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“I insist. Either you eat it or it goes in the fire.”
She pulls a face, then takes the bag from my hand. “Stubborn man.”
“Is that nerd for thank you?” I ask.
She laughs, then has the last bite. “Yes, thank you.”
Taking the bag from her, I put on an extra deep voice and say, “Here, little lady. You cooked. I’ll do the dishes.” I toss the bag into the fire and watch as it lights up.
“Aww, you’re the best husband I’ve ever had,” she says. “You’re also the worst one, but…”
I burst out laughing and she joins in, then after a few seconds, I say, “Why aren’t you married?”
She blinks quickly, looking surprised by the question, so I quickly follow it with, “I don’t mean to pry or suggest you should be married. I just mean that you’re obviously very beautiful, you’re fun as hell, and you’re really amazing. I can’t figure out why some guy hasn’t snapped you up yet.”
Giving me a sassy look, she says, “I could ask you the same thing.”
“In my case, it’s because I’m not gay.”
“You know what I meant.”
“Fine, in my case it’s because I don’t ever want to be married,” I answer, feeling a strange ache in my chest that I’m going to ignore. “And you?”
She stares at the fire and shrugs, her expression suddenly pensive. “I don’t know. I just haven’t met the right guy.”
“But you’d like to be someone’s wife one day?”
“God, you’re nosy.”
Grinning, I say, “Not normally.” I pick up a small log and toss it on the fire. “In fact, I usually avoid finding out personal details about people. But for some reason, I’m very curious about you.”
She blushes a little and glances up at the sky. “Curious like a zoologist studying a new species?”
Before I can stop myself, I say, “Curious like a man who wants to figure you out.”
Swallowing hard, Gwen looks at me, her face growing serious. “Oh…” Her voice is thick with emotion as she says, “Well that’s a very different form of curiosity.”
“It really is, isn’t it?” I ask, knowing I should not be going down this road. I shouldn’t even know where it is on the map.
“Yeah,” she says, glancing at my lips. “But back to you. Why don’t you ever want to be married? You’ve already told me you’re not a player who goes through women like we’re paper napkins. Why not add a wife to your quiet evenings hanging out at home?”
“It’s surprisingly hard to find someone I can trust,” I tell her, shocking myself with my answer. “The money seems to get in the way.”
She doesn’t scoff at what I just said. She doesn’t laugh, or mock me for feeling sorry for myself. Instead, Gwen just nods. “I could see that. How could you ever know if it’s you they love or it’s what you can buy for them?”
“Exactly,” I tell her. “Not that I was a big fan of the institution before I made my money. It’s just gotten worse is all.”
We stare at each other with an intensity I can’t describe, then, before I’m ready, she looks away. I follow her gaze to the sky and notice how very bright the strip of stars we can see between the treetops are. There’s a full moon shining down, reflecting off the river as it hurries along. If I were the marrying type, I’d probably want to set up a scene exactly like this for the woman I loved.
Picking up the bag of freeze-dried ice cream, Gwen says, “Can I interest you in dessert?”
Not if it’s food. “Sure, why not?”
I watch as she rips the bag open and hands me a piece, then gets one for herself. “Cheers.”
We both take a bite and I stare up at the moon again while it melts on my tongue. “Huh, it’s a little…”
“Dry?”
