Anna turned all of her attention to Mel then.“I started waiting on her table the third time they came into the restaurant. I had to know more.”
Mel laughed and all but applauded for them.
Brooke couldn’t breathe. Had that been true? She couldn’t remember the specifics that Anna had clearly cared so much about. She remembered the first time Anna had come over to wait on them, however. She let out a laugh.“You said you were waiting on us because we were becoming regulars and you made it a point to get to know your regulars.”
Anna blushed.“I did, yes. But I very rarely actually wait on my regulars. It’s just your group, really.”
Brooke stared at her in disbelief.“Wait, really?”
Anna nodded, not looking away.“Yeah, I’ve got way too much to do to also wait tables. Sadly, I mean I do love getting to talk to people and I do always try to stop by my regulars tables and check on them, but yeah. Yours is the only table I actually cover from start to finish.”
“Yeah it is,” Nate quipped from the driver’s seat earning him a smack on the arm from Mel. He just giggled, never apologizing.
“Well, that bit was news to me as well,” Brooke said. She wondered how red she must be after that. She also wondered if her body would ever stop being on high alert.
Mel shifted her attention to Brooke.“Well now I have to know your side of the story.”
Brooke froze. She wasn’t great at improv.“What do you mean?”
“Why did you and your friends go to La Fourchette in the first place? Why’d you go back? Was it love at first sight for you, too? Well, kind of second sight really. I think she might have been down for any of you after round one. Which, Anna, babe. Respect.”
Everything happening outside of Brooke’s window was suddenly very interesting. She really wanted to just start pointing out places from their childhood. She was a little surprised to see that Nate and Mel must live close enough to their childhood that they might pass it on the trip. She cleared her throat, feeling the intensity of Anna’s gaze on her profile as she stalled.“Well, you see, I work the crossword puzzle every Sunday.” Brooke stared up at the fabric lined ceiling of Nate’s car.
Anna’s jaw dropped.“No.”
Brooke swallowed and dared a glance at her.“Shall I stop telling my half?”
“You saw the article that ran in the paper?”
Brooke nodded.
“You’re why the three of you came in that first time.”
Brooke shrugged.“I think we could argue thatyou’rewhy my friends and I went in that first time.”
Melanie laughed at that.“You were in love from a newspaper article? Oh my god that’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard.”
“I was curious. Love is…” Scary. Terrifying. Painful. Something that Brooke was desperately trying to avoid.“Her restaurant’s name is a play on her last name and she was stunning. Even in black and white. And I was curious. Then the food was incredible and she was… something else.” Brooke managed.
“So how long did it take for you to make a move?” Mel asked, clearly needing more.
“Eleven months,” Anna supplied, her voice filled with some emotion that Brooke could not name. And now she was also staring out the window, so Brooke couldn’t find one on her face
Brooke worried she had done something incredibly wrong then. Like that the truth might have creeped Anna out.
“Eleven months? B, what the fuck?” Nate asked.
Brooke had to figure out how to fix this. Anna’s grip had loosened in her hand. Their hold felt purely for show. There was so much she hadn’t shared with Anna. Nate and Mel sure as hell didn’t know any of it, but she had to explain herself.“Look, I know. But my heart was shattered. Probably too long ago for me to still be afraid of relationships, but they terrify me.”
Anna turned to face her then, her grip tightening ever so slightly.
“Aw, and now look at you. Facing your fears,” Mel said.“I love you two together. So cute.”
Brooke cleared her throat, desperate to get the subject away from her and Anna.“What about you? How did you meet each other?”
It was Mel’s turn to blush.“On a dating app.”
“She swiped first,” Nate said, enjoying that fact.
