Darcy sighed and shrugged. “I like to think it is, but…how can it be? Minnie has put my family ahead of her own for years, and I keep her on even though I don’t really need the help because I live alone.” She turned to grab eggs, milk, lemons, and ricotta out of the fridge. I didn’t cook much, and rarely from scratch, but I realized as she was measuring out the ingredients that she’d bought all of it ahead of time because she knew they were my favorite. She’d planned to make them for me while I was in town. That made me happier than it should.

“So, why do you keep her around?” I asked, trying to hold up my end of the conversation without getting lost in the movement of Darcy’s deft fingers. “If you don’t need her, I mean.”

“Well, the answer to that question is easy. I’m lonely,” she said in a matter-of-fact way whilst cracking two eggs one-handed. “She comes three days a week now, and while she’s here, we clean the house together, talk and eat lunch, drink a cocktail or two. And then she goes home to her husband, and I eat dinner alone. She’s my best friend. I pay her to be my best friend. Isn’t that pathetic?”

“Darcy…” I said softly, slightly stunned at how quickly we’d stumbled into this topic. My assessment of her was never off. She was the sad, pretty housewife. I rounded the island, moved in behind her, and wrapped my arms around her as she tried to hold back her tears.

“Anyway…that’s where Minnie is today. Spending time with her family.” She twisted in my embrace so she could look me in the eye. “And I’m spending time with you,” she whispered before bringing her lips to mine, a soft press and a quick sweep of her tongue before she focused on her task again.

“You know… I was thinking of that conversation we had at lunch the first day I got here.”

“What part of it?”

I walked back around to the opposite side of the island and sat on the barstool. I wanted to be able to see her face while we talked. “That bit where you joked about dating a younger man.”

Darcy looked up at me, her left eyebrow raised. “You do realize I was just trying to wind Jared up, right?”

“I know, I know, but it got me to thinking,” I said, leaning forward on my elbows.

“About what?”

“What would it have been like to meet you in a different way? A different time and place?”

“Different how? Like at some random frat bar when you were in college?” She picked up the whisk and the mixing bowl and began to pace as she mixed the ingredients.