“What are the odds?” He pulls me into a hug. “Hey, Pepper,”—he gestures toward a girl with light brown hair and purple glasses sitting across from him—“meet one of my oldest friends.”
She glances up from the notebook she’s been scribbling in. “Allyour friends are old, Daddy.”
“Don’t be a sass,” Brandon replies fondly. “Pepper, this is Edward—or do you go by Ed now?”
“It’s Edward, but I’m kind of shocked you even know myname. Everyone on the team called me Freshie—even when I was a senior.”
“What do you expect, with a name like Frechette and that adorable boyish face? You haven’t aged a day—and here I am going gray.” Brandon points to a few flecks of silver in his beard.
I nod towards Pepper. “You sure don’t look old enough to have a daughter this age.”
“How old do you think I am?” Pepper asks, grinning.
I make a helpless gesture. “Twenty-five? Thirty?”
“No!” She giggles. “Much younger! ”
“Sorry, my mistake. Maybe three or four?”
“That’s just insulting. I’m nine. Almost ten.”
“Nine?” I look at Brandon. “Okay, nowIfeel ancient.”
“Welcome to my world,” Brandon laughs. “Hey, we haven’t ordered. You should join us.”
“I’d love to.” I take the open seat next to him.
“Pepper, Edward is the one who gave you the stuffed red panda as a baby gift.”
“Tobias? He’s my favorite—thank you! You have good taste.”
Actually, my stepmom does. I had enlisted her help when I heard about Brandon’s wife’s untimely death. It was all so sudden and tragic. I was out of my depth. My dad’s wife suggested I write my friend a note and give a gift to his baby daughter.
“I’m surprised you remembered.”
“Of course I remember. You were the only one on the team to send a gift to Pepper. It was really sweet. Especially because you were so busy with school at the time.”
“No busier than you.”
“I managed,” he says tersely. “So what are you up to?” he asks in a more cheerful voice.
“I’m at Steele Properties; it’s a development companyprimarily focused on—” I stop as Elinor approaches the table with a tray of drinks.
“Please don’t stop on my account.” She hands Brandon his coffee. “It was just getting interesting.”
“Um, Elinor, good morning.” She’s wearing jeans and a navy blue Norland Park T-shirt. Her hair is pulled up in a ponytail. Somehow she looks even better this morning.
“Morning, Mr. Frechette,” she says as she places a mug of hot chocolate overflowing with whipped cream and marshmallows in front of Pepper. “Extra marshmallows,” she says to Pepper in a much sweeter tone than she used with me.
“Wow! And sprinkles too!” Pepper lowers her face to the mountain of whipped cream and marshmallows. She takes a sip and then looks up with a little bit of whipped cream on her nose. It’s adorable. “I told you this place would be wonderful,” she says to her father who smiles at her indulgently.
“Can I get you anything?” Elinor asks with a hint of impatience.
“It’s good to see you.” I say.
She doesn’t reply, just puts her hand on her hip and waits for my order.
“Um... yes. I’m going to have breakfast with my friends, who were kind enough to ask me to join them after my breakfast date ghosted me.”
