“Maybe that’s the point,” she whispers.
Maybe I blew it forever.
But I smile as I present their appetizers, grace them with fresh-ground pepper and check that everything is as desired.
“Sylvia,” Mike says before I can spin away. “I know you’re really busy tonight, but I want to introduce you to my friend Elke from Holland.”
I smile at hisfriend. “Hello.”
“We went to grad school together,” Elke says. She’s even more stunning up close.
“How nice.”
She lifts a blonde brow. “Even nicer, you are Schnapps Sylvia, a woman I have long wished to meet.”
Schnapps Sylvia?
I glance up to find Mike blushing.
“I will tell you this story, if you like, if you would join us later.”
“I’m not sure I want to hear it again,” Mike says in an undertone.
Elke smiles at me. “Because he will blush and no man likes to blush. You will see. It is a sign only that I tell the truth.” She nods with conviction then turns her attention to her salad.
Mike clears his throat. “I was planning to show Elke the greenhouse after dinner. She works for a company that manufactures water and temperature control systems for greenhouses,and has some ideas for managing both in a small space.” He smiles as if to reassure me but it’s the heat in his eyes when his gaze clings to mine that convinces me their relationship is professional only. “Maybe you’ll have time to sit with us after that?”
“Okay.”
I want to fling my hands at the ceiling as I head back toward the kitchen.Okay. That’s all I could manage to say before these highly educated individuals. It’s like prom night all over again, me feeling like I don’t fit in.
I will not cede that Patrick Cavendish is right about me being an inappropriate choice.
But as I pick up another round of appetizers, I realize that this time, no one is trying to make me feel like an outsider. Elke was friendly to me. Mike wants me to join them. I see Elke talking to Sierra and making her smile. I feel Mike watching me and look up to catch his smile. My heart skips.
Sierra looks to be enchanted by Elke by the time they head for the stairs. The snippet of conversation I overhear explains why.
“Yes, yes, but the humidity is a necessary addition to the calculation,” Elke says. “It influences both the plants’ need for water and their ability to consume it…”
The three of them head up the stairs, talking mathematics and calculations with a confidence I’ll never share around numbers. I could take that as a shortcoming, but I refuse to do so. None of them can draw, even a little, a reminder that we each have our gifts.
I’ve spent a big chunk of my life feeling like I didn’t measure up to other people’s standards and expectations, but maybe some of that is coming from me. Maybe I need to change the narrative, just the way I suggested Mike switch things up with his dad.
I am who I am. It’s time I owned that.
It’s time I joined the conversation, treating myself as an equal.
Merrie rings the bell. It’s time I got these crème brûlées to table four.
Elke comes downstairsfirst and alone.
The restaurant is almost empty now. I’m picking up the last of the dishes and wiping down tables. Colin is unloading clean dishes from the dishwasher so he can run another cycle tonight and Merrie is cleaning up her prep area.
“It is good,” Elke says to her and Merrie smiles. “Very good.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed your meal,” I say.
“And I am glad to know of your bistro. You understand that I am here on business and will have clients to entertain over the next month or so. I should like a reservation for two for each Friday and your number so I can modify that as needed.”
