He nodded, meeting my eyes. I saw something in them. Something that told me that his simple nod was not the whole truth.

My heart stuttered, and I tried to calm it down at the thought that maybe there was still a chance for me, for us. "Right? I mean..." I broke our stare for a moment as I looked down at the table. "I know you didn't want to talk about Jen but..." I left it open, letting him have the start of that conversation if he wanted to take it.

"I mean, things shifted almost instantly when she got back from helping her mom move. She was nice, and I mean, not just to me. She asked me what I wanted to do, and who I wanted to go out with. She bought me lots of things. She's still buying me things. I guess it's her way of trying to fix things, but, I don't know what made her change all of a sudden."

“Huh. That’s kind of weird.” I searched his face as he stared at his coffee cup, twirling it slowly in his hand. My gaze moved to his hand, and I was so distracted thinking about his hands, how they’d touched me. I swallowed hard and shifted in my chair. “Well, if I were you I wouldn’t complain. Maybe she’s just coming out of the funk from her parents’ divorce.”

He shrugged and gave a nod. “Yeah, maybe. She hasn’t been drinking so much either. Thanks.” He smiled at me and my insides churned.

“Anytime you need someone to try to rationalize women for you, just come find m—“ Kent's cellphone interrupted me. I looked away, letting him answer.

He reached into his pocket to get it on the second ring. "Hello?" On the other side of the line Jen was talking. I couldn't make out what she was saying, but I recognized the sound of her voice.

"Alright, I'll meet you at the house then. Bye." He hung up then slid the phone into his pocket. "I'm going to have to go. Jen says she needs to talk to me. Immediately.”

I looked at him and nodded, "Of course. It was good to see you." I stayed in my seat, blinking back the disappointment. I only hoped he didn’t recognize it.

"It was good to see you, Elly." The words that came from him were soft. He stood, waved and left me alone again at the table.

I watched him leave and wondered what was so important. I sighed and flipped my notebook open again. My final was in a couple of months and I didn’t even have the lyrics nailed down, much less the melody.

Chapter Eighteen