Page 55 of Family Bonds- Kelsey & Van

“No,” she said. “But Duke knew I was coming and when. He probably told Brittany to make sure there was a table for me. No reason to make reservations then.”

They moved to the back of the restaurant closer to the kitchen.

Oh yeah, this was Duke’s doing. She knew that, as she hardly ever sat back here. Unless she was on a date.

She did bring men here if she’d been on a few dates with them. But most times she didn’t tell the person Duke was her brother.

Though meeting guys online, most weren’t on the island, but they’d come here for a date and want to impress her at her brother’s restaurant.

Duke would normally come out when she was here, put her food down and ask how things were going so far in terms of their dinner visit. He’d check the guy out and then give her a code on whether to keep or to ditch him.

It always seemed to be ditch.

If her brother did it this time, she’d pinch his arm in front of all his customers.

She knew that her parents would have kept Duke up to date on what was going on. She’d even talked to her brother a few times too but nothing in depth.

When they sat down, a server came over quickly. “Hi, Kelsey. What can we get you to drink tonight?”

“I’ll take a pinot grigio. The good stuff,” she said, lifting her eyes. “The bartender knows.” There were cheaper wines to choose from. She didn’t need to see the menu. They’d know to get her the best bottle already opened. She wouldn’t want the most expensive if it wasn’t opened, as she’d only have one glass.

“Got it,” Margot said. “And you?”

“I’ll take a number eight,” Van said from the beer menu.

“Here are our specials,” Margot said, laying down a sheet. “I’ll be back in a few.”

“They don’t read them to you?” he asked.

“They used to, but Duke found that a lot of times the servers messed up describing them or might have forgotten one. When you’re running back and forth so much it’s harder and keeps them at the tables longer too.”

Her brother was good at turning the tables over as fast as he could.

“This is better anyway,” he said, looking at it.

“I know what I’m getting,” she said. “That is why I got a wine to go with it.”

“I’ll just get a steak,” he said. “I’m pretty basic.”

“The filet is out of this world,” she said. “With garlic smashed potatoes.”

“You might not like the garlic later,” he said.

“I’ll look past it,” she said. “Or you can brush your teeth. Maybe I’ll have a few bites and we can kill some vampires together by breathing on them.”

He laughed when she wiggled her eyebrows. “It’s that strong?”

“No,” she said. “It’s not. Get what you want. I’m just saying that is a good meal. Everything here is, but Duke will make it personally.”

Margot returned with their drinks. “I’ll take the shrimp scampi,” she said, winking at him.

“Now I understand the garlic smashed potatoes comment. You’re consuming it too,” he said, smirking.

“Caught onto that pretty fast, didn’t you?” she asked.

“I’ll take the filet with the garlic smashed potatoes,” he said.

When Margot left, she said, “You’re a sweetheart and don’t even know it.”

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