Amy finishes washing the dishes in her kitchen and picks up stray books and TV remotes from the living room before heading to her bedroom to change. Her heart is thumping; she is so nervous, feeling like a teenager about to go on a first date. She picks out a black turtleneck with a flowing, sea-foam-green vest over it and a pair of jeans. She looks at herself in the bathroom mirror, examining the lines around her eyes and the beginning of gray-colored roots at the hairline above her ears. This face doesn’t fit a first date, she thinks. When she was in college, she had dreams of starting her own business, getting married, and having children, with two dogs running over the yard that surrounded their home. The face looking back at her is lined here and there with reality and the wisdom that comes with falls along the way. The doorbell rings and she exhales, taking one final look in the mirror before turning off the bathroom light.
Gabe is on the front porch wearing a blue dress shirt with a tie, and a plaid wool sports jacket with black pants. She grabs her coat from the closet and opens the door, smiling. “I think I might be underdressed.”
He beams, looking at her. “I think you look great.”
She moves aside for him to come in. “Seriously. Am I underdressed?”
“Maybe just change the jeans.”
She closes the door and throws her coat on the back of the sofa, while she moves back down the hall toward her bedroom. “I thought you said we’d go out for barbecue or something,” she says from behind her closed door.
“I decided on something instead of barbecue,” Gabe says, looking at pictures on top of the fireplace mantel. “Your mom and dad look really good.” He picks up the picture for a closer look. “Is this your niece? Did she graduate?”
Amy emerges from her bedroom wearing a long, navy blue skirt and tall brown boots. “She graduated in May. My brother feels old now.” She looks down at herself. “Is this better?”
He smiles. “Perfect. You look amazing.”
She looks around, uncomfortable in her own home. “I don’t know why, but I’m so nervous. I was thinking before you got here that I’m not really prepared for first dates anymore.”
He puts the photo back on the mantel. “Me neither. So let’s not think of it that way.” She tries to muster a smile as his eyes scan her home. “I love your house. You’re a great decorator. You’ve always known how things should go together.”
She looks at him and feels her throat tighten. “What if we don’t go together, Gabe? What if this doesn’t work again? What will we do then?”
He steps in front of her. “What if it does work?” He smiles at her. “What will we do then?” He kisses her forehead. “Maddie told me not to blow it with you and I’m going to take her advice.”
She laughs out loud. “She said that? Really?”
He reaches for her coat on the back of the sofa. “Yes! She gave me strict orders not to blow it this time.”
He drives to the lake on the outskirts of Grandon and parks in front of Ellery’s Seafood and Steaks. Amy looks at the cedar shake building and reaches back into her memory, trying to recall when she was here last.
“Do you remember this place?” Gabe asks.
“I’ve eaten here but I don’t remember when.”
He parks his truck and turns off the engine. “I brought you here on our first date.”
“Oh yeah.” She looks at him. “That wasn’t our best night. Not a great first date. I complained too much and you drank too much and I had to drive you home.”
“We were younger then and I was an idiot.” She laughs, shaking her head. “Tonight, let’s show those young people from all those years ago how two people get to know each other.”
Gabe had requested the table by the fireplace a couple of days ago and the hostess leads them there, where he pulls Amy’s chair out for her. He sits across from her, putting the napkin on his lap. “Did I tell you that you look amazing?”
“Yes. You did,” she says, smiling. “And you look very handsome, Gabe. I actually think you’ve grown more handsome over the years.”
“So my mother was right! I thought it was just a mom thing.”
“How are your mom and dad?” she says, chuckling.
“They’re doing great. I told them that I was coming here with you tonight and I think my mom actually fainted.” She laughs again and he talks over the laughter. “It was either that or she was standing on the other end of the phone with her mouth open, speechless.” He mimics what his mother must have looked like. “They thought the world of you. It was very hard on them when we divorced, on my mom especially. And my dad thought you were supercool because you could carry on a conversation with him in Spanish.”
“Only near the end of our marriage. And then it was so slow and painful. I don’t remember much at all anymore.”
He speaks slowly in Spanish and she looks down at the table, listening. She cocks her head and he says it one more time. “Well?”
She grins. “I heard the words Spanish and bike.”
He speaks in Spanish again and her eyes light up. “I can’t pick out all of the words but you basically said, Spanish will come back to me like riding a bike.”
“Sí,” he says.
The waiter comes and Amy finds herself beaming as Gabe orders filet mignon and she orders salmon. “Is this a special occasion?” he says to them.
Gabe looks at Amy and her eyes are warm. “Yeah, it’s our second date here.”
When they finish their meal, Amy leans her arms on the table. “Will we do this again?”
“Would you like to do it again?” he says, hopeful.
Her mouth turns up a little as she nods. “I’d say this was a promising second date.”
“Now what to do on the next date? George Bailey said he’d lasso the moon for Mary. I’m not sure I could swing that. I couldn’t give you the world either. God’s pretty much got the market closed there. I could—”
She shakes her head, smiling. “I’ve never wanted the world. I don’t need fancy meals or fancy gifts. I’ve never gone for fancy anything. I just want to be with a man who—”
“Who knows your worth?” he asks.
“Yeah. And a man who—”
“Who sees that you are the most valuable thing on earth? A man who believes that the world is a better place with you in it and he can’t imagine a world without you in it? Someone who feels like a better man when he’s with you? A man who knew you when you were years younger but thinks you’re more beautiful than ever? A man who doesn’t look at magazine covers or on TV, the internet, or the movies for what a gorgeous woman looks like because none of them can hold a candle to you? A man who knows he can’t live a day without you and wants the rest of his life to start with you as soon as possible?”
Tears pool in her eyes as she places her palms on the table, lifting herself up to kiss him.