Page 23 of Capturing Hearts

Brendan explains with a tight smile. “Annie won’t stop working. It’s driving me crazy.”

I pick up my water, and keep my eyes on Joe. He’s safer.

“He’s taking his sweet time coming out, isn’t he? You’re big as a house,” Margaret laughs.

I choke on the water, wishing I hadn’t eaten so much in front of the woman. Wiping my mouth, I mutter, annoyed, “Um…Thank you?”

Brendan reaches over and touches my hair. Margaret commented on it when we sat down, her own much shorter and less healthy looking. Her jealousy was something he apparently caught. “Look at this. See how beautiful her hair is? It’s grown like five inches in a few months.”

“You’re glowing,” Joe says with a genuine smile.

Margaret sucks on her teeth, her attention now arrested by something on the tablecloth. “Where do you think they get these made? Not China, I hope?” she mutters, picking it up to eye it.

Brendan glances to me and I smile a thank you to him. He winks. Maybe in another year, I’ll be able to handle women like Margaret in a smoother way, deflecting the odd jab that always seems to come when I least expect it. I’ve only been in this little circle for about, oh, nine months? She used to be friends with Rebecca, the woman Brendan ‘dated’ for several years before I came back into the picture. Margaret and Rebecca are a lot alike, so not only do I have to deal with replacing her friend, I have to deal with replacing her mirror image…ish. That a girl like me could replace a woman like her is terrifying to her.

A waiter comes to remove our plates. “Can I interest you in some Tira Misu? Some coffee?”

I groan, “I’d love some coffee! But I can’t.”

“I’ll have some,” Margaret smiles.

Brendan smiles to himself and balls up his cloth napkin. “We’d love to stay, but Annie’s got to go in to her bar. She let her employees have the holiday off.” He threw in that to remind Margaret I own the place, and I could just kiss him for it. “…and so we have to get going. Can I have the check, please?” he asks the waiter with easy authority. The guy nods and exits quickly.

Joe empties his glass. “Brendan, you’re not getting dinner.”

Leaning back in the booth and casually resting his arm around me with his thumb caressing my shoulder, Brendan smirks. “I am, Joe. I already gave him my card before we sat down.”

Joe laughs. “You jerk!”

Margaret’s impressed, too of course. My husband is a classy man, something I’m very proud of.

Brendan looks at me, meeting my eyes. “It was Annie’s idea.”

I smile, amused by his lie. “It was the least we could do for making you eat at 5:30 p.m. I mean, who does that?”

Joe chuckles. “I know, right? What are we, senior citizens?”

Margaret loses the stick up her ass and joins in. “Early bird special anyone?” We all appreciate her making the mood light and friendly again. “You know what? No more news until after the holiday. We can watch It’s a Wonderful Life, or Rudolph Came to Town, or whatever those animation movies are called,” she smiles. “But no more news.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” I exclaim, impressed. “I’m in!”

Joe grumbles and Brendan says zip. But at Margaret’s look, Joe shrugs. “Oh alright. It’s only a couple of days.”

“You can solve the world’s problems later. What you put into your system, affects you. It’s a fact.”

I think about this, never having considered it before. Does that apply to all things?

“Alright, I’m in,” Brendan says just as the bill arrives. He signs away, leaving a hefty tip. “Merry Christmas,” he tells the guy, handing it back to him.

“Merry Christmas! Thank you, sir!”

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