Luis nodded. “Right. So, I’ll get there and design the dress? Is that still part of the plan?”
“Sasha wants a De León dress.”
“Yeah, I know she wants,” Luis replied, “but I’m asking you, honey. And if you say right now that you don’t want me donningthat woman in tulle and satin, I’ll get on the first flight back to London.”
Ari smiled at him. “You’re a good friend.”
“Truth be told, I don’t want Reine around this guy or his family,” Luis admitted.
“Neither do I. But I have a feeling if we turn up now without Reine, Tom’s mother... I mean, Reine’s grandmother... will be all over it. Sebastian had a bad feeling about a conversation he had with her yesterday. I don’t think she’ll rest until she’s seen Reine for herself.”
Luis nodded. “So, your creepy lying asshole ex was raised by an overbearing and obsessive mother? Wow, he just gets better and better. When we get back and you start dating again, remind me to vet all your boyfriends.”
Ari shook her head. “I’m not dating again. I’m done with that.”
“Ari—”
“No, Luis,” she said, her voice serious. “I’m done with it. I can’t go through all this again.”
“Not all men are lying assholes, you know.”
“Maybe not. Just the ones I fall in love with, hey?”
“He must have been honest with you about something,” Luis suggested. “I mean, six months of solid lies must have been exhausting for him, and all just to what? Keep having sex with you? I mean, I’m sure you’re a great lay, Ari, but there must have been more to it than that.”
“I really don’t care.”
“I think you do,” Luis said gently, “but I’m not going to press you on it.”
Ari sat back, turning once again to look at Reine. “What should I tell her?”
Luis took a deep breath. “Nothing. She’s going to meet some guy called Tom Somerset. Someone who’ll be desperately tryingto cover his tracks, so his fiancée doesn’t find out that he cheated on her years ago. She doesn’t need to know anything.”
Ari nodded. “I need to get into my work head,” she said, slumping slightly into the plastic covered fabric of the booth. “Even while going through a crisis, I’m still mentally ticking off my to-do list. De León dress, woodland wedding, Stella photographs—”
“Stella?” Luis asked. “Holy shit, this is a Stella wedding too? Did you get her biscuits?”
“Not yet,” Ari replied, worrying her lip between her teeth. “It’s on my to-do list.”
“I’ll order them in. Don’t worry about it.”
Ari nodded, but she didn’t feel any better. Her stomach still hurt, and she felt jittery again, full of nerves.
“Ready to head back?” Luis asked gently. “Ready to... uh,hacer la vista gorda?”
He was looking at her intently, and Ari felt a tremor of fear run through her.She was going to see Tom again. She was going to see him. She was going to introduce him to their child.
“No,” she whispered. “I’ll never be ready for that.”
“I’ll be there,” Luis promised. “Now, come on. Let’s get the bill, get Reine and get back. I’ve got a bride to design a dress for.”
Before they hopped in the car, Ari turned to squeeze Reine’s hand lightly, checking once again that her child was well and healthy. When she turned back, she noticed Luis squinting at something.
“What is it?”
“Look at this sign,” Luis said, gesturing to a photograph stuck on the wall outside of the diner. “It says,In loving memory of Douglas Somerset, who loved this diner and all the pie within it.”
Ari stared at the photograph. It was of a man, grey-haired but handsome, sitting in the diner, a mouthful of pie on a spoon before his cheeky smile.
