He Said I Was Slow to Commit While He Was Slow to Tell Me About Her Chapter 04

He Said I Was Slow to Commit While He Was Slow to Tell Me About Her Chapter 04

Ten minutes before two, I pushed open the cafe door.

Stella was already sitting at our old table by the window.

She smiled when she saw me.

“Avery. It’s been a long time.”

She stood and gave my shoulders a light squeeze, the way she used to in college.

“You’ve lost weight.”

I sat down and placed the flowers on the empty chair beside me.

“Garrett’s coming to pick you up later.”

She smiled and took a sip of coffee.

“I know. I wanted to talk to you first.”

“About what?”

Stella set down her cup.

“Avery, you know what Garrett has been waiting for these past four years.”

Her expression was calmer than I expected.

“I turned him down before. Everyone knew about you two. I didn’t want to step into the middle of that.”

My fingers tightened around my cup.

“Then why did you come back?”

Stella was quiet for a few seconds.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“My mother has late-stage cancer. The doctors say she may have six months. She wants to see me settled.”

I froze.

The cafe door opened.

The small bell above it chimed.

Garrett walked in.

When he saw me across from Stella, surprise flashed across his face.

“Avery? What are you doing here?”

He came over quickly, looked between us, and set a paper bag in front of Stella.

“I passed that bakery you used to like and grabbed something.”

The logo belonged to an old bakery near campus.

Years ago, the three of us had walked past it, and Stella had casually mentioned that their croissants were good.

After that, whenever she came back to town, Garrett went out of his way to bring her a box.

He never brought me any.

I did not like sweets.

I looked at the bag.

Then at Garrett, standing there in the sneakers Stella had given him.

Suddenly, the whole thing felt absurd.

I was the girl he had claimed at eight.

The girl he got jealous over at sixteen.

The girl he proposed to in front of half the campus.

And yet he remembered more small details about Stella than he did about me.

“Sit down,” I said.

Garrett pulled out a chair.

Without seeming to notice, he angled his body toward Stella.

“What were you two talking about?”

Stella smiled.

“The last four years. I asked Avery to come.”

Garrett’s expression changed.

“Avery, I was planning to tell you later today.”

“Tell me what?”

I looked at him.

“That you waited for her for four years? That you flew overseas twice to see her? That last Christmas you stood outside her building all night?”

I set down my coffee.

“I know all of it.”

His throat moved.

“You…”

He probably never imagined I would look for answers on my own.

To him, I had always been half a step behind.

By the time I understood something, he assumed it would already be old news.

“Garrett.”

I picked up the flowers and stood.

“You waited for her for four years. I know. But I waited for you for eight.”

“From the day you got down on one knee until now. You owe me a wedding, and you owe me an explanation.”

Garrett caught my wrist.

His palm was damp.

“Avery, don’t go. Let’s talk about this.”

I pulled free.

“Being impatient isn’t a flaw. Being slow isn’t one either.”

I gave a short laugh.

“But Garrett, if you hadn’t been so determined to claim me when we were kids, today would be a lot less awkward for you.”

He stood frozen.

I pushed open the cafe door.

Sunlight hit me hard enough to make me blink.

I stood at the curb for two seconds.

No footsteps came after me.

I looked back.

Through the window, Garrett stood in front of Stella with his head lowered, listening to her.

Her hand rested on his forearm.

He did not move away.

I turned around and kept walking.

He used to chase me for blocks.

This time, he barely made it two steps before she stopped him.

And he stayed.

I walked until my feet hurt, then sat on a bench.

The white roses had started to soften in the sun.

I bent down and breathed them in.

My mother sent me a voice message, almost breathless with excitement.

“Avery, Garrett’s mother just called. The venue has the eighteenth open next month, and the planner can make it work. Once it’s confirmed, I’ll start getting everything ready.”

I did not reply.

I slipped off the ring I had worn since sophomore year.

Then I set it on the bench beside me.

A breeze moved through the roses, and one white petal landed on my knee.

The eighteenth of next month.

The date Garrett’s mother had chosen.

I would use it.

They could find out when the time came.