I drum my fingers again, fighting with my own instinct, and losing. “Fine. I’ll bite. Why?”
“Nadine is headlining an art exhibit next month!”
“You went out to celebrate.”
“Yes. We had to, you know. Ivory isn’t the best club in the city, but you always know you’re in for a good time.” She leans back in the seat, settling into the plush leather, and gives a happy little sigh. “Thank you for picking me up.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Oh! You’re driving!”
“Last time I checked, yes.”
“But where’s Steven?” She glances back, as if he’s lurking in the backseat.
It makes my lips curl. “He has the night off. He’s not hiding in the trunk, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“So you’re driving.” Her eyes look glazed and her full lips are smiling, as if they can’t do anything else, as if she’s locked in happiness for tonight.
“Still am, yes.”
She chuckles and reaches down to take off her heels, just as she had after the Conway’s dinner. “Dancing in these should be illegal.”
I have nothing to say to that, so I don’t. But I watch the length of her bare legs as she stretches them out.
“I didn’t mean to.. well.” She looks over at me, hesitation in her eyes. “Why did you call me? To see where I was?”
“You weren’t home, it was late, and you usually are.”
“I didn’t know you wanted me to tell you when I’ll be out.”
I keep my eyes on the road. “Neither did I, to tell you the truth.”
There’s silence between us, punctuated by the sound of her turning in her seat. “You were up late, then?”
“I couldn’t sleep.”
“You’re gone some nights, too.”
I don’t know what to say to that. It’s not something I can put into words, and even if I did, I doubt she’d… no.
“I didn’t know you noticed.”
“I have,” she says. “And I don’t call you to ask where you’re going.”
“No, I suppose you don’t.”
She clears her throat, and there’s something tight beneath the cheerfulness. “I appreciate the ride home. But I can be out for as long and as often as I’d like, just the same as you.”
I can’t argue with that. Nor can I admit to the feeling of unease when she wasn’t home. “Noted. It was just out of the ordinary for you, and so I... checked in.”
She relaxes against the seat, palms flat on her knees. I glance at her left hand and find it bare. Of course. The rings are with me, back in the safety box at home.
My mother’s engagement ring had looked good on Cecilia’s finger.
“Do you know,” she says, “that we’ve been married almost two months now?”
“I did know that.”