“Yeah, he did a Supreme Court clerkship and fell in love with his co-clerk. We’d been drifting apart for a while. My father died when I was in high school and his father had died recently, so we bonded over that. But in a way we were both still recovering, so we didn’t want to fully let go into our relationship and risk any type of loss. Still, I think we’re both grateful to each other for creating a space to express our grief. I think our relationship enabled him to succeed in his current one.” He had been braver than me. But she didn’t think she had been using work to avoid attachment. She had dated Kevin. And even thought Kevin was the One. Kevin had seemed so established and secure.

“I’m sorry about your dad. I’m happy to listen if you ever want to talk about it.” Jake’s eyes held hers, and he rubbed her back.

“Thanks. It was a long time ago, but sometimes something will set it off, and then the pain of his death will feel raw. Like, you definitely don’t want me for your date at a funeral. It’s so bad I bring my own tissue box.” She shook her head as if to clear it. “Anyway, I do have one seduction dish—at least when I cooked it for Eve, she said it was that good. It’s my fallen chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream.”

“I’m already intrigued.” He kissed her. She felt safe and secure in his embrace.

She said, “I’ll start making it while you get the stuff for dinner. It can sit in the fridge until we’re ready to bake it.” As she cracked eggs into a bowl, he ran over to his house to pick up the ingredients he needed.

She was just putting the chocolate batter into the refrigerator when he returned. He placed all the ingredients on the counter.

“Welcome, audience, you have now joined the Audrey and Jake kitchen show, where absolute marvels will be produced,” Audrey announced in a fake French accent. She pointed a spatula at Jake like a microphone. “We turn to Chef Jake and ask: what’s your secret?”

He gamely spoke into the spatula. “Butter, sugar and salt. Every chef should have those ingredients, and he will be masterful. My sous-chef here will put all the spices into little bowls, and I will demonstrate how to cut up this onion with what I call the Jake technique. Don’t be fooled by the techniques of other chefs: this is the technique.” Jake expertly cut the onion.

“Wow. Did you go to chef school or take cooking courses?”

“I may have taken a cooking course here or there.”

“Wait until I tell Eve,” she said. She’d found someone who cooked. “What inspired you to learn to cook?”