Turnabout's Fair Play by Kaye Dacus

messages. But he did have an alert about a new post by one of his favorite contributors. He clicked the link, settled back in the plush chair, grabbed his sandwich, and started reading, happily discovering the piece was a continuation of the writer’s previous work.
    “Excuse me, are these seats taken?”
    Jamie tore his eyes away from the small screen and looked up to find the question had come from a beautiful Asian-looking woman. Not what he’d expected from the soft Southern accent.
    Jamie looked around. Last time he’d noticed, the other three overstuffed armchairs had been occupied. Now he was the only one in this nook of the coffee shop. “No, they’re available as far as I know.”
    She pushed her shiny, long, black hair behind her ear, and the diamond wedding ring set on her left hand sparkled in the sunlight streaming in from outside.
    Something about her seemed familiar, but the rings told him not to even go there. Oh well. She was out of his league anyway. Especially given what he’d just been reading. Exchanging a polite smile with the woman, he returned his attention to the computer screen.
    “Chae, here’s your—”
    Jamie snapped his head up at the male voice, almost as familiar to him as his own. “Danny? Danny Seung?” He slapped the netbook closed, hopped to his feet, and pulled the Korean American man into a backslapping hug. “What are you doing here?”
    Stepping back, Jamie held his childhood best friend at arm’s length. One thing he’d always appreciated about Danny: the fact he was a good two inches shorter.
    “We’re meeting our real estate agent here in a half hour or so to go house hunting. I’m starting a new job up at Southern Hills Medical Center, so we’re looking to move to this area to be close.” Danny set his coffee down on the low table between the four chairs. “You remember my wife, Chae Koh Seung.”
    Jamie turned again toward the gorgeous woman. “I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you. You should have said something.” He took her hands in his and leaned forward to exchange a kiss on the cheek.
    “I’m not surprised you didn’t remember me.” Chae sat down, looking like nothing less than a queen holding court. “We only saw each other a couple of times before you stopped coming around.”
    Though Chae continued smiling, the waspish tone in her voice stung. As if he needed her censure to feel any worse than he already did.
    Having just settled into his chair, Danny went stiff. “Chae, that’s not—”
    “No, Danny, it’s okay.” Jamie sat, leaned forward, and braced his elbows on his knees. “Believe it or not, I’ve been thinking about you a lot the last couple of days. In fact, I’d decided to call you to see if you’d have time soon to get together for dinner or something so we could talk. But now’s as good a time as any.” Though he hadn’t planned on doing this in front of Chae.
    Danny sipped his coffee. “We’re here. No time like the present.”
    “The way things ended…I mean, not really ended, but…I mean, I dropped the ball big time. And you have every right to never want to talk to me again. But now things are different, and I’ve got to make changes. And the rehearsal and bachelor party reminded me of you and how much I missed you and how I’d screwed up, not responding to that last e-mail.”
    Danny’s eyebrows raised higher and higher during Jamie’s verbal vomit. “Is there an apology in there, or are you just throwing words at each other?”
    Jamie lost all control of the muscles in his face and couldn’t get his mouth to close.
    After several long moments, Danny’s expression cracked into a smile, then into laughter. “Your face is priceless. I’m still confused at what you were trying to say, but I’m pretty sure there was regret and remorse in there somewhere.”
    Relieved, Jamie scrubbed his hands over his face. “So, you forgive me for being the biggest jerk of a friend?”
    “Forgive…yes. But I may