Burke nodded. “Brittany.”
Justine grinned. “Yes. She used to razz me about my mom too. I made the mistake of saying she was coming to our third grade Christmas play. For whatever reason, I had it in my head that she really was. Maybe she’d said on a phone call that she would, or I might have just imagined that she’d never miss it.”
She glanced at her wineglass as she traced a circle along the base. “Brittany ran up to me after the play and challenged me to point out my mom.Shedidn’t see anyone new there so I was probably just lying.” Justine sighed and shook her head. “I lied then. I couldn’t help it, I was desperate. I told Brittany that my momhadbeen there but that she had to step out to take a call and probably got called away to work. She was busy running a company is what I said.
“She and the other girls asked around and, of course it’s a small town, so it wasn’t hard for them to get the truth—that my mom wasn’t running a company, she was simply running away—from us.” Justine’s eyes shifted to a spot behind Burke, cuing him into their company a moment before he could see them himself.
“Your appetizers,” the gentleman said, sliding the items onto the table between them.
“Thank you,” Burke said with a nod.
Justine smiled. “This looks delicious.”
The waiter promised to be back shortly with their meals before ducking toward the exit.
Justine watched and, as soon as he was gone, set her eyes back on Burke. “This is probably the worst date you’ve ever been on.”
Her comment took him off-guard. “How so?”
“The sad story. This is horrible. I should have brushed past all that stuff without going into the depressing details.”
The comment made Burke realize that he’d egged her on for more. Asking about the last time she’d seen her mother. “I didn’t want you to brush past it. I’m trying to get to know you.” The truth of that statement stirred low in his belly as she held his gaze. Yes, hewascapable of letting go of his fears. At least with Justine and, at least, for now.
“Well,” she said, reaching for a piece of shrimp and dipping it into the cocktail sauce. “Now it’s my turn to hear about you.”
He shifted in his seat, realizing he may have to guard a few things.
“So, Burke,” Justine said with a satisfied grin. “Let’s hear your story.”
“What do you want to know?” He glanced down at the mushroom platter and speared one with his fork. “Think I’ll go for one of these mushrooms first,” he mumbled.
“How about you do what I did,” she suggested. “Give me a rundown of your life, and I can ask questions as they come up.” She speared a mushroom as well.
“Okay,” Burke agreed. “But only two.”
Justine glanced down at the dozen or so mushrooms as she chewed. “Only two what?” she asked once she’d gulped it down.
He chuckled under his breath. “Only two questions.”
She joined him with a chuckle of her own. “We’ll see about that.”
Burke gave his mouth a few dabs with the napkin before speaking. “Okay, I was raised in Manhattan by my mother. It was just the two of us. Most of the time we got along. My grandma, before she died, she’d come stay with us over the holidays. Those are probably my fondest childhood memories, when my grandmother was there. We didn’t have any family outside of that.”
“Wow,” Justine said. “So you never met your father either?”
Burke shook his head. “I knew who he was. And that he had a large family he was raising out here in California, actually. I wasgoingto meet him, in fact—we were about to arrange for that—but he was killed in a private plane crash.”
Justine pressed a hand to her heart, as if it hurtherthere too. “I’m so sorry.”
He couldn’t help but get lost in her eyes for bit, in the compassion he sensed in their hazel depths. “Thank you.”
The look in her eyes turn inquisitive. “You said he was raising a family. So you have half-siblings?”
Ah, perceptive.“Yes.”
Justine did a short gasp. “Wait, isthatwhy you’re here? Are they close by?”
Again—perceptive. “They’re not too far from here, and yes. My mom died about five years after my father passed, but I worked a few more years in the city before I decided it was time to make the big move out here. Of course, my paternal grandmother—she’s pretty amazing—it was her idea to introduce me to the whole family at once. We did that over the summer.”
