Sick? What? What bills? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“The girl beat cancer. Fought and won the war. Strong girl. Town really loves her.”
“Cancer?” What the fuck did he mean she had cancer?
He nodded. “Yeah. She’s got a lot of friends in Sea Breeze. Worried the whole bunch to death.”
I looked back at Bliss. Letting his words sink in. Never had I imagined she’d lived through something like that. She was more mature, older, less naïve but I thought that all came with age. Not a brush with death. She didn’t look our way. She was intensely studying a menu.
“When did she get sick? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Happened after that summer. The one you spent with her. I figured you knew. Didn’t want to upset you by talking about the inevitable. I was going to let you bring it up if you wanted to further discuss it. You were just a kid then. I hated for you to see the ugly this world has so soon.”
Bliss looked up from her menu. She smiled and I saw a flash of sorrow in her eyes and across her brow. I’d missed it before, but there it was, hope, sorrow and something else. It was joy. Bliss was happy. Not because she hadn’t known struggle or fear, but because she’d faced them head on, and won. Shit, I was sinking in deep.
Bliss York
I READ THE menu through three times before Nate came back to the table. By then it was memorized. I could feel him looking at me. It made me nervous in a way that was both good and bad and then it all ran together. I wondered if his grandfather was reminding him about me. If he did would it change in an instant? Would my employment with Octavia end?
When Nate sat down beside me my nerves were shot from the stress and the pressure of what would come from their talk at the bar. I couldn’t look up from my memorized menu until Nate put me at ease.
“Find anything you want?” he casually asked. There was nothing in his voice to warn me that he knew or didn’t know. He seemed the same. Maybe his grandfather had forgotten who I was and what had happened. Had they simply been discussing that Octavia had hired me and the lunch was a professional courtesy?
“I think I’m going to trust you and go with the shrimp poboy.” When I told him I smiled then brought the grin up to look into his eyes with confidence.
He nodded. “Good choice. Smart move.”
I felt my smile wobble and took a quick peek at his grandfather who was watching intently. Was he seeing how I reacted to his stare? Did he know that I knew he knew that I knew . . . ugh, I was losing my mind. In my head, I recited the list of appetizers without looking at the menu. Then I checked to make sure I got them right. Not a miss. Was I going insane?
“I can’t believe you don’t come here regularly. The place is pretty popular.” Was he testing me now? Fishing for clues? Jesus, the pressure of this lunch.
“I don’t eat out much.” I wasn’t going to lie.
He didn’t appear surprised or confused by my response. He appeared his normal relaxed self. “So when was the last time you were here?”
I gave a small shrug with my shoulders. “It’s been years. It looks the same.” Just saying the words was tough. Knowing he didn’t hold those memories as close to his heart as me. Or at all.
There must have been oodles of girls since me. I blended in with all those women. I was just another name in a journal. I winced. I hoped he didn’t have a journal of women.
“Hasn’t changed much I’d guess. What was your favorite dish when you came in here before?”
To have a favorite I would’ve had to try several things. He was assuming I had been more than once. Or was I reading too much into this?
“I never came enough to have a favorite.”
He smirked then shifted his eyes to the bar where I knew his grandfather was studying. Maybe he’d clued Nate in with a little memory jolt?
“You’re right. I assumed that once you’d eaten here you’d want to come back repeatedly. My mistake. Forgive me. Sorry.”
My heart sank a little. That was it. All he was going to say. Every time I was faced with Nate forgetting me it hurt. I wished it didn’t, but the pain was overwhelming. If I’d had more experience with guys it probably wouldn’t sting as bad. The few I’d dated hadn’t been anything memorable. They weren’t enough compared to Nate. They never clicked, because they couldn’t be him, which was my own personal dilemma. I just wished he thought the same about me.
Now it seemed like those guys, though few in number, may have been a good thing nevertheless. This entire time I’d been fixated on a fantasy that obviously wasn’t meant to be. I wasn’t important enough to remember.
“Octavia won’t eat here. It’s below her. Grandpop says that I should take note. A girl who will walk through those doors is a keeper, according to the old man over there.”
I didn’t respond to that. It wasn’t my business, although I did agree, you had to accept one’s family. This was his grandfather’s restaurant. Octavia should want to come here. But then of course I’d met Octavia. She wasn’t the type to be considerate of others unless it benefitted her. She did what she wanted to do.
“When will Octavia be back? She didn’t say anything on the phone.”
Nate shrugged. “Hell if I know. She comes and goes on a whim. You’ll see soon enough.”
That didn’t sound like a healthy relationship. Was that what Nate desired? Wanted to be married to forever? A wealthy socialite that lived a life of leisure and ran a business as entertainment? No, that wasn’t fair. Octavia was working hard to make this a successful business. Sure her father was there if she needed him with unlimited money but she wasn’t to blame for that.