Page 16 of Life’s Too Short

I paused a moment, debating her offer. I didn’t feel like being social—even though I knew I probably should. Sitting around feeling sorry for myself wasn’t good for me. I could practically hear Mom’s voice in my head telling me to get out and do something.

I heard Becky’s voice too. It was more annoying but saying the same thing.

“Well?” Vanessa cocked her head.

“Yeah. Sure.” Why not. “But no pizza. It’s famine food. I’ll pick us up something.”

Her eyes got big. “Like what? Like real food? From a restaurant? One that doesn’t do DoorDash?”

“That’s what I’m thinking.”

She put a hand to her chest. “Oh my God. I haven’t had anything exciting to eat in weeks.”

I smiled a little. “Do you like Muffoletto’s?”

“Yes,” she breathed. “Chicken marsala and…and a cannoli. Wait, no. Tiramisu. And spaghetti and meatballs and—”

I chuckled dryly and pulled out my phone. “Here, give me your number. Then just text me what you want. I could be back in forty-five, if that’s okay?”

“It’s so okay. And I’ll pay you back,” she added quickly.

“No, it’s fine. It’ll be my treat. I think maybe you’ve had a worse day than me.” If that was even possible.

She gave me her number and sent me her order. She didn’t ask for the cannoli, but I got it anyway. Then I wandered into their deli and grabbed a few of their prepared meals for her. Chicken piccata, a lasagna, and another chicken marsala.

I stopped, looking at the row of wine.

I liked a nice white with Italian food, but it felt a little too much like a date if I brought wine.

Eh, screw it. We’d both been pretty clear that wasn’t what this was. And I could use the drink. I picked a chardonnay I liked and made it back to her apartment with five minutes to spare.

She pulled open the door and let me inside. She’d thrown on a dark-green belted sweater. Open in the front. And she’d put on a little makeup. She looked nice.

Vanessa was a good-looking woman. She reminded me of that actress—what was her name? Jennifer Lawrence. Irony aside, she had that girl-next-door thing about her.

She held the door while I came in with the bags. “Ta-da! Clean!” she declared, putting a hand out proudly to show me the apartment. “It’s much easier to do when you don’t have to hold a screaming infant.”

The studio was spotless. It didn’t even look like the same space.

“Thank God,” I said, putting the bag down on the small table next to her kitchen. “I was worried we’d have to clear diapers to use the table.”

She laughed.

Grace was sleeping in a little swing next to the couch, rocking back and forth, a green pacifier in her mouth.

I’d left Harry Puppins at my apartment, locked in the bathroom with pee pads. I figured letting him shit all over Vanessa’s place probably wouldn’t be the best way to be a good house guest.

He’d bitten me before I left.

I began pulling out the food. “I got a few extra meals for you. Okay if I put them in the freezer?” I did it without waiting for her reply. “I got you a cannoli too.”

She eyed me suspiciously. “Are you sure you’re not hitting on me?” she asked, crossing her arms. “Because I gotta be honest, I could be into this.” She spied the bottle of wine and gasped, picking it up. “Oh, I love this one! It’s been months since I’ve had a Chateau Montelena chardonnay.”

I arched an eyebrow as I closed the freezer. “You know your wines.”

“I adore wine. Once I had a whole bottle of Château Margaux Margaux on the rooftop of my hotel in Paris.” She grabbed a wine opener from the drawer. “I’ll never forget the hangover the next day, but it was so worth it.”

“Pricey bottle.” About twelve hundred. More if the hotel sold it. She must make decent money.