Part 2
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The kitchen had one couple in it who seemed intent on their own conversation, and also held Dylan, who was taking an enormous white box out of the fridge. "Mason!" Dylan carefully placed the box on the table. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you all night."
"Mingling," Mason said. "What's that?"
"The cake." Dylan carefully removed the cardboard tags and flipped the box open. Inside was a large sheet cake with white, green, and purple frosting. "For Maggie," he said. "First birthday we're celebrating as a married couple."
"Really?" Mason asked.
"Seriously. I took her out to a quiet little venue the past three years while we were dating. Candlelight. Guys with violins walking around. She's the one who suggested a party this year. Sort of a birthday and housewarming altogether." Dylan slowly flipped the cardboard sides down and slid the cake out onto a waiting tray. One edge caught and a small amount of frosting stuck, leaving a hole that revealed chocolate cake beneath, but otherwise the cake was pristine.
"It's a good party." Mason pulled a knife from the nearby cutlery drawer and attempted a patch on the missing area. "Eh, it'll be adequate, if nobody looks too closely."
"It'll be fine. Maggie never worries about small stuff." With the cake fixed, Dylan looked at Mason. "You doing okay? Now that whatshisname is gone?"
"Mostly. I miss…well, I guess I don't actually miss him. But I miss having somebody."
Dylan looked sympathetic. "You'll find someone. Like I found Maggie. I told you the secret, right?"
"No. What secret?"
"Stop looking for the handsome or pretty ones." Dylan laughed. "No, seriously, I mean it!"
"Don't let Maggie hear you say this," Mason warned.
"She's the most beautiful woman I have ever met," Dylan said. "But I didn't know that the first time we met. I actually looked right past her to her friend, Alyssa. Gorgeous creature. Kind of like you. She got out of bed, rumpled, and she looked better than every other woman in a twenty mile radius. Man, she turned your blood to fire!" He wagged his head from side to side with a wolf-grin. "But she was the typical airhead. All style, no substance. Somehow, I managed to see past her radiance, and there was Maggie." He sighed. "What an idiot I was. Now I see what beautiful is." He pointed at Mason. "You will too. But you have to start looking past the glitterati." He rummaged in a drawer and pulled out a box of candles. Then he carefully positioned three in a triangle formation on the cake.
"Only three?" Mason asked.
"Past, present, and future, my friend." Dylan pulled a lighter out of the same drawer and stuck it in his pocket. "You never reveal a woman's age with candles. Don't you know basic survival?"
"Apparently I have a lot to learn," Mason replied with mock seriousness.
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