JUST-DESERTS.COMF
or Steve’s thirtieth birthday, I made spaghetti with homemade tomato basil sauce and veal meatballs. Dessert was a chocolate cream pie. When I first met Steve, his culinary tastes were what you’d imagine a latchkey kid’s would be: hot dogs, hamburgers, and mac and cheese. Slowly but surely, as I learned to cook for the man I loved, his tastes developed. With the table set, I opened a bottle of Chianti, lit candles, and waited for him to walk in the door from work. Since his temp job at Disney had turned permanent, we could afford good food. Soon, we could move out of the dump on Van Nuys and into a sweet place in Toluca Lake or Burbank.
I checked my phone again. Seven. Maybe there was traffic. I texted him. “Hey, birthday boy. Can’t wait to see you.” Heart emoji, eggpla
