“Can you also bring me an iced tea?”
After placing their order and returning the credit card, Liv made a quick pit stop in the office, where she’d left her phone charging. Not surprisingly, she walked in just as her mom sat behind the desk. Like most restaurant owners, the woman rarely stopped working. If she wasn’t overseeing things in the dining room, she was checking in on the kitchen staff or doing paperwork in the office.
“Thanks again for working today. I know Matt’s coming back today, and I’m sure you’d rather spend time with him.”
“Family first.”
Her mom’s fingers paused over the keyboard. “Family is important, but it doesn’t always need to come first, Liv. It’s okay to put yourself first.”
She appreciated her mom’s concerns, but she didn’t need a lecture today. “I know, Mom. But Matt’s not coming back today anyway. He flew out to California this morning to see his mom. She was in a car accident.”
Unplugging her phone, Liv checked the device. Sure enough, she had messages from Emma as well as two from Matt and one from Sebastian. The ones from Matt and Emma made sense, but she hadn’t seen or heard from her ex since the day he’d shown up at her apartment out of the blue.
“Oh, dear. I hope she’s okay.”
“Matt said she’s going to be fine.”
Before her mom decided to continue her lecture, Liv moved toward the door. “I’m going on my break. Come get me if you need me.”
Since Emma sat at the bar waiting for her, Liv deleted the text from her and moved on to Matt’s. The ones from him had been sent hours apart, with the most recent coming two hours ago. Usually, she answered messages from everyone soon after receiving them, so Matt asking if she’d been called in after she didn’t respond to his first one made sense.
Liv: Sorry. Yeah, working a double today. Did you see your mom?
Unlike many of the restaurants in town, Ocean View Grill brewed its iced tea rather than using a mix. Before rejoining Emma, Liv poured them each a glass and replaced the now-empty container with a new one.
“Any word from Matt on when he’s coming back?” Emma asked, squeezing the lemon into her tea and adding sugar as soon as Liv set it down.
“Nothing yet, but I just responded to his messages.” Following her friend’s lead, she squeezed lemon into her tea and added two packets of sugar before taking a much-needed drink. A new text from Matt appeared on the screen before she put her glass down.
Matt: Saw her earlier. Aiden and I are going to visit her again later.
Liv: How is she?
Three tiny dots appeared, indicating Matt was typing.
“How’s Brian feeling?” If Emma had wanted to hang out again tonight, Brian must still not be up for company.
“I talked to him before I came here. He managed to keep down some crackers this morning.”
Brian might not be ready to eat the swordfish special, but keeping crackers down was preferable to kneeling before the toilet.
“Did you know Sebastian moved back?” Emma asked “I went to Hometown Brews because my power was still out, and he was there for the same reason. He bought a house on Viking Terrace.”
Nodding, Liv read the newest message on her phone.
Matt: Mom’s doing okay. I think she’ll be home soon.
An invisible weight she hadn’t even realized was there disappeared from her shoulders. Although she’d never met Violet Sherbrooke, thanks to all that Matt had shared, she felt as if she knew the woman. Not to mention how devastated Matt would be if his mom’s injuries were more serious than he’d been led to believe.
Matt: Call you later. Out right now.
Although not the message she wanted to send, she replied with a simple Okay and set the device down.
“Is everything okay?”
“Oh, yeah.”
So what if his message was a little dismissive? He said he was out. Sometimes, when she was busy, she sent short, clipped messages too.
