Page 9 of Brodie

“No, never. Is the food good?”

“Yeah, and they have a huge menu, so you should be able tofind something.” I hover my hand over her lower back when the girl at the fronttakes us to one of the booths and then wait for her to sit before sliding intomy seat.

After we order drinks—her a Coke and me just water—I watchher look over the menu, already knowing what I’ll get.

“Do you want to share an appetizer?”

“Sure,” I agree, and she sets her menu aside. “What did youdecide on?”

“The French dip.” She smiles when I laugh.

“Is your mom back in Minnesota?” I ask after the waitresscomes over with our drinks and takes our orders.

“Yeah, she lives there with her fiancé and his daughter.”

“Where is your dad?”

Her expression falls slightly. “He passed away when I wasyoung.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It was a long time ago.”

“Time doesn’t always make it easier.”

“You’re right about that.” Her smile is sad.

“So, if your mom is back in Minnesota, who do you knowhere?” I ask to change the subject and to get that sad look out of her eyes.

“My aunt Ileana,” she says as the waitress comes over todrop off the mozzarella sticks Reese ordered for an appetizer.

“Are you two close?”

“Yeah. She and my dad were twins, and with my dad gone, weonly got closer over the years.” Her smile is fond. “She’s kind of always beenlike a second mom to me. I obviously lived with my real mom, but when I wasgrowing up, I would fly to California, where my aunt was living at the time,and spend my summers with her. Or if I had a long break from school, she wouldcome to Minnesota to visit, or we would travel.”

“That’s cool.”

“She’s the best.” She picks up a cheese stick, tears it inhalf, and then blows on it as she looks at me. “What about your family?”

“My parents live in Kentucky. I have a brother who lives inChicago with his wife and my niece, who just turned two. And a sister who justmoved to Nashville to live with her boyfriend.”

“Why did you say boyfriend like that?” she asks,covering her mouth with her hand as she chews.

“I don’t like him. He’s self-centered and thinks he’s God’sgift. My sister could do better, but she likes the lifestyle he offers, soshe’s put up with a bunch of shit she shouldn’t have had to.”

I watch her nose scrunch. “Does she love him?”

“She says she does.”

“Then you’ll never change her mind about him, and if youtry, it will just create a rift between the two of you.”

“You say that like you know from experience.”

“My mom’s fiancé isn’t her first boyfriend since my daddied.” She shrugs. “Mom likes living a life of leisure and travel, and over theyears, she’s found man after man to give that to her. Not to say she didn’tcare about them, but until Richard, I don’t think she was ever in love. Shejust appreciated the fact that those men could take care of her. And for her,that’s what’s most important.” She picks up another mozzarella stick.

“When I was a teenager, I would get so mad at her, and wewould fight all the time about it. I knew the men she was with before Richardweren’t treating her right, and I couldn’t understand why she kept seeking outthe same kind of men over and over again.” Her eyes lock on mine. “Nothingchanged except our relationship. She always felt like I was judging her when Iwasn’t. I just wanted better for her, even if it was a better kind of man.”

“But you like her fiancé now?”

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