He arches an eyebrow. “So there will be a next time?”
His foot is deliberately touching mine now. There’s no mistaking it. “Yes, I believe so.”
“Good.” He flashes that great smile at me again and his dimple pops. “Also, you need to show me around the city. You’re a native New Yorker, aren’t you?”
I nod. “You said you moved here from Chicago, right?”
“That’s right—the Windy City,” he confirms. He sounds like he has more to say about that, but instead he says, “It was time for a change.”
Before I can stop myself, I blurt out, “Bad breakup?”
He blinks a few times, flustered for the first time since I showed up at his office. “Busted.”
Of course, I’m curious to know every detail. Who is this mystery girl in Chicago who gave up a great guy like Dean? Or was he the one to pull the plug on the relationship? Does he ever think of her? Does he stare at her number on her cell phone screen, resisting the urge to place the call?
But I can’t say any of that. Instead, I murmur, “I can relate.”
Dean lifts his water glass in the air. “To something better?”
I clink my glass against his. “To something better.”
Chapter 36: The New Girl
After the revelation that Francesca is Violet’s godmother, the dinner goes from bad to worse. Pete and Lydia won’t stop bickering. On top of that, they order a second bottle of wine and Pete proceeds to get increasingly smashed. At one point, it gets so bad that Joel reaches for Cassie’s hand and gives her a squeeze under the table, because he can see how upsetting it is to her.
Also, it turns out Cassie does not like foie gras mousse. It takes all her self-restraint not to spit it out into her napkin.
Just as they’re finishing up their meals, Lydia gets a call on her phone. In spite of her snippy comment when Cassie took out her phone, it isn’t the least bit surprising when Lydia takes the call.
“Hi, Lucy,” Lydia says into her phone. “Is everything okay with Violet?” She listens for a moment. “What about her bedtime story?” Another pause as Lydia clucks her tongue. “No. Violet is supposed to read her own bedtime story. She knows how to read!”
Lydia rolls her eyes dramatically at the table. “Put her on. I’ll talk to her.”
With those words, Lydia hops out of her seat and goes to the front of the restaurant to talk to her daughter without the three of us staring at her. It’s a relief to have Lydia gone, even temporarily. The tension noticeably lifts.
“It’s impressive that Violet can read already,” Cassie says brightly.
Pete seems to sober up slightly at Cassie’s comment. “Yes, well… Lydia taught her. She worked really hard at it.”
Lydia is a big shot lawyer and impressive in her own right, but she never talks about her own career. It seems to Cassie that the biggest source of pride in Lydia’s life is her little daughter.
“Anyway,” Pete says, “I’m sorry Lydia was such a bitch tonight.”
“Pete!” Joel glances at Cassie. “Christ. It’s fine. She was fine.”
“Not really.” Pete rubs his eyes with the balls of his hands. “My parents had a brutal divorce, and I never wanted that for my kids. But…”
Cassie realizes at that moment what he’s saying. He’s been trying to make it work for Violet’s sake, but he’s clearly reached the end of his rope. Easygoing, fun-loving Pete will not stay married to a woman like Lydia. Their marriage will dissolve and they’ll share Violet. She feels sorry for Pete, even if it means she won’t have to endure another awkward dinner like this one.