Page 38 of Dreaming of You

"I hope so." She looked up as Sonny came over to the table.

"How did you like your food?" Sonny asked.

"It was fantastic," she answered. "The best pasta I've ever had."

"Thank you," Sonny said, beaming with pleasure at her words.

"It was great, as always," Barrett added. "And I want to see the bill this time."

"Never. At Sonny's, you always eat for free." Sonny glanced back at Kate. "Did Barrett tell you what he did for me?"

"No, he didn't."

"You don't need to get into that old story," Barrett protested.

"He saved my life," Sonny said.

"He's exaggerating," Barrett cut in.

"Not even a little bit," Sonny said, with a shake of his head.

"Well, tell me the story," she urged.

"My wife, Theresa, hired Barrett to be her divorce attorney. We were having trouble in our marriage about three years ago, but I didn't really know what had changed, why my wife was so distant. Barrett convinced Theresa to share a painful, personal secret she'd been carrying around for a long time. It was a secret she couldn't bear for me to find out, so she thought she'd divorce me before that could happen. But Barrett urged her to talk to me about it. We worked things out and found our way back to each other. Of course, Barrett lost her business, so I try to make it up to him in free meals."

"I've told you before, there's nothing to be made up," Barrett said.

"I'm glad you got your wife back," she said.

Sonny gave her a smile. "I have a feeling you want to know what the secret was."

"I would never ask you that," she replied, although she was very curious.

"It's not a secret anymore. My stepbrother made a move on Theresa when she had too much wine one night. She'd been drinking a lot that week. Her mother had passed on, and she was struggling. My stepbrother took photos of her passed out on a bed, making it look like they'd slept together. Then he blackmailed her. He wanted me to invest in his business, and I had already said no. After Theresa told me what was happening, I was furious—at both of them, if I'm being honest. But when I really listened to Theresa, I started to understand that the situation was more complicated. I hadn't understood that she'd started drinking not only because she was missing her mother but also because she was lonely. I was here at the restaurant every night. I had put work before my marriage." Sonny glanced at Barrett. "If Theresa and I hadn't listened to Barrett, we might be divorced now."

"You're giving me too much credit," Barrett said. "I just got you in the room together. You and Theresa did the rest."

"You have no idea how difficult it was for us to talk to each other," Sonny said, giving Barrett a grateful smile. "Anyway, it's all good now. Communication is the key. You two should remember that."

At his curious glance, she immediately shook her head. "We're not together like that. We're just…friends."

"What she said," Barrett added as Sonny's gaze moved to him. "We share office space. That's it."

"All right. I'll leave it alone," Sonny said with amusement. "But if I could give you both just a little advice—life is shorter than you think. Don't waste a second. Now, I must see to the other diners. Please come back soon."

"You certainly have a devoted fan," she said to Barrett as Sonny left.

"I really didn't do that much. I tell people to talk all the time. Most of them don't. Luckily, Sonny and Theresa did."

She nodded, thinking Barrett had a lot more depth than she'd first thought. "Do you wish you'd tried to talk more honestly with Vanessa?"

"I wish I'd done a lot of things differently. But it's all in the past. I can't change it, so I move on."

"Next time, you'll do it differently."

He frowned. "I told you. There isn't going to be a next time."

"Everyone says that and then they meet the right person, and it changes. One mistake doesn't have to mean you're done with love for life."

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