“You must be Tyson,” the woman there said, and her smile shone as brightly as the northern star.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said.
“Give me two seconds to check with Davy,” she said. “To see if your table is ready.” She picked up two menus and moved away from the station. She had only taken a few steps before she turned back and gestured for Ty to come with her. “I see he’s ready. You can come with me.”
She led him into the living room where four or five tableshad been populated with people. They went into what had to have been the house’s formal dining room at some point, and right there, looking out a big bay window, stood a man wearing black from head to toe and an apron very much like the one Ty wore when he worked the restaurant at the apple orchards.
“This is Davy,” the woman said. “This is Ty and Winnie. He’s going to be your waiter tonight, and I’ll let him take you two from here.”
Ty pulled out Winnie’s chair for her, and she sat down. He did the same, feeling sparkly all over as Davy handed him a menu.
“Have you guys been withHomebefore?” he asked.
“No,” Ty said. “But my friend has told me how amazing it is.”
“Oh, that’s great to hear,” Davy said. “We offer what’s called a split menu. You pick either Track One or Track Two, and you eat off that menu. Tonight, we’ve done a Southern fried chicken meal for Track One, and it comes with buttermilk mashed potatoes, lemon-pepper asparagus spears, homestyle gravy with plenty of black pepper, and a dark chocolate pistachio cheesecake that is to—die—for.” He grinned over to Winnie. “Yeah, I think you’re the dark-chocolate lover.”
Winnie beamed right on back at him. “I have been known to consume quite a bit of dark chocolate in the past.”
Ty made a mental note of that, hoping he wouldn’t forget it before he could write it down.
“On Track Two,” Davy said. “We’ve gone seafood, with a beautiful blackened salmon that comes with a sweet pea risotto and heirloom multi-colored carrots. All of our meals come with crusty homemade bread, apple butter from the orchards right here in town, and a signature salted butter that I’ll bring out and talk to you more about. Can I get either of you anything to drink?”
“I’d love a ginger ale,” Ty said. “With lots of lime wedges, if you’ve got them.”
“I do,” Davy said. “And for you, ma’am?”
“Can I have this orange-cranberry spritzer?” she said, peering atthe menu. “It says you have a nonalcoholic version. Can I get that virgin?”
“Absolutely,” Davy said. “I’ll be back with the bread and the drinks in just a couple of minutes. Oh—we have a common appetizer for both Tracks One and Two, and tonight it’s a cheesy sausage and polenta with a house-made marinara. Would you guys like that?”
“Absolutely,” Ty said.
Davy grinned, knocked a couple times on the table, and walked away.
Ty picked up his silverware packet and unwrapped the utensils so he could drape the napkin in his lap.
“This is really nice,” Winnie said, glancing around the restaurant. She met his eyes, a hint of trepidation in hers. “But there are no prices on this menu.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said.
Winnie’s lips pursed for a moment, and then she nodded and looked down at her menu. “I think I’m going to get the chicken. I’ve never been much of a salmon fan.”
“Me either,” he said, and she looked up. An electric zing moved through him, and he cataloged that they had another thing in common. It might be ridiculous, but it made him smile.
In the background, low, lilting music played, and the people at the other tables kept their voices quiet and their conversations private, making the atmosphere here exactly what Ty wanted it to be.
“So tell me,” he said. “Do you have any other siblings besides Taylor?”
“Yes,” Winnie said. “We’ve got an older brother—Brad. He’s seven years older than me, and he’s been married for a few years and has a little girl named Windy, like the weather.”
“That’s cute,” Ty said. “So you’re a middle child too.”
“I don’t think I ever said Taylor was younger than me,” she said.
“Yeah, but she is,” Ty said, raising his eyebrows.
“Yeah, she is.” She unwrapped her silverware too. “You’ve got an older sister and a younger brother, is that right?”
