Cassie wonders how Lydia lets him get out of the house like that without brushing his hair. “Hi, Pete,” she says. “Lydia.”
Lydia simply nods and takes a sip from her wine glass.
There’s already a bottle of wine on the table, ordered by Lydia prior to their arrival, and Cassie helps herself to a heaping glass. It’s the only way she’ll make it through this evening. She picks up the menu to study it and finds the prices are even higher than they were on the online menu. She gasps at the dollar figure next to the steak.
“The foie gras mousse appetizer is supposed to be incredible here,” Lydia says as she eyes the menu with her sharp eyes. “We can get it for the table if you’d like.”
Foie gras? That sounds familiar, but Cassie isn’t entirely sure what it is. But she likes mousse, and she wants to be agreeable. “That sounds fine,” she says.
Lydia raises an eyebrow. “Do you like foie gras, Cassie?”
Cassie squirms. “Yes…？”
A smile plays on Lydia’s lips. “What is it?”
A horrible silence descends on the table. Cassie has no clue what foie gras is. She can’t even begin to guess. It could be absolutely anything from a fruit to snails to some other mystery animal she’s never heard of that lives only in France. She eyes Joel, hoping he’ll save her by supplying the answer, but he’s looking at his own menu.
Fortunately, Pete breaks the silence. “It’s duck liver,” he says. “And I think it’s disgusting.”
“That’s because you have unrefined taste,” Lydia sniffs.
“Be nice, Lydia.”
Cassie is glad Lydia has redirected her snootiness in another direction, but it’s equally painful to listen to Lydia and Pete snipping at each other. They were going at it the whole time they were visiting Anna’s baby.
Cassie’s phone chirps with a text message from within her purse. She dares to sneak a peek at it, and sees a sympathetic message from Zoe, who had gotten an earful about this impending dinner at work this afternoon.
“It’s amazing,” Lydia comments, “how some people can’t go through even half a meal without looking at their cell phone.”
Cassie’s cheeks burn as she lifts her eyes from her purse. “I—I wasn’t…”
“Don’t mind me.” Lydia shrugs. “Attend to your business on your phone. Please.”
Oh God.
“By the way, Peter,” Lydia says. “Can you bring Violet to her lesson tomorrow? I’ve got to work late.”
He groans. “That kid goes to too many lessons. She’s only five! What the hell has she got tomorrow?”
“Violin.”
Cassie stifles a laugh. “Violet plays the violin?”
Lydia lays down her menu to glare across the table. “What’s funny about that?”
“Well, because… her name kind of sounds like…” Cassie sputters.
Joel cracks a smile though, and Pete lets out an appreciative belly laugh. “It is funny,” Pete agrees. “Violet. Violin. Violet violin.”
Lydia whips her head around to glare at her husband this time. They haven’t even placed their orders yet, and this dinner has already become unbearably uncomfortable. Joel owes Cassie big time for dragging her here.
“The violin was a gift when Violet was born,” Lydia says. “A gift from Francesca.”
Francesca again. Is it possible to interact with Lydia without her bringing up Joel’s ex-girlfriend?