the arm. “Luther, you sly dog.”

The old man’s eyebrows did a little jig. Gretchen gave a little leap to the left. Hope was pretty sure her husband had pinched his wife on the ass. Hopereallyloved these guys.

Luther elbowed Hope. “You two have been stepping out for years. Back me up here. I have a theory.”

“Not now, honey,” Gretchen said before frowning apologetically at Hope. “These two lovebirds don’t need to hear one of your harebrained theories.”

Luther pushed on, his focus locked on Hope. “I think true love is when you know someone so well you can make them laugh with a single word. Just one. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the middle of a row, a speech, or something more intimate.” He winked at his wife. “That one word will make them stop and laugh no matter what. Folks can harp on about flowers, and poetry, and whatnot, but to me, that’s love. You look like a girl who knows exactly what I mean. Back me up.”

Hope thought it sounded slightly harebrained, but what did she know? She’d never had love like the couple in front of her. Perhaps it was possible, though she and Xavier surely didn’t have such a word. Meanwhile, Luther looked at her with such zeal she felt obliged to agree.

“Sure, we do. Don’t we, babe?” She looked at her lover with what she hoped were encouraging eyes.

Xavier frowned. “Much to my chagrin,” he said in mock annoyance.

Gretchen tutted at her husband and said, “Enough theories for tonight.” She turned to the two of them, her face glowing. “Well, don’t let us fuddy-duddies ruin your fun. You two have a great evening.”

With kisses and handshakes, the couple departed. That was the kind of love Hope wanted. To spend a lifetime with someone and still love them that much would be a dream come true. She looked at Xavier, and her stomach panged with regret.Maybe in my next life, then. This one was all about the fleeting.

Alone, the two of them sipped their cocktails and looked at the swirling crowd.

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