On Friday, her graduation present finally arrived, so he texted to ask if she wanted to spend some platonic time together. She asked what he had in mind, and he suggested they go out for Chinese food, then maybe hang out and watch a movie if she was up for it.
After a minute passed, she told him she could agree to that as long as they did it early, since she said she’d be at Brian’s by 9:30.
They met for dinner at their Chinese restaurant around five. It was strange being there with her again—the last time he’d been there was so long ago, when he hoped she might show up.
As soon as she sat down, she fished a small white box out of her purse and placed it on the table between them.
He blinked at it a few times, since it looked like a jewelry box, then looked up at Willow questioningly. “Are you proposing?” he joked.
Willow rolled her eyes. “I am. With a necklace. Say yes or my life is over.”
Ethan rolled his eyes in return, grabbing the box and pulling it across the table. Opening it only confused him more. On a fluffy pillow of white was a necklace with a little green turtle charm attached.
“I… don’t understand what this is,” he said, his mind racing, searching for some private joke he might’ve forgotten about.
Smiling slightly, she said, “It’s for your daughter. She said she wanted my turtle necklace.”
“Oh, God, no,” he said, putting the lid back on the box and pushing it back toward her. “You don’t have to give my daughter your necklace, Willow. That’s very nice of you, but really—”
“It’s not mine,” she interrupted, shoving the box back to the center. His hand was still covering the box though, so her hand landed on top of his. She left it there for a moment. “I made one for her. I made mine, too. They’re clay charms, it was quick to make. It’s no big deal. You can just say you ordered it for her.”
She finally moved her hand back, so he tugged the box back over to his side. “Oh. Okay. Well, thank you. I actually got you something too, but I left it at the apartment.”
Her eyebrows flicked upward in surprise. “You got me something?”
“A graduation present—not a big deal.”
“Aw, you didn’t have to get me a graduation present,” she told him, smiling brightly.
“What is it?”
“You’ll see.”
Ethan’s name was called, alerting them to the fact that their food was up, so he went up to get the food while Willow waited at the table.
When he turned around with their tray, intending to go back to their table, he spotted a woman who hadn’t been there when they sat down. Stomach plummeting, he recognized her as one of Amanda’s friends. She sat there with her husband, eyeing Ethan curiously.
For a moment, he wasn’t sure what to do. Their food was on a tray, so he couldn’t walk out like he wanted to and hope Willow would follow him. The woman had also probably already noticed him sitting there… and since Willow was just getting over being mad at him, he imagined it was not a good idea to abandon her at the dinner he asked her to.
With less conviction than he felt, he walked back to the table, putting the tray down and sliding in across from Willow.
She frowned at him, concerned. “You okay?”
“One of Amanda’s friends is here,” he said quietly.
Her gray eyes widened. “Did they see you?”
He nodded his head, removing his plate from the tray. “Yep.”
Willow didn’t take her plate. “Do you want to go?”
Ethan shook his head. “She already saw me sit down. Nothing can—” He stopped talking as the woman and her husband headed toward the counter to get their food.
On her way past their table, she paused as if surprised. “Ethan?”
She had obviously already recognized him, so he didn’t know why she bothered pretending, but he offered up a flat smile. “Hi, Karen.”
“That is you—I thought I recognized you.” Of course her gaze flitted to Willow, the only reason she stopped at the table. She was facing Ethan from her table, so she wouldn’t have gotten a good look at Willow’s face from that angle. “I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve met.”