Meredith had wanted to at least pretend to be mad at Toby, but seeing him in the pool took every ounce of even false anger and made it disappear. She hadn’t noticed his lack of clothing while he made his way through the water. If she had anything to be mad at him about, it was the fact that he’d rendered her speechless.

After her mom spent a day up at the cabin convincing her that there was no reason for her to live up there alone and watching as the tears ran down her face like a rain shower when she was introduced to both her grandson and granddaughter, Meredith decided to give the city a small chance. She had no immediate plans of moving back, but it was a nice little vacation for them.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten in a legitimate restaurant. Keene had a diner and an ice cream shop, neither of which would ever be confused for high-class eating. The bistro Toby ended up finding had come as a recommendation from Layla. She had claimed it was posh and quiet enough for whatever talk needed to happen. Meredith hadn’t explained to her mother exactly what the discussion was about, but as long as the elder McLarson kept sending pictures of the kids at the go-cart place to Meredith’s new phone, she felt comfortable being away for a little while.

“So, you’ve basically been hiding for no reason. That sucks.”

Toby had listened intently as Meredith relayed the facts she’d put together. He summed up her initial sentiment perfectly. Picking up one of the Parmesan fries from his plate of barely touched food, he held it out to Meredith. She quickly snatched it from him and bit into it. The garlic and Parmesan coating the fries was to die for, which explained why her serving was already gone.

“I like to think without my years away, I wouldn’t have ever really grown up. And I sure as heck wouldn’t have Caleb and Grace. Lawrence had his faults, some of which I’m still learning, but my marriage wasn’t the loveless one it sounded like I was going to have if I stayed around.”

Since they were in a public place, she’d been careful about saying names and spelling out every last detail. Toby had been quick to connect the dots, though, and he still couldn’t believe it based on his head shaking back and forth.

“Someday when we’re alone somewhere, I’m sure I’ll have questions about all that, but what I’m hoping we’re getting to is what this means for us. Last we talked, you told me there was no us.”

What a difference a few days and some clarification made. A lot had come out of the woodwork, so there still wasn’t a clear indication of what the future would hold.

Before saying anything, Meredith looked around the room of fellow diners. She’d done the same thing at least a dozen times, searching for any familiar faces. She didn’t expect to find any, but she was so used to being on high alert.

The closest group was three tables away, having what looked like a business lunch. Meredith couldn’t hear the conversation, but half the time they looked dead serious and every once in a while someone had to make a joke because the five men would crack up.

On the other side of them and to the left, a pair of women were flipping through a large binder. They kept pulling out their phones and fawning over them. Meredith imagined they were planning a wedding. She couldn’t think of anything else that went along with their actions.

Meredith had picked out a reason for every other table’s visit. She wondered what people thought of when they looked over at her and Toby. She’d caught some quick looks away during some of her glances around the room.

“By the way you’re checking out the guys at that table over there, I’m started to get scared that you’re looking to take this newfound freedom for a twirl.”

The silence had gone on probably a little too long for Toby’s comfort. Meredith quickly focused back on him to make sure he didn’t get any further idea she had a wandering eye.

“Sorry, it’s been a while since there were so many unknown people around me. Back home, I know everyone by looks and basically do my best to stay away from them. Here, I find myself looking for people I might have gone to school with or remember from seven years ago.”

Meredith grabbed a fry off his plate before she continued. She needed to figure out the recipe to try to recreate them at home. Her pre-baby weight was never going to disappear if that became a reality.

“It’s stupid. I’m sure I wouldn’t recognize anyone even if I did see them, but I’m used to knowing everyone.”

“There’s nothing stupid about that at all. Although, I highly doubt you’d ever know everyone here even if you decide to stay.”

Toby pushed his plate forward, grabbing a fry for himself once the plate was in the middle of the table. Meredith had already asked him if his Reuben tasted okay, and he claimed it was fine, but there only seemed to be two bites missing from it.

“I know I’ve asked it already, but why aren’t you eating? You said earlier you were too busy listening, but the story is all out there and you’re feeding me instead of yourself.”

Reaching over, Toby intertwined his fingers with the ones on Meredith’s left hand. His fingers were moist, almost greasy feeling. She didn’t remember him rubbing them in the fries, but it felt like he had. It was weird enough that she almost drew her arm back. If he hadn’t already hinted about being worried she was checking out other guys, she would have.

Plus, the wedding planners kept looking over, and she knew they weren’t looking at her. Making it a little clearer that they were together didn’t hurt anything.

“I’m a little concerned anything I eat right now is going to make a reappearance, so I’m trying to keep it light.”

“Is your head okay? I should have asked about that before I dumped all this on you. I know I’ve witnessed what happens, but it’s easy to forget.”

Meredith wasn’t sure what to do. Toby had driven them, so she’d need him to hand over the keys and then hope he could give her directions to the nearest doctor. It was one thing to be up in the woods and be afraid something would happen to him before she could get a doctor. They were in a city with huge hospitals, so there had to be someone who could keep the downtime to a minimum.

She vaguely remembered the hospital her mother had taken her to when she’d banged up her knee playing tennis in the eighth grade. It was on the other side of town, but she was fairly certain she could find it.

“Hey.” Fingers snapped in front of Meredith’s face. “Do I want to know where you just disappeared to?”

Furrowing her brow, Meredith wondered what in the world Toby was talking about. His fingers were still wrapped around hers, so it was obvious she hadn’t gone anywhere.

“I’m pretty sure I don’t have teleporting powers.”

Toby’s lips curved up a little. Meredith was busy studying other parts of Toby’s face. She remembered how sweaty he got before he passed out in the woods. His hand touching hers were proof that sweating had already begun.

“No, you don’t. But you started freaking out about my head and blanked when I tried to tell you it’s fine.”

“I didn’t blank. I immediately tried to figure out how in the world I was going to get you in your SUV and where in the world to take you. It’s not like there’s a single doctor I can just run you to.”

“Well, thankfully that isn’t something we have to worry about right now. As I already said, I’m fine.”

It was impossible not to be skeptical. Meredith didn’t recall anything other than the sweating, so she leaned in and tried to get a look at his pupils. Having absolutely zero doctoring ability, other than putting bandages on scraped knees, meant she had no idea what she was looking for.

“You’re not fine. You just said you were thinking about throwing up and you’re all sweaty. We should at least get you home to make sure people don’t think I’ve drugged you or something.”

“I admit that I don’t always know when it’s going to come on, but my head is good, Meredith. I’m sweating and nauseous because I don’t know where this conversation is going. You keep dodging the question about where all the revelations leave us and you refused to stay at my place for lunch, so I’m assuming you’re trying to let me down easy in a public place.”

“Let you down easy?”

Meredith emphasized the you in her sentence. She’d avoided the topic he mentioned because she was afraid once they talked things out that he’d decide the allure or whatever it was that attracted him to her would be gone. The woman of mystery he’d originally met boiled down to an uneducated mother who had no idea what way was up in her life.

“Exactly. You don’t have to worry about someone finding you and turning you over for the wedding of a century. Now you can come and go as you please, as long as you stay away from the potential reporters who want to turn your story into must-watch television.”

“I hope that’s something we both know will happen over my dead body. And I’m not sure why you think I’d bring you to a public place to tell you I wanted you out of my life. I told you at your place that I wanted a date before we jumped in bed.”

She wasn’t buying his story. The lighting in the restaurant wasn’t good enough to see what his pupils looked like. They didn’t look like pinpoints or giant orbs, but it was hard to say.

“Yeah, but it sort of felt like the only reason bed entered the equation was the fact I didn’t have any clothes on.”

“You seriously think after all this time, I don’t want to see where this will go? You don’t have to have your clothes off to be sex on a stick.”

Meredith’s voice ended up a little louder than she anticipated. She could feel the glares of people around the room that got a taste of the path the conversation wandered down. Squeezing Toby’s hand, she took a deep breath. It was her idea to go out to eat somewhere, so she had no one to blame but herself.

“Interesting.”

The single word response from Toby made Meredith want to growl at him. She was still worried something might be wrong with his head, and had to consider whether simple responses could be a sign of something bigger to come.

Her phone chirping drew her attention away from the man doing his best to frustrate her. With her free hand, she swiped to take a look at the latest picture from her mom. She hadn’t thought there were many options for unique photo opportunities when she’d issued the task – Caleb in the go-kart on the track, Caleb sitting while he waited for his turn again.

Layla had clearly missed her calling as a photographer. Every picture was unique based on the emotion coming from Caleb for all the crazy poses he did. In the current one, he was standing behind one of the go-karts with one foot up on the chassis and some kind of trophy in his hand. With the ear-to-ear smile on his face, one would easily assume he just won a major auto racing event.

Meredith texted back a thumbs up, the same reply she’d done with the ten other photos she’d gotten. She hated the fact that she’d left her kids with someone else to watch, but the photos were making it easier to at least pretend she was a normal person.

“So what’s going on with your phone? Do you have a live feed into the go-kart arena so you can make sure the kids aren’t taking over the place?”

The idea made Meredith chuckle. In a decade or so, she figured she’d actually have to worry about Caleb doing something like that.

“No, my mom’s been taking pics and sending them so I know everything’s going okay.”

Lifting the phone, Meredith shared the latest with Toby. He reached out and held her wrist so he could get a good look.

“I think it’s official. We’re going to have to install a track in the woods back home. I know my place has an acre or two we could devote to it.”

“You don’t think we’ll decide to stay here? I’m pretty sure Caleb’s going to lobby for it. And now that I know I’m not required to marry anyone, there’s no reason for me to hide.”

Toby lowered his chin and raised his brow as he studied Meredith. It took him a second to reply. Meredith imagined the idea of sticking around the city had plenty of appeal for him.

“The shine of new things will wear off quickly for him. I doubt he’ll find enough mud here to make pies and the thrill of seeing bears in the backyard is kind of non-existent. He’d miss that stuff if you stayed away too long.”

“And what about you? You’ve been back a few days now. Do you miss your cabin?”

As Toby shook his head, Meredith’s heart sunk. She knew the city life would quickly draw him back in, but she thought it’d take a little longer.

“I miss you, Caleb and Grace. Me and the cabin have a love-hate relationship that I could take or leave. You guys, that’s something I can’t live without. Wherever you guys are, that’s where I want to be.”

That notion scared Meredith almost as much as the idea of him not wanting anything to do with them. Her phone was still in the air, so she pulled her hand back and put it on the table. A part of her wished for the simple life she was used to, but returning to the land of the living meant her heart was going to be vulnerable. She hoped Toby understood that and did what he could to not tear it in two.