Chapter 9
“Then Sloane says, we should write a book titled Good Morning, Beautiful, and Other Things You Shouldn’t Text Because Every Dude Bro Does .
Or something like that. Maybe she said one of the other common phrases.
I don’t remember, but it was funny.” I laughed and Audrey gave me one of her courtesy chuckles.
The sun was shining bright as we drove down the street toward Eat and Be Merry looking for a parking space. The shops and restaurants were crowded today and so far parking was unfindable.
“I don’t get it,” she said after a moment. “ Good morning beautiful seems sweet. Wouldn’t that be a pro, not a con?”
“Ah, my never had to do dating apps because she met her husband in college sister, it would be sweet if I knew the guy at all. If I’d met him or even exchanged more than a handful of words.
But in most cases, I haven’t. And the first time it happened, I thought it was romantic.
The fiftieth time? I’m kind of over it. I want real effort, you know? ”
“So what should they say instead?”
“There’s this guy who sent me a pic of him with a dog that was kind of an inside joke—”
“Hold on.” She lifted her wrist, read something on her watch, and then giggled.
“Don’t read and drive!” I said, smacking her leg.
She pointed at the stopped car in front of her. “I’m not driving.”
“Who was it?” I asked, nodding to her watch.
“Chase. He says the boys refused a bath so he threatened to spray them down with a hose and they thought that sounded fun.”
I smiled. “They’re so funny. So did he?”
“If he did, I hope he rewrapped the hose and made them dry off before going inside.”
“Structure, the catalyst for fun,” I said, sarcastically.
The car in front of us was now trying to back into a spot along the curb. “Just hop out and get our names on the list. It’s right up the street,” she said, acting like I didn’t grow up in this town.
I looked in the side mirror to ensure no cars were coming and opened the door.
“Patio seating!” she yelled as I shut the door.
I stepped onto the sidewalk and headed up the street. Of course, patio seating. It was too nice a day not to sit outside. It was a gorgeous patio with potted flowers and vines crawling along the surrounding fence.
The air smelled like garlic and butter and salt.
As I passed by the patio on my way to the host stand, my eyes scanned the wrought-iron tables and matching chairs topped with lime-green cushions and people enjoying the sun.
That’s when I saw Oliver, sitting across from a woman, eggs and fruit on the table between them.
Like in a movie, his head seemed to be turning my way in slow motion.
“Shit!” I hissed as I ducked. I squat-walked until I was past the fenced-in area and safely behind the redbrick building.
A girl behind the check-in podium eyed me suspiciously as I straightened to standing. “Hi… uh… table for one?”
I adjusted my baseball cap. “No, two. My sister is parking.”
“It will be a little wait for the patio,” she said.
“No, not outside,” I snapped. My pounding heart seemed to think this was a life-or-death situation.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm my flight instinct, because it definitely wasn’t…
a life-or-death situation. It was something slightly below that.
“Sorry, I mean, we don’t want to sit on the patio.
Inside is fine. In a corner… away from the windows. ”
Her brows shot down. “Um, sounds good. There’s no wait at all for inside. Follow me.”
I shot Audrey a text about seating choice, and when she joined me, she said, “What happened to outside? Did the hostess give you trouble? I’ll go talk to her.”
“No! Please don’t. I know someone out there,” I said.
“Ohh-kay…” She pulled out the chair across from me and sat.
I tugged on my wrinkly tee. “He does not need to see me like this.”
“He?” she asked, craning to find a window, but there was no direct view to the back seating area from here. “This could’ve been a fun meet-cute,” my sister said. “You all grungy, him…” She trailed off because she obviously hadn’t seen him to fill in any details.
“With another woman,” I finished for her. I wondered if this was the woman he was asking advice about. If, based on my feedback, he had ended up complimenting her in some fun, unique way before their date.
“Oh, yeah, not ideal,” she said.
I opened the menu, my heart still several beats faster than normal.
Why did it care so much? This was Oliver.
My sister was right. I should’ve just waved hi and smiled big and said something like, You do still exist outside the apps.
“Besides, it wouldn’t be a meet-cute. We’ve already met.
Years ago.” And it went terrible. So bad.
“What’s your favorite meet-cute?” she asked. “Out of all the books you’ve read or movies you’ve watched.”
That was one of my favorite questions. “I’m a fan of the trapped together somewhere with a stranger. Or fake dating. Like in The Proposal .”
Audrey scrunched her nose. “But they already knew each other in the movie too.”
“True. So it would have to be more like if we showed up here today and there was a hot guy waiting outside and he grabbed me by the hand before we went in and said, I need your help. I haven’t seen all my college buddies for years and they’re all engaged or married and I’m still sad and single.
Will you pretend to be my girlfriend for the morning? ”
Audrey raised her eyebrows. “A bunch of guys are meeting for brunch? Not believable.”
“Guys can meet for brunch.”
“They can, but do they?”
“They should. Besides, they brought dates, remember?”
“Oh, right. The dates. So you’d ditch me for this handsome college kid?”
“No, he hasn’t seen them in a long time. He’s a grown man now.”
“You’d ditch me for this grown man?”
“Absolutely.” I smiled. “You’d want me to, right? The universe would basically be dropping my future husband in my lap. You wouldn’t deny me that.”
“Never,” she said, putting her hand on her heart in a dramatic fashion.
“Thank you for your support.”
“But thank goodness that didn’t happen because you look like that. The guy would’ve waited for his next option.”
I grunted and she laughed. “You’re not wrong,” I said. “I wasn’t planning on brunch today. I was planning on T-ball and home.”
“Home by way of the Ripped Bodice?”
She knew me well. The Ripped Bodice was an indie romance bookstore I loved that just happened to be a good stopping point between my house and hers. I tugged on my ugly shirt. “There is only love there. No judgment.”
She smiled, her eyes taking in my outfit again. “I should’ve prepped you for brunch. It’s just been awhile since we’ve had time together without the kids or parents.”
“True.” It had been at least a few weeks. “Speaking of meet-cutes, you have a great one. A costume party, Chase thinking you were someone else because she was also supposed to be dressed up as hot Rapunzel.”
“I was not hot Rapunzel,” she said. “I was normal Rapunzel.” My sister looked a lot like Rapunzel. She’d inherited light hair and eyes from my dad, while I’d inherited dark hair and eyes from my mom.
“Well, either way,” I said. “The story finishes the same. You both talked into the night and forgot whoever you were supposed to be meeting that night. Who was your Flynn Rider that night anyway?”
“I actually had a boyfriend when I met Chase.”
“What? How did I not remember that part of the story?”
“You were too busy imagining a hot Rapunzel.”
“So whatever happened to the boyfriend?”
“Chase was charming and relentless and I couldn’t resist.”
“Sounds stalkerish,” I said.
“It wasn’t,” she said. “You had to be there. It was sweet.”
The waitress came to our table. “Can I start you with something to drink? We have dollar mimosas today.”
“Um, yes, please,” I said. “That’s a bargain.”
“Just water for me,” Audrey said.
“You’re off the clock,” I teased. “Alcohol is required for the occasion.”
Instead of smiling and saying Fine, just one , like I expected her to, she nodded at the waitress. “Just water.”
“Guess I’m partying alone this morning,” I said.
After the waitress brought back our drinks and we put in our food orders, Audrey sighed and met my eyes. “So what’s going on with work? Have you talked to your boss yet?”
Here it was, the Audrey motivational speech.
My body instantly went on high alert, straightening my spine and grounding my feet.
A memory of us sitting at the kitchen table and her poring over the college classes I’d signed up for, helping me switch out two, came to me.
“We’re speaking soon,” I reported now. “About becoming a full agent and dropping the assistant responsibilities.”
“Soon, Maggie? That’s not specific enough.”
“I know, I’m working on it.”
“What’s the holdup?”
I’ve been sleeping with him! I screamed inside my head, but regardless of how much I shared with her, I couldn’t share that. She’d never look at me the same again.
She straightened the fork and knife on the table so they aligned perfectly with the square pattern on the tablecloth. “How does your savings look? Are you going to be able to handle a straight-to-commission type job? You’ve been putting some away from every paycheck like we set up years ago, yeah?”
“Yes. I think I could survive for about a year. I do have some reoccurring commission from our shared clients that will help too.”
“And if you made a few good sales right away, I’m sure that savings could stretch out for longer,” she said.