“Starved.”
As if conjured, a waitress appears. Ruby lights up. “Hey, Suzy, how’ve you been?”
“Same as always.” Suzy smiles warmly at Ruby, then glances at me like I tracked in snow and bad vibes. She’s heard about me.
“The baby shower was beautiful,” Ruby says. “Your sister chose the perfect shade of lilac for the babies’ room.”
Ruby turns to me. “Suzy’s sister had a baby shower for her twins, Coral and June.”
“I’m hungry,” I say. “This is a restaurant, correct?”
Both women stare at me like that’s an odd thing to point out.
Suzy licks the tip of her pencil. “What can I get you?”
Ruby waves away the menus. “He’ll have the Chef’s Burger and sweet potato fries.”
“What are you doing?” I ask, irritated.
“You’ll thank me later.”
Before I can object, Suzy is gone.
“So, what did you want to discuss?” Ruby asks.
I slide my aunt’s letter across the table. “Clara left this for me.”
Her brow lifts. She opens the letter with gentle fingers. As she reads, moisture gathers in her eyes. Tears make me uncomfortable. Seeing them on someone this upbeat feels wrong.
“She must have really liked you,” I say. “If she trusted you to manage her beloved shop.”
“Clara was like a surrogate mom. I lost mine young.” She meets my eyes. “Neither of us were the run-a-business type. Unless you mean running it into the ground.”
How odd. I was expecting excuses and manipulation, not honesty. It knocks something loose inside me.
The food arrives. Ruby devours hers with impressive enthusiasm while mine sits untouched. Business first.
“So you two were close?” I ask.
“Very. How about you?”
“Well, the fact that you never heard my name should tell you something.”
“She said she had two successful nephews in Denver. She sounded proud.”
The words land harder than I expect. “My brother, Logan, and I started a company a few years ago. We’ve been buried in work.”
She gestures at the letter. “Then how can you be here for a month?”
“It’s a challenge. Logan will handle on-site matters while I work remotely. It was my aunt’s final wish.”
She tilts her head. “There’s more to you than I thought.” Then freezes. “Did I just say that out loud?”
I crack a smile. It feels foreign.
I pull out the most recent prospectus Logan could find when a shout erupts.
“She said yes!”
