Chapter 39

The chimes on the glass door ring out as I enter the café. I can't believe how nervous I am. I must have been in this café at least a hundred times but today is different. Today, I am coming here in hopes of being able to chat with Lily Krull. She knew my mother and knew her well. I needed to get her to somehow tell me everything she knows about her in the hopes that something, anything will help me. I'm barely through the door when Marah Krull greets me and leads me to a table. She's Tripp's older sister. I only know her from here in the café. She's much older than I am so we were never in classes together at school.

"Well hello Madge. Dining alone this evening?" She asks as she grabs a menu and silverware.

"Afraid so. My father's out of town and I thought I'd give Mabel the evening off from cooking for me."

"Oh, I see. Well, I'll let you look over the menu for a moment. Can I get you a drink?"

"Ice Tea please." I tell her as I pretend to mull over the laminated menu in front of me. It's ridiculous to think that I need a menu. It's been the same for years. Even the menu of daily specials is the same as it has been for years. I decide my best bet is to order something that either takes awhile to cook or takes awhile to eat. The longer I can sit here, the more likely my odds are of seeing Lily. And as of yet Lily is nowhere in sight.

"Someone order an ice tea?"

I look up and see Tripp grinning down at me as he holds out my glass of tea. Dammit, Gale was right. This guy never misses a chance. But I need to play this the right way.

"That would be me." I say cheerfully with a grin.

"Are you by yourself?" He asks.

"Yeah, my father is away on business and I didn't want Mabel to have to cook for me this evening. Besides, the food here is always so good." I'm laying on my charm as thick as I can.

"Want some company? I'm not actually working right now, just saw you over here and told Marah I'd bring your drink over for her."

"Sure, but only if you eat too. I'm not going to sit here and eat dinner with you just staring at me." I say pushing the menu towards him.

He slides into the chair across from me and laughs. "You think I need a menu?"

"Does anyone in this district really need a menu for this place?" I joke back.

"I seriously doubt it. I've been telling my parents for years that we need to update it sometime."

"So who made the menu? Your mother?" I ask, desperately attempting to bring her into our conversation.

"Nah, my father is the one who's the chef. She's the one who did all the decorating in here though." He says gesturing around the restaurant.

"So have we decided?" Marah asks as she walks up to take our order. She gives Tripp a look that I can't quite figure out. I assume she probably doesn't want to wait on him when he works here too.

"Yes. I'll have the bacon wrapped chicken with the loaded baked potato please." I tell her. She jots it on a pad and looks at Tripp.

"Uh, I'll get my own food Mar, don't worry about it." He says as he goes to stand up.

"No, it's fine. What do you want?" She says with a sigh.

"Same as her is good. Thanks."

She nods and heads off to the kitchen.

"Is it fun having a sister? Being an only child I'm so intrigued when I see siblings interact." I tell him when she leaves.

"I guess so. I think I'd rather have traded her in for a brother though. And I'm pretty sure she wishes I'd been the little sister she asked for instead of a pesky younger brother."

"Well, anything beats being an only child."

"If you say so. So, what's your father doing in the Capitol?"

"Something for work as usual. I don't usually get to know what it's about though. And he's going to try to visit my mother if she's feeling well enough for visitors."

"Your mother? She's in the Capitol?"

"Oh, yes. Well, you know how she's been very ill for a long time, right? Seems she needed to be in a full time care facility. Her health is terrible and the Capitol is the only place that can help her anymore." I can feel the lump in my throat as I tell him this. Please don't cry, I beg myself. Don't cry.

"Oh, I didn't know. I'm sorry."

I shrug and nod. "I miss her a lot. My mother was so sick for so long that I really feel like I didn't even get to know her. I've been talking to Mabel about her and finding out a little about what she was like but Mabel didn't know her too well being from the Seam and all."

"Wow, that must be weird, not knowing much about her and all."

"It is. She was friends with your mother, back when they were younger. Did you know that?" I say casually as if it's nothing at all.

"Had no idea. She's never mentioned it. I'll have to ask her about it sometime. She may be able to tell you some fun memories or something if you wanted."

"Really? That would be great. I'd love to hear her stories sometime, definitely." I'm smiling but putting a lot of effort into not over smiling. I'm thrilled though because this is exactly what I'd hoped for. If Tripp can initiate Lily speaking to me that makes it all the less awkward.

Marah arrives with our food and I end up eating much faster than I intended. I've already planted my seed with Tripp. He's going to talk to Lily for me and so all I want to do is get out of here and go see Gale. But I still have to play this cool, for illusion's sake. So when Tripp insists we have dessert, I comply.

Over slices of apple crumb pie we chat about unimportant things like school and the weather. And then he does what I've been hoping he wouldn't do. He asks about Gale.

"So, I noticed you and Hawthorne seem to have cooled off a bit. Is there trouble in paradise?" He asks with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"Gale's great. There's no trouble. It just isn't a good time for me to be dating." I say. I'm not lying. Gale is great, wonderful even. And it isn't a good time for me to date. That's not to say I am not actually dating though.

"Mhmm. Well, when the time is right for you to date, I call dibs on the first date." He says leaning in across the table.

"Dibs? Really Tripp? What am I, some kind of carnival prize?" I reply with a teasing tone but a hint of repulsion.

"No, not a carnival prize. Just a pretty girl that I'd like to take out on a date, that's all."

Shit. What the hell do I say? Gale's going to freak out when I tell him about this. And I'll have to tell him before Tripp happens to tell him which I know he will.

"Well, as long as I'm not a carnival prize…" I say jokingly without actually telling him I will go out with him.

Marah, thankfully, arrives with my check. I go to take it and Tripp grabs it first.

"Don't worry about it, it's on me." He says looking at me and then glaring at Marah.

"No, I couldn't let you." I look at Marah and tell her to please put it on my father's account. She nods and walks off.

"You know I'm just going to go behind her and take it off his account, right?" Tripp tells me.

"No, really. It's awful sweet of you to offer but my father would expect me to pay for my meals. He would insist." I tell him hoping it sounds true.

"Whatever. C'mon, I'll walk you home." He says rising to his feet.

"Oh, you don't have too. I'm fine." I say, hoping he will not walk me home.

"No, no. My father would insist." He says jokingly.

I give in and we exit the café and walk the short distance to my house. He walks me all the way to my front steps. He stands there while I fish my key from my purse.

"Thank you Tripp, goodnight." I say and turn to enter my house.

He grabs my hand though and pulls it to his lips and gently kisses it. 'Goodnight to you Madge. And I meant what I said about being the first to take you on a date whenever you're ready to date." And with that he turns and leaves.

I close my front door as quickly as I can. Oh man, Gale is going to flip out. I feel bad. Like I just cheated on him almost even though that wasn't at all what happened. I think I feel so bad mostly because I know this is exactly what Gale was worried about. And he was so very right. Tripp hadn't missed a beat all evening. But it will be okay. It will all have been worthwhile if he is able to talk to Lily and tell her I want to hear stories about them as childhood friends. And given how taken Tripp seems to be with me right now I have a feeling he's already at home talking to Lily about it right now.

I check the time and see that Gale will be here within the hour. I love that with my father out of town we can have extra time together and that he can spend the night. Last night was out of this world wonderful. He'd held me, kissed me, touched me. We'd made love. It was better than anything I ever imagined it would be. He was so gentle with me, so loving. The feelings of pleasure he'd filled me with were indescribable. And afterwards, he'd held me in his arms all night long. Our bare skin against each other, wrapped in my bed linens, I'd slept so soundly. Felt so safe and so relaxed. When he woke me this morning before dawn to tell me he was leaving he'd kissed me and as he left the room I heard him say he loved me so much. Of course I love him too. He's my everything. He'd told me he dreams about us having a future together. I loved that. I dream that too but hearing him say it makes it seem so much more possible. So much more real. I'd marry him today if he asked. I'd live in the Seam. I'd give up all my luxuries and material items. And I'd do it in a heartbeat if it meant I would get a happily ever after with Gale.

Before Gale arrives I go up to my room and wash up and get ready for bed. I wash the make up from my face and brush my teeth. Tossing my dress into the hamper I go to my closet and select a pajama set. It's no ruffled nightgown but it's still cute. White eyelet cotton fabric shorts and cami top. I meant what I told him about getting more clothes with ruffles on them. I know ruffles drive him crazy because of the short nightgown I'd been wearing in the meadow that night but I know I could have a little fun teasing him with ruffles on my everyday clothing.

I head down to the back porch to wait on Gale. I've just barely sat down on the porch swing when I see him walking up through the meadow. It's hard to stand here and wait on him to come to me. All I really want to do is run to him. But, I wait. As careful as we've been with our friends illusion it would be foolish of me to risk someone seeing me running to him in the meadow. As soon as he's on the porch we go inside and I lock the door behind us.

"Hi." I say bouncing on my feet a little because I'm so excited to see him.

"For you." He says holding out a sunflower and smiling down at me.

I take it and clutch it to my chest. "Thank you, I love it."

We head up to my room and curl up on the velvet loveseat in my sitting area. I love how good it feels to lean against his chest and have his arms wrapped around me.

"So, I noticed you went to the café after the viewing." He says quietly.

"I wanted to try and talk to Lily."

"Any luck? Did you talk to her?"

"Well, not exactly. She wasn't there. But Tripp was so I talked to him and he is going to ask her about being friends with my mother." I tell him, hating knowing that he doesn't want to hear about Tripp.

"Super."

"Gale, I'm sorry, I know you don't want to hear about him. Please don't be mad at me." I know my voice waivers. I'm fighting tears at the tone in his last comment.

"Hey, I'm not mad. Not at all. Just jealous. It's hard not to be. But I promise I trust you and I'm not mad at all." He says as he holds me tighter and covers my head in kisses.

"He ate dinner with me. I told him our mothers had been childhood friends and that I wondered if she could tell me any memories or stories. He said he'd ask her so I may have an opportunity to talk to her soon. And that gets us one step closer to finding out what the heck Mabel was talking about."

"Bet he loved eating with you. Did he make a move?"

"Kind of. He asked me out sort of. I told him it wasn't a good time for me to be dating right now. And he insisted on walking me home. And he grabbed my hand and kissed it before he said goodnight." I say in a low, quiet voice. I feel Gale stiffen in anger. I know he's seething but trying to hold back emotion for my sake. I raise up and turn to him.

"Gale, I love you. I don't care about Tripp and I haven't ever cared about him."

"I know." He says through gritted teeth. "And I love you too."

"How about we change the subject? Talk about something better? I don't know about you, but I intend to enjoy our limited time together." I say.

He forces a smile knowing I'm right. "Okay, you win. What do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know. There's a lot I don't know about you." I tell him.

"Like what?"

"Oh you know, just important stuff. Like your favorite color or your lucky number for instance." I tease.

He smiles easily this time and I relax knowing I've managed to lighten the mood. "Grey is my favorite color. And I don't have a lucky number." He laughs.

We spend the next few hours just talking and finding out more about each other. His hands never leave my body the whole time. They gently caress my skin and his lips periodically shower me with tiny kisses. I eventually must doze off because the next thing I'm aware of is Gale picking me up and placing me in my bed.

"You'll stay right?" I say as I scoot over to make room for him in the bed.

"Shhh, go back to sleep. I'm right here." He says as he lays down beside me.

I turn to him and press my lips to his and slowly move them down to his jaw line and neck. It's only moments before his body is hovering over mine and I find that floating sensation again. His lips and hands move over me with perfect precision, touching every spot of my skin, increasing my craving for him. We get lost in our desires and eventually we do sleep. Before I know it, he's waking me up to say goodbye. I'm going to hate having my father come back home and not having Gale's arms around me during the night. We'll still have our time together in the woods but it's no comparison to being in my room together all night long. I inhale the scent of him on my pillow as I drift back to sleep.