The Invitation

Dear Diary,

Today I took Charlie out to breakfast and told her Stella was moving in. After, we were walking home and passed a park. Inside were two little girls, maybe a year younger than her. They were jumping up and down with wide eyes and huge smiles plastered on their faces. I pointed to the girls and said, “What do you think they’re so excited about?” Charlie’s response was, “Maybe their daddy’s girlfriend is moving in, too.”

-Hudson

The man I was currently swooning over walked out to the backyard. I sat in a rocking chair on the deck next to the fire pit, with Hendricks at my feet.

Hudson shook his head. “My faithful friend there seems to forget who his master is.”

I smiled. The sheepdog I’d bought Hudson for Christmas had become my shadow lately. I wasn’t sure why, since all I seemed to do was yell at him for eating my shoes and furniture. He’d taken forever to housetrain, only to take up the lovely new habit of gnawing on thousand-dollar coffee table legs. To be honest, Hendricks was a pain in the ass, for the most part. But seeing the look on Hudson’s face on Christmas morning—when he realized he’d finally gotten the dog he’d wished for as a little boy—made all the chaos worth it.

I now had a copy of the photo Olivia kept framed on her living room mantel on my own nightstand—the one with Hudson blowing out his birthday candles and making a wish for a sheepdog while covering her mouth. And yes, he’d named our dog after the gin that brought us together.

“It’s only because I’m the one who usually feeds him,” I said.

Hudson’s eyes zoomed in on the book in my hands. “Remember our deal—you’re only supposed to read one a day.”

“I know. I was just rereading some of my favorites. I still have my one for today to read.”

“Okay. I’m going to run to the store to pick up a bottle of wine for us to bring to Olivia’s tonight. I’ll take Hendricks to get his walk in. Anything else I should get while I’m out?”

Today was Mason and Olivia’s one-year wedding anniversary, so we were going over to their place for dinner. They’d just moved out of Manhattan and into a house a few blocks away. I wondered if Hudson realized it wasn’t just their anniversary, it was ours, too. One year ago today, I’d sniffed some gin and met the love of my life. Though love wasn’t exactly the feeling I’d had when I’d hopped into the cab to flee the scene that night. I’d gotten him a little gift to commemorate the anniversary of our meeting and figured I’d give it to him later when we got home.

“No, I don’t think we need anything but wine. I baked a cake for dessert already.”

“Alright. I’ll be back in twenty minutes.”

“Okay. We can watch the sunset before we leave for Olivia’s.”

Hudson started to walk into the house, but he stopped and turned back with a warning finger. “Remember, one entry. No reading ahead.”

“I won’t.”

Hearing his footsteps fall away, I sighed and opened my diary back up. I only had another twenty or so pages left. And the next entry was so damn short. I could probably read the entire book before he got back, and he wouldn’t even know. But instead I’d savor the pages like he wanted me to.

At least…that’s what I planned.

Until I actually read the next short entry…

Dear Diary,

Today I went shopping. I don’t know much about jewelry, so I took my sister with me. She was a royal pain in the ass.

I smiled, imagining Hudson and Olivia shopping. His idea of shopping was walking into one store with the purpose of buying three suits and walking out within a half hour. Olivia, on the other hand, didn’t as much shop as graze. She would set out to buy a pair of shoes to go with a dress and come home with a new dining room set, a coat for Mason, a toy for Charlie, and some electronic gadget for the office from The Sharper Image. The shoes she set out to buy would no longer be necessary, because she’d also have a brand new dress.

I’d actually been with her once when she’d gone to shop for shoes for one outfit and come home with a completely different ensemble—only to realize she still needed shoes for the new item she’d brought home. Olivia was the woman who walked out of a mall with fourteen different shopping bags. Hudson was a man who requested they ship his suits to him when they were done being tailored, so he didn’t have to return to the store.

But as I went back to reading, I realized Hudson hadn’t mentioned he’d gone shopping with his sister. He also hadn’t come home with any new jewelry recently… So I curiously returned to my diary.