“Of course not,” he replied as my hand finally landed on the phone.
I swiped across the screen and brought it to my ear. “Hey, honey. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. We’re just now getting to the hotel. The meet and greet ran late after the show. Things have been insane, but I missed you, so I wanted to call you before I crashed.”
“I miss you too.” I glanced up at Cash with my hand clutched to my chest. “Be careful at those meet and greets. Last time we went to one of those your Aunt Liv found herself a husband.”
“Mom.” Her voice was raspy with fatigue but she giggled.
“I’m just saying. I don’t want you bringing home any English boys because I’m saving up all our shows on the DVR to watch when you get home. So, unless he wants to watchGrey’s AnatomyandShark Tank, he stays in England.” A loud group of friends walked by and were seated directly behind me.
“Where are you?” Grace asked. “It’s so loud.”
“Umm, I’m picking up some dinner.”I mean, it’s not a total lie.“Italian.”
“It makes me sad to think about you eating dinner alone every night,” she said.
I wondered how she would feel knowing that not only was I not alone, but I was also having dinner with her boss. “What is Bradley Cooper? Chopped liver?”
“Bradley Cooper is cute, but he doesn’t count.” She sighed into the phone. “Listen, I need to get off here because I still need to call Cash before I head to bed.”
My eyes widened, and I swallowed hard. “You need to call Cash?”
Cash raised his eyebrows, his face awash with confusion.
“Yeah, I need to update him about Sam’s throat,” she replied. “I haven’t had a chance to fill you in, but Sam has been having some issues with his voice.”
I seemed to be having some trouble with mine too because when I spoke again, my voice was a squeak. “That’s awful.”
“Yeah,” she said. “I gotta call Cash and tell him it unfortunately seems to be getting worse.” She chuckled to herself. “When I talk to him I’m going to tell him he should have dinner with you one night so you don’t have to eat alone.”
This time it was me who nearly choked.
“Are you okay, Mom?” she asked.
“Uhh, yeah.” I coughed. “Just the, you know… the pollen.”
“Okay.” She was so tired she was clearly unfazed by the fact that I don’t even have allergies. “I’ll give you a call in a couple days, and of course, I’ll text you. I’m going to go call Cash real quick because I’m exhausted.”
“Alright, honey,” I said. “I love you. Get some rest.”
“Love you too,” she replied, and the line went dead. A half a second later, Cash’s phone was ringing.
“What do I do?” Panicked, he fumbled for his phone inside his jacket pocket.
“You have to answer it. Just be cool.” I took a swig from my water and prayed my cocktail would come soon.
Cash took a deep breath before answering her call. “Hey, Grace. How’s it going?” He was quiet for a few beats. “Oh yeah, I’m out to dinner.” More quiet. “No, not a date.” I was afraid he would choke on his own spit again. “Uh, a client dinner… yeah.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see our server making her way over to us, but she was stopped by another patron asking a question.
“Okay, I’ll touch base with the doctor tomorrow,” he said. “You’re doing a great job taking care of everything.” A few more seconds of silence. “You want me to have dinner with your mom, huh? I’ll have to check my schedule and make that happen. I hate to think of her being lonely.” The shit-eating grin that spread across his face was amplified by the soft flicker of the candle. “You think she’d be up for that? Okay, then. I’ll see what I can do. Alright. Good night, Grace.”
“Well, that was a close one,” I said as Kelsey appeared with our drinks.
“Here you go.” She placed them on the table. “Are you guys ready, or do you need another minute?”
“I think we need another minute.” I picked up my drink and tossed back half of it. “And maybe another one of these?”
