That night I took Joanna to dinner at Azul's. The best Tacos in town; so, naturally Joanna had the carnitas bowl. You know the type.

"Are you seriously considering Dex's offer?" It's not often I can catch Joanna by surprise, but this time I did. I was not supposed to know anything about what Dex was talking to her about. She had no idea how to respond.

She finally composed herself and asked, "What are you talking about?"

I decided it was my turn to mess with her by keeping things intentionally vague. "Hasn't Dex propositioned you?"

She squinted trying to look through my eyes and into my mind. I had gotten her again. She didn't know if I knew about Dex's recruiting effort which I was not supposed to know about and which she couldn't acknowledge or if I was talking about an imagined sexual seduction. She came up with a noncommittal response, "Why are you so interested in my conversations with Dex?"

"Because I care about you and what happens to you. In fact, I'd like the chance to take our relationship to another level and I'm afraid Dex is going to mess that up." There, I'd done it. I'd put my intentions out there. Cards on the table, all in. I just hoped she could hear me. The thunder of my heart pounding in my ears was all I could hear until she spoke again.

"There is nothing between Dex and I," she averred avoiding the real question.

"I know that," I snapped. Okay, I admit I was pissed. I was mad because she hadn't responded to my overture. "Let's leave Dex out of this now. Did you hear what I said about taking our relation to the next level?"

"I did," her voice was soft and even. I could tell she was trying to calm me, slow things down. She explained pleadingly, "It is just that so much is happening so fast. I need time to sort it all out. My mother's problems, starting the new job, and Dex has offered me a really exciting opportunity to travel again. Now I just found you again and you are already talking about taking our relationship to a new level. It's just too much. This year has just been one thing after another." She paused to calm herself. In an attempt to segue to a different topic, she added, "Did I tell you? I may have even found out who my father was?"

"Okay, I understand." I was trying my best to sound apologetic. "You don't have to make any decisions right now. I just want you to know I want to be part of your decision."

"Thanks. Let's talk about something else now."

"Sure. So, you found out something about your father?"

"Yeah, this is kind of cool. I submitted my DNA to one of those online genealogy research places and they found my father's brother."

I choked on my taco.