"Jack."
Jack looked up slowly and froze, the situation feeling ever so slightly surreal. "Sarah," he managed eventually.
She smiled at him a little. "Hey."
"Hi," Jack said, not really sure what to make of the situation. And Sarah was looking at him like she felt much the same way. "So, how are you?" he asked.
"Good. I'm good," she replied. "You?"
"Me? Yeah, I'm good. Good," he replied.
She nodded a little. "Good."
Sarah looked different. Her hair was longer and her face was a little prettier than he remembered. And she looked healthy, which she really hadn't done for the last six months of their marriage.
"So, I hear you have a boyfriend now," she said.
"Yeah," Jack replied. "You too."
"I think you having a boyfriend is a little more noteworthy, Jack," Sarah pointed out.
Jack nodded. "Yeah, that's, erm... I guess that's true."
"So, how'd that happen?" she asked.
"I don't really know," Jack replied. "It was a weird island." Which was true really. He still didn't have the whole thing worked out in his own head, let alone trying to translate it to his ex-wife.
Sarah smiled a little and her gaze fell down to the contents of his cart. "You have a baby?" she asked.
Jack looked down and saw the diapers and baby wipes. "Oh, erm, not yet," he said. "We're due in a couple of weeks so we're just stocking up, getting prepared."
"How does that work?" she asked. "Neither of you having a uterus and all."
"Surrogate," Jack explained.
Sarah nodded. "Well, that's really great," she said. "I know you like kids. Congratulations."
"Thanks," he smiled.
"They don't have any of your coffee so I went with this one, it's basically the same stuff," Boone said as he walked up to them and put it in the cart. He then looked at Jack, clearly sensing the strange atmosphere. Then, finally, he looked over at Sarah and seemed a little shell shocked. "You're Sarah," he said after a few seconds, sounding a little dazed.
How the hell did he know who Sarah was? Jack thought. He didn't remember ever having any photos around. He probably saw the wedding photo at his mothers, Jack realised. God, why couldn't she have just taken that down? But then he was being spared an embarrassing introduction so maybe he should count his blessings.
"Yeah," Sarah replied, clearly wondering the same thing Jack was.
Boone turned back to Jack and saw the questioning look on his face. "Okay, I wasn't snooping, but when we moved into the new house, I was unpacking your stuff while you were at work and I found your wedding album," he explained. "So I kind of had a look through it." Jack nodded. Boone turned back to Sarah. "You looked really pretty."
"Thanks," she replied, clearly not sure what to say. "Sorry, I don't know your name."
"Boone," he replied. "My name's Boone."
"It's nice to meet you, Boone," she said.
The two of them shook hands and Jack felt as if his two worlds were colliding. Which was stupid because Sarah hadn't been his world for a long time. Boone, now Boone was his world, but Sarah? Not so much. And even seeing her now, happy and healthy and pretty, he didn't feel the urge to claim her back, not even in the past tense.
"What's your boyfriend called?" Jack asked her.
"Fiancé," Sarah corrected, holding up a hand with a diamond ring. "He's my fiancé. His name's Mike."
"Congratulations," Jack said, looking at the ring. "Nicer than the one I gave you."
"Yeah, I'm hoping for third time lucky," Sarah told him.
Right, this was the third engagement she'd been through, it would be the second marriage once she made it up the aisle. Jack felt sorry for her, the first two didn't end very nicely. He should know, he was around for both break-ups.
"Anyway, I should probably be getting on," Sarah said, shaking her head a little. "Let you guys finish your shopping too."
"Yeah, well, it was nice running into you," Jack said.
"Good luck with the baby," she said. "I think you'll be a great dad."
"Thanks," Jack replied. "I think you'll make a good wife."
Sarah smiled at him. "I would hope I made a good wife the first time around."
Jack wanted to tell her that she was a good wife, especially considering the circumstances, but Boone was stood right next to him and, even if he didn't have a boyfriend that tended to take things hugely personally and rather badly, it seemed a little wrong. So he just gave her a smile. He got the feeling she knew how Jack really viewed her anyway, even after everything that had gone on between them.
"Maybe I'll see you around," she said, starting to walk away.
"Bye," Jack said.
He and Boone remained in silence for a few seconds after she was out of sight.
"She's still pretty," Boone said.
Jack wasn't sure if he was jealous or just making a general observation, he'd kept his voice fairly flat. "Yeah," he replied, hoping that it was the right response or that he'd at least said it ambiguously enough for it to sound like the right response.
"You have good taste, you see," Boone said, looking at him.
Jack smiled. Boone was taking this rather well. He was tempted to comment on it but he didn't want to jinx the situation. If he brought it up Boone might get defensive and be all insulted and refuse to talk to Jack for the rest of the day. It had happened before. Though not for a pretty long time now.
"Do you ever miss her?" Boone asked.
Oh God, that was a loaded question if ever Jack heard one. What was the right answer supposed to be? If it was 'no' then that means he'd thrown away years of marriage without a second thought and he could easily do the same to Boone. If it was 'yes' then Boone didn't have his whole heart. But maybe you can never have someone's whole heart. Jack knew he didn't really have Boone's whole heart. He had the main bit, the big bit, the best bit, but he didn't have it all. There was a little bit for Sapphire and there was a little bit for Shannon and there were probably other little pieces for people who Jack didn't know about and probably never would.
"Not as much as I thought I would when it all fell apart," Jack admitted. "I worked all the time and I never saw her and then one day I came home and she handed me the divorce papers. And I thought I'd miss her. But it was surprisingly easy not to. And then I felt like the worst person in the world."
"Maybe you didn't miss her because you'd already come to terms with it," Boone suggested. "Maybe you came to terms with it when..."
Boone couldn't finish but Jack knew the end of the sentence was '...when you lost Kimberley.' And Jack realised that he was probably right. He knew on that day that he'd lost more than his baby but he didn't want to admit it so he just didn't address it. When it was finally over maybe he'd spent so long dreading it that it couldn't possibly have lived up to the bad dreams he had on the nights he managed to sleep.
Jack looked down at the cart. "I don't like that coffee."
Boone rolled his eyes. "It's practically the same thing. It's probably picked by the same illegal workers," he said. "I would have thought that you, of all people, would be open to new experiences."
Jack couldn't help but smile. He nodded a little. "New experiences," he echoed. "I think you've introduced me to enough of them."
"Were there any you didn't like?" Boone asked. Jack shook his head. "So trust me."
Boone was a good salesman. Jack could see that he would have been brilliant at his old job, selling couples products for their big day. "Okay, I'll try the coffee," Jack agreed. "But if I don't like it you have to make it up to me by doing something I do like," he bargained. "Deal?"
Boone smiled at him. "Jack, I'd do those things for free any day," he replied.
Jack smiled back, and was starting to get an idea of how he wanted to spend the afternoon.