Page 7

Joey

Later that night, I sat in my car outside a large red-brick building, watching as some very well-dressed people walked into what looked like a high-end restaurant, wondering if I’d completely lost my mind or somehow slipped into an alternate universe somehow.

I’d arrived home a few hours prior, and I’d walked into the house to see Erin cleaning like a madwoman possessed. She was barking orders at Dad to move things to her specifications, then ordering him to move the same things back again.

Dad had sent me a silent SOS with his eyes when I walked in on him moving one of the heavy leather couches to Erin yelling, “Not there! There!” while she pointed half a foot behind where Dad held it.

Leaving Dad to fend for himself, I’d turned around and fled to my room, praying that she hadn’t seen or heard me walk into the house.

Half an hour later, Dad knocked quietly on my bedroom door and snuck in like a thief in the night, softly closing the door behind him so the sound of the latch wouldn’t carry.

“She’s been like that ever since she got Callum’s call this morning that he wouldn’t be arriving until just before lunch tomorrow,” he whispered to me. “You know the moods she gets in when things don’t go her way.”

I nodded. With holiday get togethers or family meals, Erin liked everything just so. Both Callum and I were meant to arrive home today and spend the next four days as one big, happy family. That the four of us had never been together for longer than a day before had been playing on Erin’s mind for years, and both Dad and I felt like she’d been building this long weekend up far more than it needed to be. To have Callum disrupt her plans and arrive tomorrow instead of today was bound to upset her.

And when Erin got spitting mad about something, she cleaned like a Hoover on speed.

And when worry got added into the mix, she roped Dad in to help.

I’d learned early on that it was better to let her do her thing and stay out of her way instead of trying to offer my help, no matter how much my dad pleaded with me. Apparently, I was too young to know what I was doing and wouldn’t understand her aesthetic even if she was standing right next to me guiding my hands like a marionette. Of course, I’d always helped clean, but in these moods? It was best to let her do her thing, stand back, and wait it out until she’d worked the tension out herself.

Now that Dad had explained why Erin was in one of her moods, I fully understood why she’d been so busy and distracted on a cleaning rampage that she’d never noticed me walking in the front door. However, I couldn’t understand the worry that had driven her to rope Dad into help. I assumed Callum had simply encountered a flight delay, because as far as I was aware, he was still coming from the other side of the country. Flight delays happened all the time. Surely, that wouldn’t be enough to cause her to worry?

Erin was a complicated woman.

She’d been the same for the rest of the afternoon and early evening, and I’d felt beyond relieved to escape the house to go on a date just to get out of her way.

But now, I sat staring at the front doors of the restaurant my date had directed me to, only to be overcome by nerves.

Why the hell was I doing this again?

I was happy alone. I was enjoying being my own person and not needing to answer to anyone else, and yet here I was, letting Jacob and Drew dictate my love life.

What was wrong with me?

I shook my head to get my thoughts into some semblance of order. This was only a meal. A shared meal, hopefully with a like-minded individual, where we could chat about anything and everything. A couple of hours out of my life to eat, and then back to the humdrum of the everyday.

At best, I might gain a new friend.

I took in a deep breath before letting it out slowly, trying to calm my nerves. There was something about tonight that felt like everything I knew was going to change, and it unnerved me.

I’d had these feelings before, but usually when it related to my peanut allergy. It was like my body sensed before I did that I was in danger, and it got my adrenaline running before it was actually needed.

I shook my arms out before checking my pockets for my EpiPen. If my instincts were telling me I was going to need it, I was damn well going to make sure I had it.

Satisfied that I had everything I needed, I got out of the car and headed for the restaurant, tapping the remote lock as I went. The last thing I wanted was to end up being stranded here after a terrible date because my car got stolen.

I pulled up the app on my phone to check the booking name my date had sent me. Anamchara. It was an interesting last name, but I’d seen weirder.

The restaurant host greeted me with a toothy smile as soon as I walked through the overly elaborate doors.

“Welcome to The Majestic. How may I help you this evening?”

“Um, yeah. Hi. I, uh, I have a date?” I asked, my voice rising with the question. Feeling my face burn, I looked around the restaurant to see if I could see anyone sitting by themselves so I could bypass the host, but it looked like all the tables were full.

“Certainly, sir,” the host replied, tapping away at the tablet in front of her. “Do you know the name of the person you’re meeting?”

I held my phone up so I could read the name off the message. “Anamchara?”

Letting my hand drop, I could hear the host’s nails clacking on the screen before she addressed me again. “I can’t find that name, sir. Can you spell it for me?”

I brought the phone up again, tapping it to activate it from its sleep state, and held it out to her so she could read the name.

“A, n, a…” she trailed off as she compared the name on my phone and the listings on her tablet. “Oh, okay. Here it is. Right this way, sir.” She led me into the restaurant, her hands clasped loosely behind her back.

I busied myself with putting my phone away, only vaguely keeping an eye on her shoes in front of me, until she stopped suddenly enough that I nearly ran into her. “Shit. Sorry.”

“Quite alright, sir.” She motioned to one of the two empty seats at the small, white tablecloth covered table. “I believe your date has already arrived, but he needed to make a phone call. He’ll return shortly.”

After placing my leather jacket on the back of my chair, I gingerly sat down and picked up the menu that was sitting on the table in front of me. “Thank you,” I said distractedly, my eyes scouring the rest of the darkened restaurant to see who she was referring to.

“You’re welcome, sir. Your server will be along soon. I hope you enjoy your time at The Majestic.” She gave me a genuine smile then turned around to head back to her podium at the doors.

Glancing around the room one last time, I let my eyes settle on the menu in my hands and took a deep breath in, releasing it slowly. Why was I so nervous? It was just a meal. A meal with a stranger, sure. But a meal, nevertheless.

My eyes widened at what was listed on the menu. An expensive meal. Damn.

I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and quickly navigated to my bank app to make sure I had enough money to cover whatever I ate tonight.

I was heaving a sigh of relief as I realized I was fine financially—for tonight, at least—when I sensed movement in the chair opposite me. I pocketed my phone and looked up, only for my jaw to drop and my eyes to widen in shock at who was now sitting across from me.

“Hello, mo lus na gréine . It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”