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Alice and James shared a look.
“Well, if you don’t order, then you’re not going to have any food, and then you’re going to be sad,” Alice said.
Ellie thought about that.
“Noodles,” she said.
One of Alice’s eye twitched, and James reached out to put his hand on hers.
Alice closed her eyes and took what looked like a cleansing breath.
I couldn’t imagine what having four children would be like, and I was getting a little glimpse. Too much. Way too much.
I ended up just ordering the same thing as Alivia, the steak with garlic potatoes and green beans.
“So, Charli, Alivia has told us that you work for Sweet’s Bakery?” Anna asked, delicately cutting her chicken.
“Uh, yes. My aunt and uncle own it and when I needed a place to go and a job, things lined up perfectly.” I didn’t like to talk about the fact that the reason I’d needed a place to go was because my ex had kicked me out. It was kind of a mood killer. Better to leave that part out.
“And you do something online?” Anna said.
“Yeah, social media mostly, and our newsletter campaigns and stuff like that.” Any more details went over a lot of people’s heads. Or they got bored and their eyes glazed over when I started talking about hashtags and SEO, which I tried not to do most of the time.
The conversation moved along, getting interrupted by the kids needing something, or fighting.
“I’m sorry,” Alice said, and I could tell she was fraying at the seams.
“It’s fine,” I said. I wasn’t embarrassed by the kids. They were just being kids. They were out of their routine and in a new place. I got cranky on trips too, and I was a grown adult.
My nervousness faded, and I found myself having a good time with Alivia’s family. The kids were cute and said funny things, Alivia’s mom was kind, her dad was pretty quiet, but attentive to his wife, and James turned out to have a random and dry sense of humor.
They were good people, and it was clear they loved each other. Alivia was pretty quiet beside me, and I could feel her watching me as I spoke with her family. Almost like she was assessing me.
When there was a break in the conversation as we finished our meals, I said, “Stop staring at me.”
“I’m not staring at you,” she said, setting her knife and fork on her empty plate.
“Not right this second, but you have been. I’m fine.”
“I know. I knew you would be. You’re good with people, Charli.”
I felt myself blushing.
“Thanks,” I said. I was pretty confident in my people skills, but that was still nice to hear.
The kids lost their minds about dessert and all insisted on sundaes, so that was what everyone ended up having, even Anna, though she didn’t finish hers.
“Soon you’ll be able to have brownies from Sweet’s with these,” I said.
“I can’t wait,” Alivia said.
“You’re expanding your bakery, right?” Anna asked.
“Yes, we are. The space is kind of a disaster, and we need to do a ton of work, but it’s officially ours now so we can start doing that. My uncle can’t wait to get in there with a sledgehammer and break a bunch of walls.”He was like a little kid waiting for Santa.
“If you need any help doing that, I could skip my workout while I’m here,” James said. “It sounds really satisfying.”
I laughed. “I’ll ask him if he needs any help.”
