Neither one of us said anything else as he drove to The Farmhouse. Once there, Rainier parked the car and raced out to run around and open my door. He didn’t need to run though. I planned to let him pamper me. I hadn’t been this excited about a date in a long time. I hadn’t even wanted to date since my breakup with Julian, so doing this at allwashuge.
As we walked toward the building, Rainier reached for my hand. I let him take it, that small gesture causing more butterflies than the over-the-top acts I’d insisted on in the past. Maybe it was because I didn’t have to ask for it that it meant so much. Or it could have been because genuine feelings were developing between the two of us. The possibility of the latter scared me after my talk with Jenny, but I was determined to enjoy thisnight.
Nothing could bring me down from this high. Or, at least, that’s what I thought until we walked through the front door. Last time I was in, I’d lucked out and not seen either of the waitresses who hated me. Tonight, both girls were working and wore matching scowls on their faces. Even Rainier picked up on the hostility coming from Katie and Gwen as wewalkedin.
“Do you want to try somewhere else?” he asked with scrunchedbrows.
Yes.I wanted to scream.Take me anywhere but here.It was fun to pretend we were different people, that I was a different person. But I had a reputation touphold.
Surprisingly enough, I was upset by the anger radiating from them, but I wasn't willing to let either of them see how much their looksaffectedme.
“No, let’s get those burgers you promised.” My smile was so fake and I hated that Rainier didn’tdecipherit.
Instead, he smiled and turned to Gwen. “Can we get a booth for two,please?”
She seated us with false cheer and left us to look overthemenu.
“Okay, what was that all about?” Rainier asked. I shrugged in response, knowing a simple lift of the shoulder could be interpreted so many ways. I didn't want to lie, but I wasn't ready to tell him about the horrible things I'd done. I truly felt like I had changed in the last couple months, but doubted Rainier would be so forgiving. At leastnotyet.
When I didn't respond, he went on. “That was Gwen, right? Sarah always has such great things to say about her, but she seems a bit like a bitchtome.”
I gasped at his words. I hadn’t heard Rainier cuss before. “Does your sister know you talklikethat?”
He chuckled. “Oh, come on, Michelle. You were just talking about how people change. Is one mean name actually thatscandalous?”
“When it comes fromyou?Yes.”
He smiled and shook his head. “Hey, I’m going to go wash up before we eat. Will you just order double of whatever you normally get if our waitress comesbackby?”
“So a double burger with bacon and no bun?” I asked innocently, which earned another laugh from Rainier. I wanted to make him laugh every minute of every day. The deep sound made my heart beat a little faster thanusual.
“As long as it’s double bacon too,” he said with a wink and I about died. Who was this guy and where did all this newfound confidencecomefrom?
“Deal.”
I watch as he walked away and expected Gwen to come over as soon as he was out of earshot to let me know how much she hated that I was sitting in her section tonight. Not only was she good friends with my ex-boyfriend, but she was probably still upset about the time I set her boyfriend up with my bestfriend.
I’d brought Mitch and Avery into The Farmhouse while Gwen was working with every intention of making her jealous. It worked and she and Mitch were living their happily ever after. I was still waiting for my thank you from them, but after several months, I doubted it was evercoming.
Even Katie was suspiciously out of view as I waited for one of them to either yell at me or take our order. I pulled out my phone as I waited but just scrolled without looking at what was on my screen. I’d been so excited to go on this date, and now I felt like something horrible was about tohappen.
I didn’t have to wait long to find out what that something was. As Rainier walked back to the table, I saw the expression on his face and knew why I hadn’t seen Gwen or Katie the entire time he was gone. I also now knew why he took so long to wash his hands. They’d been talking, and itwasn’tkind.
“Who are you?” He stood by the booth, not bothering to sitbackdown.
“You know who I am,” I answered with baitedbreath.
“Did you seriously try to set up Gwen’s boyfriend with someone else even though you knew they were interested in eachother?”
“It wasn’tlikethat.”
“And you broke up with your ex because he was going through hardtimes?”
“Thatwasn’twh–”
“And then you spread rumors about him justbecause?”
“I had a lotgoingon.”
