“Me too,” I piped up.
Ezra looked at me. “You don’t have to do that, Delia,” he said. “You already give so much to this place.”
“Please,” I said, waving him off. “It’s theleastI can do. Which reminds me…have you decided where you’re donating proceeds yet?”
“Well now that the event is bringing in three times as much as I’d anticipated”—he shot each of us a glare—“I can help more people. I was thinking Farms for Folks, the volunteer fire department, and…”
“And what?” Owen prompted.
“The last one was kind of a pipe dream but now that I can make it a reality, I’d really like to set up a scholarship fund at the high school in Traverse City for a kid who wants to study culinary arts. I wouldn’t be where I am today if someone hadn’t offered me a helping hand when I needed it, and now it’s time for me to pay it forward.”
I breathed deeply, willing the threat of tears stinging my nose away, and gave Ezra a smile.
“You should ask for Brie’s help with that last one,” I saidquietly.
“I’ll think about it,” Ezra said, equally as soft. Then with a harsh clap that had me jolting on my chair, he brusquely moved onto serving the soup.
The next hour passed in a flurry of great food, delicious wine, and good company. After my earlier faux pas, the tension between me and Owen was still thick enough to cut with a butter knife. He seemed inclined to ignore it, though, so I followed his lead.
When we wrapped up, Brie having strode in toward the end to present us with the dessert course options, which were being paired with our world-famous ice wine at Ezra’s request, Owen disappeared with barely a goodbye to me.
Maybe everything I thought I’d felt between us over the weekend at the club had been in my head, a fever dream brought on by the strobe lights and chaos. If that was how he reacted to me simply wiping food off his face, I’d clearly misread everything.
“What’s his problem?” Brie asked when Owen was gone.
“Delia touched his mouth,” Ezra said unhelpfully.
Brie’s face scrunched in confusion, her green eyes narrowing on me. “Explain, please.”
Quickly, I recounted the few, innocuous seconds that seemed to throw off our entire dynamic. When I finished, my sister said to Ezra, “Remember that day Amara and Cal came in here for the summer menu tasting?”
Ezra’s answering grin was positively feline. “Why do you think I invited these two here today?”
Brie barked out a laugh. “You’re wicked.”
Ezra shrugged. “It worked so well last time.”
“And that wasn’t even on purpose,” Brie added with a chuckle.
“Will someone tell me what the fuck you guys are talking about?”
They shared the kind of look that told me a thousand words passed unspoken between them in those few seconds of eye contact. Then Brie said, “Nah.”
“You little shit.”
“You’ll figure it out soon enough.”
“Whatever,” I huffed out as I rose from my seat.
“Hey, before you leave,” Brie said, stalling me, “I wanted to ask what your plans for Halloween are.”
“Well, it’s my birthday, so same as every year.”
“Halloween is your birthday?” Ezra asked, surprised.
I smirked. “Explains a lot, doesn’t it?”
He responded with a laugh before saying, “So what’s the same-as-every-year plan?”
