I had a text from Henry with a picture of Hank and Daddy. It made me smile. The last one was from Griffin. “Are you okay? Any ideas for the place yet?” I considered his questions but only briefly. In the doorway, wearing nothing but a smile, was my Elliott. My heart lifted. And they say Americans are uninhibited.

“Well hello, young miss. Have you seen my girlfriend? She is young, beautiful, and frisky.”

I had to laugh. I didn’t see myself as any of those things. I was twenty-six years old, I didn’t feel so beautiful, and this was the most continual sex I had ever had in my life. I had been too serious in my life until now. I had been so focused on my career and achieving my life’s ambition, but I didn’t tell Elliott that.

“I haven’t seen anyone matching that description around here,” I played along.

He walked over to me and grabbed my hand. “Well, then, you’ll just have to do.”

Afterward, we lay side by side. Elliott’s stomach made a loud rumble.

“I was thinking we could switch it up today. Maybe go out for lunch and go into some of those favorite shops you frequent, and you can explain to me again why they are so wonderful, stop in at the market, and then I could whip us up something simple like a tuna Nicoise salad for supper. Maybe eat in the living room?”

Had he noticed that I had eaten my breakfast in the living room, and how had he read my mind again so completely? I was already hungry for his “simple” salad.

Our day was a full one—and an interesting one. For the first time, I noticed the painstaking way in which Elliott selected the food he prepared. He looked at all of the ahi tuna before announcing his selection for the butcher to cut. It was thick and blood red.

“Just got it in this morning,” Bucky, the butcher, announced as he wrapped it up and gave it to us. We then walked over to the selection of olives. Elliott sampled several black olives before he made his choice. He smelled and felt each and every tomato before several made the cut and went into his grocery bag. Cheese, eggs, and lettuce were next. He refused to buy the green beans. They were limp and not suitable to be mixed with the other ingredients. He also grabbed a lemon for good measure. At checkout, our bill seemed extravagant. The three of us, Reggie, Elle, and I, had eaten a meal together for much less. I knew now why he was gone most mornings for so long. He was meticulous. He wanted to approve of the ingredients he was cooking and preparing. That’s what made Elliott the best.