Chapter 13 #2
“You should.” She turned to face him, and they were suddenly very close in the quiet restaurant. “He looks happy.”
“He loved the work. Even when it was hard, even when the catch was terrible, he loved being out on the water.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I always thought I’d do the same. Take over the boat, keep the tradition going.”
“But you ended up here instead.”
“Someone had to run the restaurant. My cousin does most of the fishing now. I still try to get out three or four mornings a week, but fishing’s not what it used to be. Regulations, quotas, and environmental changes. Some days it feels like the Gulf’s trying to tell us our time is over.”
The words came out heavy, more serious than he should probably have been. She reached out and touched his arm, a brief gesture of understanding that somehow steadied him.
“For what it’s worth,” she said quietly, “I think your grandfather would be proud of what you’re doing. Protecting his legacy, keeping the restaurant going, and fighting for this community.”
Before he could respond, his sister came out of the kitchen, balancing a tray on her hip. “You better get in there. Mom’s getting antsy. She wants to know if you’re going to make Cassidy stand in the dining room all night.”
“Cassidy, this is my sister, Lucy.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too.” Lucy glanced into the dining room. “Gotta go. Need to run this order over to table eight.” She gave a little grin. “Good luck.”
Cassidy turned to him. “Good luck? Luck with what?”
“The upcoming inquisition by my mom.” He winked at her.
He led her to the back room, where his mother had already started bringing out dishes. She rearranged the table, and it looked nothing like the casual menu tasting he had planned. His mother had gone all out.
“You must be Cassidy.” His mother wiped her hands and pulled Cassidy into a hug before Bryan could make proper introductions. “I’m Mona.”
Lucy came into the room, and his mom said, “You’ve met Lucy, Bryan’s baby sister.”
Lucy rolled her eyes. “Mom, I’m not a baby, I’m thirty-five years old.”
“You’ll always be my baby.” His mom bobbed her head with authority.
Hadn’t his sister learned by now not to argue with their mother?
“Oh, you brought wine. That was thoughtful. Lucy, get some wine glasses for us.” His mother stepped back to study Cassidy. “Bryan says you saved the dock supplies during the storm.”
“I helped secure a tent. Bryan did most of the work.”
“That’s not how I heard it. Jan said you were out there in heels, wrestling support poles across the pier while lightning struck all around.”
“Jan might have exaggerated slightly.”
“Jan never exaggerates.” Mona gestured to the table. “Sit, sit. Let’s eat before everything gets cold.”
Bryan held out a chair for Cassidy, earning a surprised smile that made his pulse kick up for no good reason. This was a working dinner, a professional collaboration. Nothing more.
Except his mother had made all his favorite dishes, and Lucy kept shooting him knowing looks, and Cassidy fit into the chaos of his family like she’d always been there.
“This is incredible,” Cassidy said after her first taste of the clam chowder. “Mrs. Lucas, this is the best chowder I’ve ever had.”
“Mona, please. And thank you, dear. It’s my grandmother’s recipe. She taught me when I was just a young girl.” His mother ladled more into Cassidy’s bowl despite her protests. “Bryan says you’re from the city. Do you cook?”
“Not really. I’m usually too busy working to make real meals.” Cassidy paused, then added more quietly, “Or I was. Before.”
Lucy, bless her complete lack of filter, immediately asked, “Before what?”
“Lucy,” Bryan warned.
“It’s okay.” Cassidy set down her spoon and met Lucy’s curious gaze. “I had a bit of a... problem... at work. During a big presentation. Basically fell apart. My company put me on a mandatory sabbatical to recover.”
The admission hung in the air. Bryan’s mother and sister exchanged glances, and he braced himself for awkward sympathy or, worse, pity.
Instead, his mom reached over and patted Cassidy’s hand.
“Good,” she said firmly. “Any company that works someone until they collapse should be ashamed of themselves. And any woman brave enough to admit she needs a break deserves respect, not judgment.”
Cassidy’s eyes went suspiciously bright. “Thank you.”
“Now eat. You’re too thin. When’s the last time you had a proper meal?”
Bryan watched Cassidy eat, genuinely enjoying the meal. She asked Mona about the grouper seasoning, laughed at Lucy’s stories about tourist mishaps at the harbor, and somehow made his overbearing family seem almost normal.
“So,” Lucy said as his mom brought out the key lime pie, “what do you think of our brother?”
Bryan nearly choked on his water. “Lucy.”
“What? I’m just asking. You two are working together. I want to know if he’s being a stubborn pain in the...”
His mom shot Lucy a stern look.
“A pain at committee meetings like he is at family dinners.”
“He’s been wonderful,” Cassidy said. “Passionate about the festival, protective of the town’s history, willing to compromise when it matters.”
“That doesn’t sound like Bryan at all.” Lucy grinned. “Are we talking about the same person?”
“Okay, that’s enough.” Bryan pointed his fork at his sister. “You’re supposed to make me look good, not destroy my reputation.”
“Your reputation can handle it.”
They stayed long past the tasting, talking and laughing while Mona kept refilling plates and Lucy told increasingly embarrassing stories about his childhood.
Cassidy fit into the conversation like she’d known them for years instead of hours, asking questions and sharing her own stories about growing up in a small town in Indiana with a mom who worked part-time to help pay the bills.
“She sounds like a good mom,” his mother said.
Cassidy frowned. “She is, though I spent most of my adult life trying to prove I was nothing like her.” She pushed her pie around her plate. “She chose a simple life in a small town. I chose corporate ambition in the city. I thought I was so much smarter, so much more successful.”
“And now?” he asked quietly.
She looked up, and her smile was sad and honest. “Now I’m not sure I know what success actually means.”
“I think we each have to make our own definition of success,” his mother said as she stood and started clearing plates. Lucy helped, leaving Bryan and Cassidy alone at the table. Through the windows, the Gulf stretched dark and vast under a scatter of stars.
“Thank you for inviting me,” Cassidy said. “Your family is wonderful.”
“They’re loud, nosy, and completely lacking in boundaries.”
“They love you. That’s obvious.” She traced the rim of her water glass. “I can’t remember the last time I had a meal like this. With people who actually care about each other, who make time to be together even when they’re busy.”
He thought about all the meals he’d eaten at this table. Sunday dinners after church, birthdays, holidays, random Tuesday nights when his mother decided she wanted everyone together. He’d taken the easy comfort of family and tradition for granted.
“You’re lonely,” he said. It came out more as an observation than a question.
Cassidy didn’t deny it. “I have colleagues, networking contacts, and people I see at industry events. But friends? Real friends?” She shook her head. “I’ve been too busy climbing the ladder to notice I was climbing it alone.”
“You’re not alone anymore.” The words came before he could think better of them. “You’ve got the Harbor Ladies, Winnie, and the festival committee.” He paused. “Me.”
She met his eyes, and a strong current pulled between them. Not the hostility from their first meeting, not the wary truce from the storm, but something warmer and more dangerous.
“Bryan—”
“We should probably talk about the vendor contracts,” he said quickly, before whatever was happening could become something he’d have to acknowledge. “I pulled together the applications from last year. We can use them as a starting point and see who else we can get.”
If Cassidy was disappointed by the subject change, she didn’t show it. She pulled out her phone and opened her notes app, and they fell back into the comfortable rhythm of work.
But later, after she’d left and he was cleaning up the back room, he found himself thinking about the way she’d laughed at Lucy’s jokes and the way she’d eaten seconds of his mother’s cooking.
He thought about the way she’d looked at him when he’d said she wasn’t alone.
He was in serious trouble.