Page 58 of Tango

“Not much. I can make a mean grilled cheese.”

“See? Not useless.” Piper turned and pointed to the other side of the house. “Over there is where we have our vegetable gardens. We have crops going most of the year, so everyone in the apartment has access to fresh veggies and eggs. That’s our little coop over there under the tree. That beautiful girl is Henrietta, and the brown one hiding behind the tree is Eggatha.” She turned back to Wade. “Two of the hens stopped laying, so they ended up in a pot of chicken soup last week. Delicious, but shhh, never mention that in front of the kids.”

“You’ve named them like pets, but the kids wouldn’t notice?”

“They noticed the chickens were gone. Their mom said they’d gone to live with family on a farm.”

“That’s disgusting, eating your pets like that.”

“You’re vegan?”

“I’m not, but I like to pretend that my chicken breast is made in the back room of the local grocery store’s butcher shop. Hey, do you mind if I use your restroom before we go to the park?”

Piper followed Wade back into the building to find him with one foot on the stairs.

“Which one is your apartment?”

“Oh, no need to go up,” Piper said. “We have a bathroom down here. It’s that door to your right.”

Piper stood by the front door waiting for Wade, and as soon as he emerged, she went on out.

He scuttled down the stairs beside her, looking back over his shoulder at the apartment building with a cloud over his head.

“What?” Piper asked.

“You don’t look like a granola girl.”

They started down the street side by side. “I’m sure that means something to you.”

“Modern version of a sixties hippie.”

“Is it because I’m not materialistic?”

“They’re easier.” Wade was walking with an easy gait, shooting the shit.

Piper was a little less relaxed. “They are? How’s that?”

“When they get mad at me, I just go look at what they’d pinned to their boards, buy that, and give it to them with a bow.”

“A bow is significant. And that solves the problem?” she asked as they came to a stop at the top of the street and waited for the light to turn.

“Solves it enough.”

“What if the problem was that you have a personality flaw?” Piper stepped off the curb.

“The right handbag usually smooths that over.”

“And that’s why you’re on the market?”

He turned around and flicked his arm up the road. “I recently moved. I’m new here.”

“Out of curiosity, what if you met up with a woman who wasn’t interested in bows and didn’t have a wish board? What then?” Piper could see Vivian up ahead and lifted her arm to wave. She also pulled her phone from her pocket and sent Chanti an empty text.

“I don’t know,” Wade popped his eyebrows at her. “I guess I’d have to whip out my mad grilled cheese-making skills.”

Piper’s dating life was tepid tea. She sipped at it without a lot of pleasure. If she focused hard, she might get a little flavor. It was something that wet the whistle and hydrated her a bit. Wasn’t that a sad way to describe her romantic life?

Wade would never fill her cup.