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Caitlin’s face lit up, making Michael’s heart flutter. “Good. I’m actually thinking of putting this on the menu for the cruise.”
“It would be a hit,” Alissa said.
“Have you been testing other recipes?” Michael asked, taking a bite of mashed potatoes. They were the perfect mix of fluffy and creamy.
“Yeah. Alissa and Pearl have been my taste testers.” Caitlin smiled. “I’d like to keep the dishes classic, but not stodgy. Sort of like how The Crab takes classics and gives them a little twist.”
“People will love it.” Michael sipped his wine.
“I hope so.” Caitlin’s warm smile was just as satisfying as the food.
They chatted about other potential menu items, all of which sounded delicious, then talked about Alissa’s recent engagement. All of the nerves he’d felt had melted away. He really liked this—just talking with Caitlin and Alissa over some delicious food. He hoped they could do something like this again.
“Can I help with the dishes?” Michael asked Alissa and Caitlin once they were done eating. “It’s the least I can do after that amazing meal.”
“No, you’re fine. Just sit. There’s not a lot of room around the sink anyway,” Caitlin said. “Would you like more wine?”
“Sure, that would be great.”
Caitlin poured him more Chardonnay, her motions practiced. She glanced up, craning her neck to see into the living room.
“Pearl? What are you up to?” Caitlin called.
“Let’s play Uno!” Pearl declared, coming back to the table with the deck of cards in her hand.
“We’ll play in a second.” Caitlin smoothed her free hand over Pearl’s curls.
“I’ll play with you,” Michael said with a smile. “I haven’t played in a long time.”
“The rules might be a little different than what you remember.” Caitlin laughed. “Just go with it. It’s her favorite so I’ve learned the Pearl rules.”
“All right, then.” Michael scooted closer to the table and moved his glass of wine to the side. “Let’s do this.”
Pearl divvied up the cards and they started to play. Caitlin was completely right—this version of Uno that Pearl had created was much different than the one he’d played growing up. It was both simpler and more complex at the same time, with some simple math, rules that popped out of nowhere, and gigantic logical leaps that only a kindergartner could make.
“Uno?” Michael said, holding his last three cards. He put them down on the table—a six, a four, and a one. “Six minus four is two. Then two minus one is uno.”
Pearl’s eyes widened and she stared at the cards, her brown eyes narrowing. Eventually she nodded. The look of admiration mixed with resignation almost made him laugh. He was used to teenagers and thought they were more fun before hanging out with Pearl. Now his opinion was changing. Pearl had a very flimsy filter, which made her sweet nature even more precious and genuine. Most of her unfiltered thoughts were the hilarious things that most adults kept to themselves.
“That’s big math,” she said as if he’d done calculus at the table, gathering his cards. “Let’s play again!”
Pearl tried to shuffle the cards in her small hands, but couldn’t.
“Want me to help?” Michael asked.
“Nope!” Pearl dropped cards all over the table and picked them up.
“Did you actually win at Pearl Uno?” Alissa asked, drying a dish. “I’ve never won Pearl Uno.”
“Because Michael did math.” Pearl shrugged, shuffling the cards by dropping more of them and stuffing them back into her hands.
“Okay, I’m in for this one,” Caitlin said, sitting down. She slid in closer to the table, smiling warmly at him.
“Me too.” Alissa sat down also.
The four of them played “Pearl Uno”, which Pearl won again. She vetoed Alissa’s attempt to do math to get to Uno and threw a few more curveballs in that had everyone laughing. In between games, Pearl insisted on trying to shuffle again in the way that Dane had showed her.
Caitlin’s cheeks were slightly flushed from the wine, a content smile on her face that made her brown eyes sparkle.
