I’ll see you then.
Lily-Grace climbed out of Jenny’s Subaru and followed her friend into the Charming Inn. Thanks to some ear-nose-and-throat conference they were having at the medical center, the Marriott was booked to the brim, and when they tried to get two menus and two seats at the bar, battling a crowd of doctors didn’t seem like a laid-back way for besties to catch up. The inn was an old-school special occasions spot with the best appetizers in the whole desert. Lily-Grace looked forward to stuffing herself silly.
“They’ve changed up the menu a bit, but you’re not gonna regret this. Their truffle risotto slaps.”
“It slaps, does it?” Lily-Grace said with a smirk before she greeted the hostess who happily grabbed two menus for their perusal. Just as they fell into step behind the older woman, Lily-Grace looked over her shoulder to see who had just entered the Charming Inn behind them. She spotted Mrs. Pleasant and her husband a split second before Jesse’s impressive build filled the frame. He did a double take, before his gaze locked on hers as he held the door for the rest of the Pleasant crew.
“Is that Lily?!?” his mother practically screeched, snapping Lily-Grace out of whatever bizarre trance was drawing her to the woman’s oldest son.
“Mrs. Pleasant! It’s so nice to see you.” Lily-Grace stepped into the woman’s open arms and then stepped aside so Jenny could receive the same treatment. Soon they were surrounded by the whole family, Zach and his fiancée, Evie, who Lily-Grace recognized from television; Sam, who Lily-Grace knew when they were kids but who she definitely knew now from the big screen, and the plus-size girl holding his hand who he introduced as Amanda; and of course Miss Leona, who had her own hug and kiss on the cheek for Lily-Grace and Jenny.
Miss Leona introduced them to her granddaughters Lilah and Corie, and Corie’s girlfriend, Vega. The hostess waited patiently as they all exchanged hellos. Jesse hung back, of course, suddenly too calm and too cool. Or too embarrassed to even come near her now, after what had happened between them earlier in the day. Eventually he offered them both a quiet hello and tight nod, probably because his mother and his grandmother would call him out later for being rude.
“What brings you beautiful girls out this evening?” Mrs. Pleasant asked.
“Just catching up. It’s nice to have this one back,” Jenny said, bumping Lily-Grace’s shoulder.
“How long are you in town?”
“I’m not sure at the moment,” she replied, doing her best to ignore the way Jesse was looking at her. “But I’m glad I got to see Zach and Evie in person to offer my congratulations. When’s the big day?”
“This weekend,” they both said in unison.
“Already in sync. I think that bodes well for a happy marriage,” Lily-Grace replied with a smile. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the way Mr. Pleasant touched his wife’s elbow.
Mrs. Pleasant took that as her cue. “Well, we’re gonna get this dinner party started, but I hope I see you girls again before this trip is over.”
“Likewise.”
The two parties followed their respective servers to their respective tables. Lily-Grace almost asked the hostess for a new table when she dropped their menus on a four-top in the middle of the dining room. There was nothing wrong with the table, of course, but where they were sitting gave her a perfect view of the Pleasants’ large reserved table along the windows that gave you a view of the inn’s garden. She eyed the chairs, trying to decide if putting her back to a certain Pleasant brother was the right move.
“What’s wrong?” Jenny asked.
“Nothing.” She pulled off her jacket and made herself comfortable. Of course a few moments later, after he’d done his gentlemanly duty of pulling out chairs for his grandmother and his younger cousin, Jesse took his own seat facing their table. Their eyes connected again and this time Jesse frowned a bit. Lily-Grace didn’t know what to make of it. Not that she should make anything of it. She’d given Jesse her terms. As long as he stayed out of her way and was kind to her father, there was no reason for them to speak again.
“You know he had a crush on me in high school?” Jenny said, opening her menu.
“Who?”
“Oh, okay. Now you want to play dumb.”
“Why didn’t you hit that?”
“No way.” Jenny laughed. “He was so shy. I think I scared the shit out of him. That would have been too much work.”
Lily-Grace thought of the look on his face when she closed the door on him, leaving him outside, alone and dogless. She thought of the way he’d chased after her. He wasn’t shy anymore.
“He’s not booed up now.”
“No. Honestly, I’m shocked-not-shocked that Zach and Evie are headed to the altar. The whole town thought he and Jesse had taken some sort of vow of celibacy so they could focus on the ranch.”
“Really? He hasn’t been dating at all?”
“Nope. And you know my mom would find out.”
“True.” Mrs. Yang always had the good gossip.
“Who knows, maybe he’s just waiting for the right woman to turn his head. A woman like you.” Jenny offered up a dramatic wink that made Lily-Grace snort.
