“Correct,” Cass said. “Just like us.”
“Just like us,” Jonathan said, handing Cass the pen from his inside suit pocket. “Though hopefully we stick for better reasons.”
“Of course,” she said. Cass sounded certain. But he noticed she didn’t offer any window into what sort of virtues might fuel their marriage for the long haul.
“You don’t suppose anyone’s ever bet on us, do you?” Jonathan asked. He hated to think of people from his past judging him or judging Cass—or worse, judging what they had together.
“I hope not.” Just the thought made Cass ill, as though suddenly she was a nude model in art class and everyone around her was sketching her most objectionable flaws, the ones she habitually lied about.
The Coynes looked at each other for a moment. Separately, they reflected on what would be exposed if their own lives were examined under a microscope, or a walk down memory lane. And then they both shifted their gazes to their place settings, where generous slices of cake had been placed before them.
Cass took the napkin on which she and Jonathan had scribbled their predictions and crumpled it up.
“Agreed,” Jonathan said. “Though we’re still fifty-plus.”
“Totally.” Cass lifted a forkful of cake and artfully placed it between Jonathan’s waiting lips. “We are totally fifty-plus.”
Photo by Lucia Engstrom
Elyssa Friedland is the acclaimed author of The Intermission and Love and Miss Communication. Elyssa is a graduate of Yale University and Columbia Law School and lives with her husband and three children in New York City.
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