And for just a fleeting moment, a tiny wisp of time that hung in the air like fireflies insummer skies, she wondered if she was in love with him again. The timer went off inthe kitchen, a small ding, and Noah turned away, breaking the moment, strangelyaffected by what had just happened between them. Her eyes had spoken to him andwhispered something he longed to hear, yet he couldn't stop the voice inside hishead, her voice, that had told him of her love for another man. He silently cursed thetimer as he walked to the kitchen and removed the bread from the oven. He almostburned his fingers, dropped the loaf on the counter, and saw that the frying pan wasready. He added the vegetables and heard them begin to crackle. Then, muttering tohimself, he got some butter out of the icebox, spread some on the bread, and melteda bit more for the crabs.
Allie had followed him into the kitchen and cleared her throat.
"Can I get the table ready?"
Noah used the bread knife as a pointer.
"Sure,plates are over there. Utensils and napkins there. Make sure you get plenty-crabs can be messy, so we'll need them." He couldn't look at her as he spoke. He didn'twant to realize he'd been mistaken about what had just happened between them. Hedidn't want it to be a mistake.
Allie, too, was wondering about the moment and feeling warm as she thought of it.
The words he'd spoken replayed in her head as she found everything she needed forthe table: plates, place settings, salt and pepper. Noah handed her the bread as shewas finishing the table, and their fingers touched briefly.
He turned his attention back to the frying pan and turned the vegetables. He liftedthe lid of the steamer, saw the crabs still had a minute, and let them cook somemore. He was more composed now and returned to small talk, easy conversation.
"Have you ever had crab before?"
"A couple of times. But only in salads."
He laughed. "Then you're in for an adventure. Hold on a second." He disappearedupstairs for a moment, then returned with a navy blue button‐down shirt. He held itopen for her.
"Here, put this on. I don't want you to stain your dress."
Allie put it on and smelled the fragrance that lingered in the shirt‐‐his smell,distinctive, natural.
"Don't worry," he said, seeing her expression, "it's clean."
She laughed. "I know. It just reminds me of our first real date. You gave me yourjacket that night, remember?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I remember. Fin and Sarah were with us. Fin kept elbowing me thewhole way back to your parents' house, trying to get me to hold your hand." "Youdidn't, though."
"No," he answered, shaking his head.
"Why not?"
"Shy, maybe, or afraid. I don't know. It just didn't seem like the right thing to doat the time."
"Come to think of it, you were kind of shy, weren't you."
"I prefer the words 'quiet confidence,'" he answered with a wink, and she smiled.
The vegetables and crabs were ready about the same time.
"Be careful, they're hot," he said as he handed them to her, and they sat across fromeach other at the small wooden table. Then, realizing the tea was Still on the counter,Allie stood and brought it over. After putting some vegetables and bread on theirplates, Noah added a crab, and Allie sat for a moment, staring at it.
"It looks like a bug."
"A good bug, though," he said. "Here, let me show you how it's done."
He demonstrated quickly, making it look easy, removing the meat and putting it onher plate.
Allie crushed the legs too hard the first time and the time after that, and had to useher fingers to get the shells away from the meat. She felt clumsy at first, worryingthat he saw every mistake, but then she realized her own insecurity. He didn't careabout things like that. He never had.
"So, whatever happened to Fin?" she asked. It took a second for him to answer.
"Fin died in the war. His destroyer was torpedoed in forty‐three."
"I'm sorry," she said. "I know he was a good friend of yours." Hisvoice changed, a little deeper now.
"He was. I think of him a lot these days. I especially remember the last time I sawhim. I'd come home to say good‐bye before I enlisted, and we ran into each otheragain. He was a banker here, like his daddy was, and he and I spent a lot of timetogether over the next week. Sometimes I think I talked him into joining. I don'tthink he would have, except that I was going to."
"That's not fair," she said, sorry she'd brought up the subject.
"You're right. I just miss him, is all." "I liked him, too. He made me laugh." "He wasalways good at that."
She looked at him slyly. "He had a crush on me, you know."
"I know. He told me about it."
"He did? What did he say?"
Noah shrugged. "The usual for him. That he had to fight you off with a stick. That youchased him constantly, that sort of thing."
She laughed quietly. "Did you believe him?" "Of course," he answered, "why wouldn'tI?"
"You men always stick together," she said as she reached across the table, pokinghis arm with her finger. She went on. "So, tell me everything you've been up tosince I saw you last."
They started to talk then, making up for lost time. Noah talked about leaving NewBern, about working in the shipyard and at the scrap yard in New Jersey. He spokefondly of Morris Goldman and touched on the war a little, avoiding most of thedetails, and told her about his father and how much he missed him. Allie talked aboutgoing to college, painting, and her hours spent volunteering at the hospital. Shetalked about her family and friends and the charities she was involved with. Neitherof them brought up anybody they had dated since they'd last seen each other.
