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“Those will look great,” Trina compliments him, but even though Violet’s seeming fascination with my brother has piqued some of my curiosity, tonight is about my own lady and I, not Landon and the chef.
“Yes, thanks for the preview, but this is a celebration for us. I’d like to get back to it.”
“Celebration?” Violet grasps onto Landon’s elbow. Again with all the touchy feely and my brother.
“Yes,” I explain. “Tonight is our first date.”
“Whoa, so you and Trina?” Landon wears the shit-eating grin of someone who guessed that something romantic was up with us before anyone else.
“Absolutely,” I concede, lifting Trina’s hand and kissing the back of it.
“Awww,” spouts Violet. “That’s wonderful news.” Then, she claps her hands like a maestro. “Well, Landon and I should let you two return to your previously scheduled evening.”
“Oh, Dad called me,” Landon pipes up. “He’s coming back into town. Said he wanted to discuss the haberdashery.”
“Oh, yeah?” I’m stymied. Dad often evades me because I’ve so often attempted to corner him about updating. “Will you help me talk to him? Maybe he’s finally feeling more amenable to our ideas this time.”
“Sure, but I wouldn’t hold your breath,” he murmurs, as Violets escorts Trina and I away.
The owner personally leads us to the table I requested, one next to the window and currently cast in shades of orange and purple as the sun proceeds to set.
“Let your server know if you need anything. We have some lovely diver scallops on our special menu tonight. I need to go back to cracking my whip in the kitchen.”
I’m absorbed by how these lovely colors set off Trina’s burnished hair and could wax poetic just observing her. She’s unspeakably beautiful right now.
We glance away from the scene outside for long enough to give our orders to the prompt server, and toast with two flutes of Dom Perignon, the bubbles of the champagne tickling my nose.
“To beginnings,” I say.
She looks away and I see hesitation I don’t like to see. I’m alarmed. I lean in and open my mouth to ask what’s going on when she reaches out and takes my free hand.
“I have a confession to make.” She looks at me and shakes her head with a laugh. “Calm down. It’s not that big of a deal, but I really need to tell you this.”
I’m hesitant, but I know all I can do is wait to see what this is about. I nod and squeeze her hand.
“So, um, I kind of fibbed to you.”
“About what? When?”
“About the boyfriend. I didn’t have a boyfriend.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“So you overheard me tell Ms. McManus I had a boyfriend when she tried to match me up with her nephew. I couldn’t think of anything else to say to get out of it so I made that up. There wasn’t a boyfriend.” She bit her bottom lip and squinched up her left eye as she waited on my reaction.
All I could do was laugh at that point. “Oh my gosh. Hilarious. I was so mad.”
“I know. Why were you so mad, though?”
“I thought I’d missed my chance with you. I thought I’d waited too long to tell you how I felt.”
“You didn’t miss any chance.”
“Sort of feels like a fake boyfriend was just what I needed to kick me in gear, though. That’s pretty sad, isn’t it?” He looks embarrassed for a moment then he shrugs. “I guess all that matters is that we’re here now.”
“So, let’s drink to beginnings,” Trina repeats, but before she clinks her glass against mine, she adds, “And to more evenings like this one.”
Thinking of how we spent that half hour in her bed not that long ago, I heartily agree. “And to more evenings like this one. A million more.”
