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"Our dad helped me get that going," Charlie said. "And we mainly deal with a local place. But I shop at Ace all the time on weekends. If your dad worked at the one in Miami, I would probably see him all the time."
"He works at the one in Graham Springs," I said.
"That's cool," Charlie replied.
I followed them toward the counter. I hesitated to sit with them, so I hovered for a second. "I'm waiting on food from the kitchen," I explained.
"Oh, come sit with us," Charlie said.
Lila had darted ahead of everyone, and Charlie was the last in line, so we sat next to each other by default. I hated that I had my hair in a ponytail and had been at work all day.
"Weren't you named after a character on a daytime drama?" Lila asked, leaning behind the two guys to speak to me.
"Yes," I said, nodding.
"And your brother, too?" she asked.
I nodded. "Eric," I agreed. "Both of us are Days of our Lives characters."
"I knew it," she said. "Was it Hope and Eric Brady? I did research on that show."
"It is the Bradys," I said, smiling at her. "What kind of research?"
"I'm trying to get into acting, and my dad knows the producer of General Hospital. He's a patient at my dad's real hospital. My dad's helping me get my foot in the door with him."
"Oh, that one's been on a long time," I said. "My grandma used to watch it when I was a little girl. It's pretty good. You should try to get on there if your dad knows someone."
"Days is good, too. I've done some research on them lately and done a lot of watching. For like five hours a day, I just devour old episodes."
"That's cool. Just to practice?"
"Yeah, and to see what I like and I don't like about different actors. I'm sure I won't get a big role at first, but I'll try anything."
"You definitely should try for that," I said. "You'd be great."
She shrugged at me and smiled before looking at the menu. "Thank you."
"I'll take the California burger and some tater tots," Caleb said.
"Me too," Charlie agreed easily, and Stacy marked it down.
Caleb went on to say something about how Lila was ordering for herself and others, but I tuned them out because Charlie turned to look at me. "Good 'ole California burger," Charlie said, shaking his head. "And those… are they tots? I thought they were the round French fries."
"Those are different," Stacy said, overhearing him.
"Those are the fries. Did you want those or the tots?"
"The fries," Charlie said. "Yep, some things never change," he said with a smile, handing her the menu.
He was saying it to be friendly, but I cringed inwardly. It was the second time one of them said it, and while they meant nothing by it, I still took it to heart. Maybe that was a sign that I needed to get out of this town—try something new.
But I loved living on Lake Sutton. I was only thinking I should leave because two hundred pounds of hunk was suddenly sitting on the stool next to me. My judgement was clouded at the moment.
"So, you have a construction company," I said, getting back to the previous subject.
"Yeah, my dad helped me open it a few years ago, and we're doing well… making progress."
"If making progress is what you call selling all of your lots within a month."
