“Salad with balsamic vinaigrette,” the waiter said, placing the dish in front of Autumn as she leaned back in the chair. Then, he put Chains’s salad down and sprinkled some cracked pepper on the dishes before scurrying away.
“Going with your gut is always the best. I learned that a long time ago.” Chains buttered a slice of bread, then picked up a fork and dug into the salad.
“I agree with you, but a lot of times our rational mind talks us out of listening to our instinct. Does your mother know about the broken engagement? She hasn’t called me.” Autumn popped a cherry tomato into her mouth.
Chains shrugged. “I don’t talk to her that much.”
“She hasn’t called you about it?”
“No, but she never would. I’m not involved with the family. The first time I found out that Bret was getting hitched was when my mom called and told me to come to the brunch.”
“I’m surprised you came since you’re so removed from all of them.”
“I did it for my mom. She rarely calls and asks me to do shit with them. I was gonna back out, but I knew she’d be hurt, so I went.”
“You’re a good son,” she said, a smile in her voice.
“Not really, but then, my mom wasn’t the best mother in the world.”
Autumn put her fork down and stared at him. “Are you serious? Your mom’s like June Cleaver and Carol Brady rolled together.”
He busted out laughing. “That’s why my childhood sucked.”
She reached over and lightly smacked his hand. “I’m serious. Your mom is a whiz in the kitchen, she’s a great housekeeper, she dotes on Bret to the point where it’s annoying, and she adores your dad.”
“And she favors my sisters, never stood up one fuckin’ time for me when it came to my dad, and all her housekeeping drove me nuts.”
“I can see your point about the housekeeping. The few times she came over to my place, I saw her do the dust test—swiping a finger over the bookcase shelves and the buffet. I never found out if I passed or not.” She giggled.
“Bret would’ve told you if you hadn’t,” he said wryly.
“You’re right about that. Did you guys ever go out to eat when you were growing up? Going out to dinner, takeout, and ordering pizza were pretty much the staples in my house when I was young. Actually, my parents still do it.”
“We rarely went out unless it was over to a relative’s house.” He shook his head and pushed away the empty salad plate. “When I was at home, I couldn’t wait to get the hell outta there. I just didn’t belong—that’s all.”
“Who has the lasagna?” a teenage busser asked as he lowered a round tray.
“Right here,” Chains said.
The teen put down the plate, then he placed the gnocchi in front of Autumn, cleared the empty plates and glasses on the table, and sauntered away.
“This issogood,” Autumn said as she put another forkful of food into her mouth.
“Glad you like it. I’ve never had a bad meal here.” Chains cut into the lasagna. “Did you always want to be a vet?”
She dabbed the corners of her mouth while nodding. “Yeah. When I was eight years old, I found an injured bird in the backyard and put it in a cardboard shoebox; then, I read everything I could about how to care for the bird and nursed it back to health. Eventually, the bird was strong enough to fly away. After that, I was hooked.”
“You’re real good with animals. Thor took to you real fast, and he’s not too good with people he doesn’t know. You saved his life—I’ll never forget that.”
“Thor’s a great dog. I’ll admit that I loved seeing the way the two of you interacted with each other.” She took another bite, then suddenly her face grew taut and her hand flew to her chest.
“What’s wrong?” Chains asked.
Autumn didn’t say a word, but her gaze was fixed on something behind him. He looked over his shoulder and scanned the room, and then he saw Bret sitting at a table near the kitchen with a woman. Chains turned back around.
“Don’t let it bother you that the fucker’s here.” He reached out and put his hand on top of hers and squeezed it lightly.
“He’s with his ex-girlfriend—Teresa. I wonder if he’d been cheating on me this whole time. Maybeshe’sthe reason he broke it off with me. What an asshole.”