“Yes, there is. A chemist is a scientist who works with chemicals, solvents, and compounds.”
Faking a cough, Daisy repeated, “Nerd.”
“Shut up.” Gwen couldn’t stop laughing. “Anyway, a chemist is a scientist, but a scientist isn’t necessarily a chemist.”
“You see what I mean? You’re a chemist. You use your science-do-ha-ha and mix in a little potion and you get Voodoo.”
“Who’s the dork now?”
“Whatever. You know what I’m saying. Stop being stubborn and tell that man how you really feel. Do you want to wait until his lease is up and force him to make that decision?”
What if he chose to leave? No, she most definitely didn’t want to leave his decision up to chance.
“Now, get your big girl panties on, brighten up those eyes with liner, and make those lips so glossy, he won’t be able to take his eyes off them.”
“I love you.”
“Back at you. Do you feel better?”
Voodoo waited half a second, then said out loud what she hadn’t let her heart feel. “I do. I love him. I think that’s why I didn’t want you to declare me dead. I wanted a link to him, to the life we once had.”
“I figured. So now that you’ve said it out loud, are you going to tell him?”
“I think I am... No, I know I am.”
Always punctual, Carter waited as the security guard rang for his date. He was nervous. A thirty-seven-year-old man was standing downstairs waiting for his date to show up, wondering if she’d stand him up or greet him with a kiss. He hadn’t been this nervous since he asked out Lanie Bowen in the tenth grade.
“She’s on her way,” the guard said, smirking at the nervous man.
“Thank you,” Carter said and stood closer to the elevators.
Minutes later, the door opened and out stepped the woman he still couldn’t believe was alive. Five years he had searched, and now she was found. He just needed to not screw it up.
“You look stunning,” Carter said, trying to restrain himself from pulling her in for a kiss. He’d done nothing but think about their kiss at the hospital parking lot. If she had been faking it, he couldn’t imagine what it would feel like if she truly meant it.
“You look pretty fine yourself.”
Her smile was genuine. He realized he hadn’t seen it in nearly six years. The last year of their marriage had been stressful, and neither smiled a lot. They blamed each other for something they should’ve tried to solve together.
“Come on, I leased a car for the next three months, so I’m driving.”
“Pretty bossy.”
“You have no idea.”
Their banter was easy, at least for the time being. He just hoped it held out for the rest of their night.
“So where are we going?”
“I was thinking about Cuban food, and I found a speakeasy on Sixth Street downtown.”
“Oh, that sounds nice.”
“I have several other ideas for dates if you agree to see me again.”
“I guess that depends on where else you plan on taking me.”
“I thought taking a pottery class would be fun.”