“Matt was letting me know his mom is doing well and he thinks she’ll be home soon.”
William, a college student who’d recently returned from school in New York and started working there again last week, approached with their meals. “Russ asked me to bring these over before I take my break.”
“Thanks. Are you working tonight too?”
“Yeah, I need to get in as many hours as I can before I go back to school.”
Liv waited until William left before digging into her meal. After hearing the customers rave about the dish all day, her expectations were high. And her first bite didn’t disappoint.
“Swordfish never tastes like this when I cook it.”
Emma could whip together beautiful floral arrangements, bring any plant back from death’s doorstep, and had a singing voice that left people wondering why she’d never pursued a music career. Her talents in the kitchen, though, were limited.
“Dad’s a genius when it comes to seasoning.”
“You won’t get an argument from me.” Emma cut into the carrots that came with the meal. “If Matt’s mom is doing well, do you think he’ll be back soon?”
Unable to answer because her friend conveniently waited until she had a mouthful of food to ask her a question, Liv shrugged as she chewed.
“He didn’t say, but that was his original plan.” Liv reached for the freshly baked roll on her plate, but her hand froze as soon as her fingers touched it. “Did you say Sebastian bought a house on Viking Terrace?”
Her grandparents lived on Viking Terrace. Back in the winter, the house across the street had gone on the market. The last time she visited them, she’d noticed that the For Sale sign was gone, but as far as she knew, no one had moved in yet.
“Surprised me too. He hasn’t moved in. He’s having the inside remodeled.”
“Seb mentioned that, but he didn’t tell me he bought the house across from my grandparents.”
Well, at least now she could tell them they didn’t need to worry that whoever purchased the house intended to use it as a vacation home and rent it to tourists to help cover the mortgage. They’d been concerned because a couple who’d purchased a house on their street two years ago was doing just that. Most of the people who rented the house kept to themselves and respected their neighbors. However, there had been a handful of times when the tourists staying there had been anything but respectful. Instead, they’d thrown loud parties in the middle of the week, left the yard littered with trash, or blocked driveways with their vehicles.
“So you’ve seen him?” Emma asked before eating a forkful of rice.
As if just remembering her intentions, Liv’s hand picked up her roll. “He showed up at my apartment one night as Matt and I were leaving. He said he’d just closed on a house in town and was having renovations done before he moved in.”
“Now it makes sense why he asked if you were still seeing anyone.”
Liv gestured toward her phone. “He sent me a message today.”
“I have a feeling I know the answer, but what did he want?”
“Don’t know. I haven’t read it.”
“Well, check.” Emma nudged her arm before reaching for her iced tea.
Ignoring the message wouldn’t make it disappear.
Sebastian: Love to catch up. Are you free tonight?
He’d mentioned catching up the day she’d seen him too. When he didn’t reach out again, she’d assumed he’d either not truly meant it or had changed his mind. The text message on her phone proved both theories wrong.
Next to her, the sound of a transporter from Star Trek came from Emma’s phone. Liv didn’t need to ask to know the text was from Phoebe. Emma had unique notification tones assigned to everyone in her contact list. She’d assigned her friend that tone because she was such a huge Star Trek fan.
“He wants to get together.”
“This is my shocked face.” Emma pointed toward herself as she picked up her phone. “What —” Instead of continuing, she replied to the text message.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“It’s a message from Phoebe.”
