“A glass of red for me,” Mom said, turning her head toward me.
I quickly flipped through the menu, scanning it for drinks. The first thing that stood out to me was something I definitely didn’t expect to find here.
“I’ll try the dragon fruit mojito.”
“I’ll stick with water,” Alex said.
The woman clapped her hands together. “Perfect choice! If you have any questions about the menu, don’t hesitate to ask.” With that, she spun around, her shoulders brushing against the monstera on the right as she strode away.
“This place looks awesome,” I said, craning my neck to catch another glance at the interior.
“Hopefully, it will pay off,” Dad said. “But only time will tell. They worked really fast. They were only closed for a week. I didn’t think they could pull it off.”
We all looked through our menus, searching for something to eat. They still offered diner classics like all-day breakfast and burgers, but had also added many vegetarian and low-calorieoptions, as well as a special menu calledSeastone Classics, which featured dishes inspired by people who lived here.
I skimmed the list and found a dessert called“Dorian Draper’s Dark Chocolate Cheesecake.”
“Are you kidding me?” I blurted out, forcing the others to look at me. “They named a dish after Grandpa?”
“Yeah,” Dad replied, raising his right eyebrow. “Didn’t you know? They did that two years ago.”
“No one evenmentionedit to me,” I said, but then it hit me. It must have happened during the year when I didn’t talk to them at all. So maybe it wasn’t entirely their fault that I didn’t know. I stared back at my grandpa’s name, then all the other names of elderly people I recognized. “That’s such a lovely idea.”
I didn’t look up for another minute because I didn’t want to get into the topic of my absence again. As if we were all on the same page, no one said anything until the rustling of the monstera plants made us lift our heads.
Sienna balanced a tray of drinks. “There we are,” she cheerfully announced as she placed a glass of water and our respective orders in front of us. “So, how is everyone today? I see you’re having a minor family reunion?” She beamed at Alex and me, her gaze shifting back and forth as if she couldn’t quite tell which one of us was the son.
I rested my hand on the table and tapped against the cool glass of water. Mom reached over and placed her hand on mine.
“Sebastian’s staying in Seastone to study for his exams, and since we’re leaving for a vacation, we had to take advantage of tonight.”
“Exams already? Wow,” Sienna gushed.
“It’s still another semester away, but there are lots of topics to get through,” I explained.
“You can never start too early, am I right?” She focused her gaze on Alex. “Just be careful that your boyfriend here doesn’t distract you too much.”
Her words sent a shockwave through the table, causing Alex and me to sit up straighter. Dad choked on his beer. Only Mom chuckled.
“No, that’s Alex,” she said.
“Oh, the young man working for you!” Sienna leaned back, holding her hand to her chest for a second before placing it on Alex’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I shouldn’t have assumed.”
“It’s okay,” he said softly, waving it off. He glanced at me, a slight blush crossing his face, but he instantly averted his gaze as if he feared that alone would give away that she wasn’t so far off.
“Do we have any questions about the menu?” she asked, elegantly sidestepping the confusion she had created.
We all shook our heads. Finally, she took our orders and left us alone. Once she was gone, we shared another moment of silence before bursting into collective laughter.
“Well, if that wasn’t uncomfortable,” Dad announced, raising his glass. “To that, I drink. Cheers.”
We all raised our glasses and took a sip.
“Not to be nosy, but I have to admit I’m a little curious about how things are going on that front,” Mom said, setting her wine glass back down. Her eyes flicked to Alex for a second, then settled on me. “Is there anyone in your life you could see yourself introducing to us one day?”
Out of all the questions she could have asked, I wished she hadn’t picked this one. For once, I would have loved to tell them everything about my classes and grades. Hell, I would have even taken a question about my plans for after college (I didn’t have any) and gotten into a huge discussion with Dad about it.
“Well…” My fingers clutched the glass with the purple mocktail inside, my feet tapping lightly but quickly against the floor. “There is someone I like,” I admitted. “But it’s still new, and I think we need a little more time to get to know each other.”
