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I liked the idea of being cherished and catered to like this, especially when I felt I was begging Chris for crumbs. But I also didn’t want Lucas to have certain expectations.
He was clear that this was a date. He didn’t try to hide it behind a possible work collaboration or two friends meeting to discuss books. He’d called me Sunday, the day after everything went down with Grampa and Chris, and asked if I’d like to go on a date and have dinner with him while he was visiting.
I’d said yes without hesitating.
“It’s lovely. I haven’t been here in a few years,” I said. “It’s nice to have a reason to come back.”
His shoulders slumped. “Oh, you’ve been here before?”
“Well, I live only fifteen minutes away,” I pointed out quickly.
“Yeah, that’s true.” He peeked at me with a small smile. “Who took you here before? Was it another first date?”
I shook my head. “Nope. Grampa took me for my sixteenth birthday. It was me, him, and Sean. And Chris.” Chris had given me a silver butterfly necklace that I wore almost every day for years until my stupid drunken pass.
“Nice place for a sweet sixteen. You seem like you’re a close-knit family.”
I nodded. “We are. We have to be when we’re all each other has, you know?”
He stared at me for a long moment, and it occurred to me that Nicole might not have filled him in on our past. I was going to ask if he and Nicole were close, but his name was called, and we were led to a table in the center of the dining room.
Lucas scooted my chair out for me, and I thanked him as I sat. He ordered a bottle of wine. I didn’t recognize the name, but I was sure it tasted fine. I wasn’t too picky when it came to alcohol. I didn’t go out much, so I wasn’t well-versed in what was good.
Lucas clasped his hands together at the edge of the table, smiling at me. He had a cute smile, and his blonde hair was styled to fit his face frame. He was a well-put-together man.
I took a sip of water. “Is your family close-knit? Are you super close to Nicole?”
He shrugged. “As close as siblings usually are, I suppose. We check in with each other every few days to see how the other is doing. She always supported my writing while my parents wanted me to do something else. I depend on her for family functions because I cannot deal with our parents for extended periods of time without her as a buffer.”
I appreciated the honesty. I rested an elbow on the table and placed my chin on my hand. “What about your grandparents? Are you close to them?”
He wrinkled his nose. “Not really. They’re worse than my parents. They like to control, guilt trip, and all kinds of highly annoying things.”
“That’s unfortunate,” I said.
The waiter returned with our drinks. He filled our glasses with wine and then placed the rest in a bucket with ice. We thanked him and took our first sips. The taste was crisp but also slightly sweet.
“Wow, this is good,” I said.
He grinned. “It’s one of my favorites, so when I saw it on the menu, I had to order.”
“Good choice.”
“Are you ready to order?” the waiter asked.
Lucas ordered something with steak while I picked out a seafood dish. The waiter didn’t write anything down but nodded and left us alone again.
There was an awkward silence for a moment. We avoided eye contact as I wondered what to say. I’d forgotten what we were talking about before ordering our food. Then I remembered my good news from last weekend.
“Oh, did I tell you the news about Kristen Stein?”
I filled him in on her plans to stop by the store on her book tour. He smiled kindly. “That’s awesome, Savannah. It’s great that you’ll get to meet a favorite author.”
Something was missing compared to the response I’d gotten from Chris. Lucas was happy for me, but Chris had been happy to be a part of my initial reaction.
He was so excited for me at the moment that he couldn’t help but kiss me.
I didn’t want Lucas to want to kiss me right now. His response was perfectly appropriate and polite, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Chris hugging me in his excitement.
