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nice to say to temper
the “old” comment, but she couldn’t think of anything. “But he bought one of your
houses,” she added to Micah. “The one on Elm.”
    “I
love that house,” Micah said, still smiling and watching them with a slightly
questioning expression.
    Gabe
reached out to put an arm around Lydia, pulling her against his side with a
gesture that must look affectionate. “We love it too. You did a really good job
with it.”
    Alice
had returned with Cara in tow. “So when is the wedding?” she asked, holding
Cara with one hand and pulling a stray thread from Micah’s shirt with the
other.
    “December
6th,” Lydia said, feeling kind of strange in Gabe’s embrace but being sure not
to pull away. “It’s just family, though. We don’t want any big hoopla.”
    “Maybe
we can do a dinner or something for you all afterwards then,” Alice said. “We
want to celebrate with you in some way. I’ll talk to Jessica about it. If you
don’t mind, of course.”
    “I’m
sure that will be fine,” Lydia replied, since she couldn’t figure out any good
way to refuse. They were keeping things low-key on purpose, since it felt like
a lie to go through all the normal wedding traditions in their situation.
“Thank you for thinking about it.”
    “Of
course. I’m so excited for you.”
    Lydia
understood that Alice was being genuine, and that she was also surprised. It
wasn’t all that long ago that she’d told Alice straight-out that she didn’t
think she would ever get married.
    She
hated people to think she was wrong like that.
    “We
better get going,” Gabe said, glancing over at Ellie, who had been watching the
proceedings with typical silence. “It was good to meet you both.”
    After
they said farewells, they continued walking toward the exit. Ellie walked a few
feet ahead, and Gabe kept his hand on the small of Lydia’s back.
    He
gave her a strange look but didn’t say anything.
    “What
is it?” she asked, since she figured it was better to keep things open between
them.
    “Since
we’re supposed to be engaged, it might be a good idea for you to act as though
you like me as much as you like other people.”
    Lydia
stiffened slightly, feeling immediately defensive at what was clearly a
reproach, however mild and casual his tone.
    “What
did I do?” She’d called him “old,” but it didn’t sound like that was what he
was referring to.
    “You
appeared happier to see Micah than you were to be with me.” He wasn’t looking
at her. He was watching Ellie walk in front of them.
    “Oh.”
Lydia thought about that, realizing he was right. She had been happy to see
Micah and Alice, since they were friends, familiar, comfortable. Nothing at all
like Gabe.
    “Especially
since you used to be with Micah.”
    Lydia
sucked in a surprised breath and looked up to scan Gabe’s face. He’d sounded
almost jealous.
    But
he definitely had a point about her needing to treat him more like a future
husband. “Sorry,” she said. “This is new. And strange.”
    “I
know.” His face, when she checked, looked natural again. He never revealed very
much, but he didn’t appear to be unhappy with her anymore.
    “I’ll
do better.”
    She
felt guilty and rattled as they walked through the parking lot, but she
comforted herself with the thought that this in-between time wouldn’t last very
long.
    Soon
she’d leave it all behind her. Soon she’d be who she wanted to be.
    ***
    Two weekends later, just
after Thanksgiving, Gabe and Lydia were moving her stuff into the house.
    She’d
been living with her parents since she graduated from law school, so she didn’t
actually have all that much stuff. She had her clothes and her incidentals,
plus a few pieces of furniture.
    Gabe
had professional movers move him from Raleigh, but they were doing Lydia’s
stuff on their own.
    Ellie
was with her grandparents for the day, which was a good thing. Even given the
minimal amount of Lydia’s belongings, neither she