Tapping on his phone, he replied.
Plan to, if Ellie’s trampoline lesson is still on.
He received a round of thumbs-ups and a snarky reply from Zain:
We changed time to suit you so we’d better see you, bro.
Connor shook his head as he typed.
See message above.
Martin added to the message string.
Bring Ellie along. She’ll be a better goalie than Zain.
Zain:Funny.
Zain:Wait, that was a joke, right? You know I’m the best goalie you’ve ever had.
Dave:Best at letting goals thru your legs.
Zain:One time!!! And I was distracted by your sister...
Smiling, Connor left them to it and went to look at his other messages. He zeroed in on the one from Ashley.
Hi, not sure if you’ve remembered but I’m coming to the Palm Bistro at 7 p.m. Hope to see you xx
Connor gave a little shake of his head.
How could I forget? Been beefing up with dumbbells.
Ashley’s reply started with a laughing emoji.
Thank you but he’s fifty and an accountant. Plus you looked plenty beefy last time I saw you
Thelast timebeing in Nantucket, he thought with a pang of sadness. He took a moment to wish it were Olivia he was seeing tonight, another to recall her face, those sharp eyes, the radiant smile she’d aimed his way when she’d risen to one his challenges, then pushed the memories away. They’d resurface later, they always did, but for now he had a busy evening shift to focus on.
Pat greeted him with an indulgent smile when he walked into the bistro. Unassuming from the outside, inside the restaurant was a funky industrial space that fitted the building. Brick walls, steel girders, wooden flooring. To soften the atmosphere, there were large palm trees in planters and soft gray sofas at one end where customers could have a drink before or after eating.
“Hey, handsome.” Heather, blond and flirty, breezed through the door after him. In her early twenties, she was one of the waitresses. “Don’t often get our hottest chef doing the evening shift.”
“I take issue with that.” Aaron appeared from the office. “Evening, Heather.” He turned his focus to Connor and gave him a speculative look. “I was talking to Felix the other day. Your name was mentioned.”
Connor’s stomach dropped like a stone. At school he’d been able to shrug off bad comments from teachers, but Aaron was different. He idolized the man. Approaching fifty, Aaron was Connor’s inspiration, his teacher, and a man he’d be forever indebted to. How many other restaurant owners would have taken a chance on a young upstart who’d listed his professional kitchen experience as slicing fruit for cocktails?
What Aaron thought mattered.
Heart thumping, Connor looked Aaron in the eye. “Should I be worried?”
“We’ll talk later. How come you’re working tonight?”
Connor swallowed. “A woman I met in Nantucket is coming here—”
Pat gasped. “Olivia?”
Yep, he’d talked to her about Livvy. He’d had to talk tosomeone, and Ellie was too young, his football mates too male, and his parents too uninterested in him. “No, Livvy’s older sister Ashley. She’s here on a first date with a guy she met on a dating app.”
“Ah, so we’re here to vet him. Got it.” Pat smiled. “And you’re hoping she’ll tell you her sister is miserable, that she’s pining away for you and wishes she hadn’t turned down the chance to continue seeing you.”
