Chapter 11: Pie and Rules

The diner was Tristan's pick, and it had a lit pie case by the door.

We took a booth in the back, and a waitress with a pencil in her hair put two menus between us.

"First time here?" she asked.

"Yes," I said.

"No," Tristan said.

We looked at each other.

"I mean yes," he said. "For this."

The waitress wrote nothing down and left.

I sat very straight.

It had been a long time since I'd been on a date.

The last one had ended with a man explaining cryptocurrency to a bread basket.

"We're married," I said. "We have a joint account."

"Separated."

"For about three hours."

"I'd like to do it properly."

He turned his menu over and squared it with the edge of the table.

"What's your favorite pie?" he said.

"You don't know?"

"I know you ate the pecan one at my mother's. I don't know if that's favorite or just available."

"It's available," I said. "Lemon."

"Lemon?"

"With the meringue. My mother made it on Sundays."

He didn't say anything, and I realized I had never told him that.

Two years of marriage and I had never told him that.

"What's yours?" I asked.

"Apple. With cheese on top."

"That's a crime."

"It's Ohio."

I laughed, and he watched me do it.

The waitress brought two coffees and a slice of lemon pie I hadn't ordered.

"The man at the counter paid for it," she said. "He says you looked like you needed it."

We both turned.

A man at the counter raised a mug at us.

"I'm going to assume he's a stranger," I said.

"Eat the pie."

I ate the pie, and it was good, and I said so, and Tristan nodded.

We talked for an hour.

Keep reading free with an account. Start She Cheered for His Office Crush, Then Left Her Husband Behind from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.