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After dinner, he reached over and poured more wine for Matilda, then for me, before refreshing his own glass.
“To Christmas misfits,” Matilda said, raising a glass for toasts. “May we always find comfort in one another’s company.”
“And to ex-lovers. May they be ever in our hearts,” Jesse said, “even if they’re not in our beds.”
I felt my face redden. “Jesse Turnbull, you are drunk,” Matilda scolded. “That’s not proper dinner talk. Apologize to Cassie immediately.”
“To whom?” he said, a weary smile on his face. Without waiting for her reply, he turned to me and placed his hand over my forearm. “Cassie, forgive me, I am a little drunk and that was rude. I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“I will make us some coffee,” Matilda said, rising from the table.
I turned to Jesse, who suddenly seemed agitated. “Are you okay?” I whispered. He couldn’t possibly still be upset about our breakup, if you could even call it that—could he?
“I’m fine, but I think it’s time for me to fly,” he said. “Matilda, tell Claudette dinner was amazing.”
I expected her to insist he stay, at the very least for a coffee. But without replying she buzzed for the limousine.
“I got my truck.”
“And I have your keys,” she said. “You’ll get your truck tomorrow. Good night, Jesse.”
Jesse rose, stretched, kissed both our hands good night and left without saying another word.
“Something’s got him all knotted up,” I said.
“Well, wine doesn’t mix well with resentment,” she said, placing the pot of coffee on the table.
“I didn’t realize he was still so … vexed.”
Matilda gave me a warm smile. “You know I don’t like gossip, Cassie. And chatting about a newly departed guest is the worst kind.”
I knew better. She was right. I changed the subject.
“Matilda, there’s something I want to run by you. It’s about Will. And the new restaurant.”
I told her Will had insisted on calling the restaurant Cassie’s. “So. I’ve made a decision. I want to invest in it. I want some skin in the game. I have that insurance money from Scott. It’s tied up in other stuff, but it wouldn’t be hard to extricate. You’re a businesswoman. What do you think? Is it stupid?”
Matilda carefully weighed her response.
“I thought that was your retirement money, Cassie. That’s all you have. It’s difficult for restaurants to turn a profit, even at the best of times. There are less risky places to put your money.”
“I know, but—”
“And what would happen if the place went under? How would you take care of yourself then?”
“It won’t. If I invest, I’ll bust my ass to make that place work.”
She laughed. “I say this with great reluctance, but knowing you, you’ll make it work. But please, do this for yourself, not for Will. He’d be a fool not to partner with you.”
I threw my arms around her and thanked her. Now I just had to convince Will.
On Boxing Day, as Claire and I were polishing the new restaurant’s silverware, my mind was occupied with practicing my pitch to Will. I was growing closer to Claire, who was in the middle of clarifying some romantic drama at her new school, the kind teenage girls of every generation seem to create.
“No. Olivia likes Ben, but she thinks I like him just because we had sex, like, once? Well, twice. But I don’t like him. Well, I like him as a friend. And if he likes Olivia, why does he hang around me more? And why should I stop hanging around him just because he might like her? It’s so stupid. And all the girls are mad at me. If they have to be mad at anyone, why aren’t they mad at Ben for having sex with me if he likes Olivia?”
“It all sounds very confusing, sweetie” was my only answer. I still thought of her as a kid, with the kind of problems that just blow over. And, frankly, I was distracted. I checked the clock. It was almost four. I had agreed to see Jesse that afternoon, after his sheepish morning apology for the drunken outburst at the Mansion the night before. I wondered if Matilda had put him up to it.
“Confusing? Know what’s confusing? You and Uncle Will,” she said, jumping up on the metal kitchen table, the one that never failed to remind me of my fantasy with Jesse. “So, like, why aren’t you guys together anymore?”
