“I broke his daughter’s arm.”
“She broke her own arm,” Fitz corrected. “On a skateboard. Which, knowing Megan, was probably going to happen eventually anyway.”
That made me feel slightly better.
Slightly.
I was halfway through my burger, finally relaxing again, when I heard a voice behind me. “Cate? Oh my God, Cate!”
Every muscle in my body tensed.
I knew that voice.
I’d know that voice anywhere.
I turned around slowly, and there she was.
Tracy. My ex-best friend. The person who’d stolen my job, my future, my entire life plan. She looked exactly the same—perfectly styled blonde hair, designer clothes, and a smile that had once meant everything to me and now just made my stomach turn.
“Cate!” She rushed over, arms outstretched like we were long-lost friends reuniting. “I can’t believe it’s you! What are you doing here?”
“Eating a burger,” I said flatly.
“I mean, in Boston! I thought you’d moved away. Someone said you were in Connecticut now?”
“I am.”
“Doing what?” She was still smiling, but there was something sharp in her eyes. Curiosity. Maybe judgment.
“I’m a nanny.”
The words came out before I could stop them, and I immediately regretted it.
Tracy’s eyebrows shot up. “A nanny? You? But you went to culinary school. You were supposed to—” She stopped herself, but the damage was done.
I was supposed to work at that restaurant.
The one she was working at instead.
“Yeah, well,” I said, my voice tight. “Plans change.”
“But you were so talented! Remember that chicken piccata you made for our final? It was incredible. I still think about it sometimes.”
Of course she did.
Of course she remembered the dish I’d perfected, the one I’d planned to put on the menu at the restaurant we were both supposed to work at.
The restaurant where she’d ended up instead of me.
“I still cook,” I said. “Just... for a five-year-old now.”
“That’s so sweet!” Tracy’s voice had that condescending lilt that made me want to throw my burger at her face. “I’m sure that’s very fulfilling. Different from restaurant work, obviously, but still.”
“Obviously.”
“I’m actually at Sorellina now,” she continued, because of course she was going to tell me. Of course, she couldn’t just let it go. “It’s been amazing. Challenging, but amazing. We just got a great review in the Globe. Did you see it?”
I hadn’t.
