I realize her hands are clasped so tightly in her lap that her knuckles are white. Her jaw is clenched too, and she won’t look at me. Craptastic crap, this can’t be good. “Maybe,” she admits. “It’s just more baggage. I mean, come on, Kirian, I’m a mess, and I have all these insecurities. My whole life, practically no one wanted me. My sister and I were in twenty-two different foster homes before we were adopted, and even then, as you know, it wasn’t great.”
“I…but Lindy, I want you, and I wanted to be here, waiting for you. I said I was going to wait, and I would have waited all night. I don’t care that you’re a mess. To me, you’re not a mess, but even if you were, I wouldn’t care. Anyway, I bet these things happen all the time.”
“That’s actually what they said,” Lindy snorts.
“Well then.”
“But they were probably just being nice.”
“No, they were probably being accurate and medical and scientific.”
“I think the nurse was just saying that to make me feel better because it only took them a minute to get it out. They just put the clamps in, and uh, you probably don’t want to hear about it. The rest of the time was just waiting time. It didn’t hurt, and I got the pill to ensure there aren’t any surprises. I pay for private health insurance, so I’m good.”
I curse myself that I didn’t even think to ask about that. I clear my throat roughly. “You have this image of me, I think, as somehow being less of a mess, more perfect, or more put together, but let me tell you with one hundred percent certainty that I’m not. For one, I was so immature that my grandmother had to gather a bunch of cursed heirlooms together just to get me, my brother, and cousins to listen to her and believe in love. Second of all, I still didn’t listen to her. Not about the curse, and certainly not about how great it actually is to open myself up to another person. I was still so childish that I made a pact to prove her wrong. As if it would ever work. Professionally, I also refused to listen to her when she told me my security system sucked. She had to find you, a hacker, and get you to break into my house just to get me to listen. But Granny wouldn’t do things halfway. She’s too clever for that. She probably did a lot of research before she found you. A lot. She basically handpicked you.”
“Yeah, for the hacking job.”
“No.” I shake my head. “For everything. Granny is wicked smart, and she somehow knew.”
“Maybe we should go and try and get another hundred people to make the necklace glow. We could put it out there that we’re conducting market research and then have single females in a certain age range apply and—”
I reach over and place my hand on Lindy’s, cutting her off. “I don’t want to do more market research because I know who my soulmate is. I’m not bailing, and I’m not going to stop trying just because things sometimes get crazy or weird or hard. That’s just life. And I want to do it with you. Just exactly what we’ve been doing.”
“But I ruined our first date, and I ruined the first time we…uh, yeah. I even ruined the cake because my boot ended up in it.”
“You didn’t ruin anything. The cake was trash, and I threw your boot in it, not you. You didn’t wreck the first time, and you definitely didn’t wreck this date. I think it was a great date, minus how much discomfort, pain, and doubt the whole thing has caused you. I’m sorry about all of that.”
“I had the condoms, not you, so I can’t blame you for that one or the vagina of steel, apparently.”
I can’t hold back a laugh, and neither can Lindy. She finally turns and looks at me. “Are you sure? Me? Of all people, Kirian, me?”
“Yes.” I bring her knuckles up to my mouth and brush my lips over them. She sighs and melts against her chair, but with the way she’s looking at me, I know she believes me. And she’s not going to run. She’s going to stick this out. “You’re my soulmate. You make the necklace glow. I could also be corny and say you make my heart glow too.”
“Really? That is super corny.”
“I know.”
“But I kind of like it,” Lindy murmurs with a small smile.
“Really?”
“Kirian?”
“Yes?”
“Can we go and get a cake somewhere? Is there a good bakery still open that makes phenomenal cakes?”
“I’m not sure, but even if we can’t find one, we can always pick up a subpar cake and eat it together. And some tuna, too, for the cats.”