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“And now we’re going to go.” Gareth turned to Aria. “Are you ready?”
She nodded. “Just need to get my jacket and boots.”
He stepped to the side so that she could get to the closet near the door.
“Are you sure I can’t come with you?” Janessa asked.
“Good grief,” Charli exclaimed. “Do I have to threaten you with punishment, too?”
“You’re not the boss of me,” Janessa told her, sounding amazingly like Layla.
“I’ll tell Mom you’re trying to sabotage Gareth and Aria’s date.”
Telling Mom was the one threat that would pull most of them back into line.
“You did promise to bring me food, Aria,” Janessa said, turning her back on Charli.
Aria nodded as she zipped up her jacket. “I will.”
“Perfect.” Janessa grinned. “I’ll text you my order.”
“Text it to me,” Gareth said. “I’ll just order it along with our food.”
“Did you want anything, Charli?” Aria asked.
Charli hesitated, then said, “Sure. I’ll have Janessa add my order to hers.”
“We’d better scoot before they decide it would just be easier to come with us,” Gareth said as he moved to where Aria waited by the front door. “Let’s make our escape.”
Aria grinned as he opened the door and motioned for her to precede him out onto the porch. Once he pulled the door shut behind him, he breathed a sigh of relief.
“Your family is so wonderful,” Aria said as they walked to the car.
Gareth opened the passenger door for her. “Are you being sarcastic?”
“Not at all.”
He closed the door for her, then went around to slide behind the wheel. “I happen to agree with you. However, just because I think they’re wonderful doesn’t make them less annoying. We’re just lucky there were only three of them there. If Wilder and Jay had been present, the banter would have been much worse.”
The drive to the nearby city that had the best Indian restaurant took about half an hour. There wasn’t a huge variety of authentic cuisine like Chinese or East Indian in Serenity. During his medical school days, he’d been introduced to a variety of cuisines that he hadn’t grown up with, and he’d grown to appreciate the broad diversity offered in Seattle.
“Do you like different cuisines?” Gareth asked as he drove along the dark highway.
“Mom and I didn’t eat out much,” she said, her voice soft with an edge of sadness that made him want to pull her into his arms and hold her close. “So we didn’t have much opportunity to try different types of food.”
“But you’re okay with Indian?”
“Yep. I worked with a lovely East Indian woman, and she would bring food to work that her mom had made. I wasn’t a fan of the curry. It was a little too spicy for me. But the butter chicken and naan were wonderful.”
Gareth was glad to hear that. Even though she’d said she liked it when he’d first asked her, he wanted to be sure that she was going to enjoy every part of their time together. Since food was a big part of the evening, if she hated that, then it would put a damper on their time together.
“What types of food did you and your mom like?” Gareth hoped that asking about her mom wouldn’t upset her. He wanted Aria to know that he wanted to hear about her mom, knowing that she had been so important to Aria.
“Mom loved potatoes in any form, though mashed were her favorite.”
“Oh, I really like mashed potatoes too, especially when served with gravy from a roast. What’s your favorite?”
“Type of potato?” Aria asked.
