I’ve already been mistaken for an eighteen-year-old once tonight. I don’t want a repeat with the server.
I grin at her as she approaches me.
“What can I get for you?” she asks with a bright smile.
I go for a repeat of what I had the night Drake brought me here. “A lemon drop martini, please.”
“My favorite.” Her blue eyes widen. “You have excellent taste, Emma.”
Furrowing my brow, I lean back in my seat. I haven’t handed over my credit card yet, so how does she know my name?
Smiling, she rests a hand on my tense shoulder. “You’re Emma, aren’t you? Drake Owens is your brother?”
Stuck on a stalled breath, I nod. “I am.”
“We met when you were here with him last year.” Her hand drops to her side. “He talks about you sometimes when he stops in for a beer.”
I study her face. Her eyes are blue. Her hair is a dark shade of blonde. She’s pretty. She’s exactly my brother’s type.
“I’m Kendall, by the way.”
“It’s good to meet you again,” I say with a soft laugh. “Does my brother come in often?”
I’m hoping small talk will bury the subject of our first meeting. I rarely forget a face. It’s part of my job to match faces with names.
“When he wants a beer, he shows up.” She shrugs. “I have a feeling that once he gets back from his trip, he won’t be popping in as often.”
Even this woman knew that Drake was headed out of New York City.
Maybe she can fill in the gaps that Case was unwilling or unable to.
Just as I’m about to interrogate her, a man at the next table calls out her name and what sounds like a complicated drink order.
“I’ll grab your martini.” She slaps a dark blue cocktail napkin on the table in front of me. “I’ll put it on Drake’s tab.”
“That’s not necessary.” I reach for my clutch. “I can pay for my drink.”
With a shake of her head, she huffs out a laugh. “Not according to your brother. All friends and family of Drake Owens drink on his dime. Those are his exact words.”
That sounds like Drake. He’s generous to a fault.
“I’ll be right back.” She turns to walk away. “Oh, and can you do me a favor?”
I sense that she’s about to ask me to put in a good word for her with my brother. He’s good-looking and fun. It wouldn’t be the first time someone asked me to set them up with him. One of my friends back in Seattle wanted a dinner date with Drake when she visited Manhattan last year. I asked him if he’d indulge her request, but he shot it down.
I nod even though I know that Drake would have already asked her out if he was interested.
“When you talk to Drake, can you offer my congratulations?”
Before I can ask what for, Kendall blurts out the answer. “I admit I never thought he was the marrying type, but he proved all of us doubters wrong with this elopement.”
Confused, I stare at her.
“I may feel a little envy about the whole thing. I mean, who wouldn’t? What’s more romantic than getting married in a castle in Ireland?”
I don’t respond to her question as she walks away. I don’t try to talk at all.
I’m speechless.
