Page 36 of A Forgotten Mistake

The server nods as she leans forward like she’s getting ready to tell a grand story. “It was weirdly romantic. He was going to burn the diner down because the person he was in love with didn’t love him back. I told him that maybe chocolates and flowers were a better way to express his love than arson. I wish I could find a man who loved me enough to burn down his diner for me.”

“If you’d like to keep your job, you could be a whole lot less chatty,” Liam grumbles.

“Soooo, this really is the infamous diner,” I say with a grin.

“Care to catch me up?” Layla asks.

“Liam owns the diner,” I explain. “Which you’d think he’d have mentioned when we walked up. But that would be the normal thing to do, and we all know Liam’s difficult.”

“I like to pretend I don’t own it,” Liam says. “I do my best to forget it exists.”

“We’ve noticed,” the server says. “I miss you harassing the customers.”

“You own it?” Mom asks, looking hesitant, probably running through the recent conversation to see if she said anything wrong. “I thought you were in homicide?”

“I am. I quit for a year to open a diner. Hated it and went back. I just… do you know how much work goes into selling a diner? It’s easier to just forget it exists. And thank you. I know I was a better chef than the current one.”

“You’re so modest,” I say sarcastically.

Liam shrugs. “I didn’t say it to his face!”

“Don’t worry, Norm knows,” the server says. “Now what can I get you all to drink?”

We give our orders and after she leaves, I stare at Liam who is busy fiddling with his silverware. It must not be wrapped perfectly because he’s busy rewrapping it.

“What made you buy a diner, then?” Mom asks.

Liam glances up at her. “It was my father’s passion. I knew a bit about the whole restaurant thing because of him and thought I’d give it a try.”

“Did he have diners as well?”

“No. It was a steak and seafood restaurant called Riven.”

Mom points at him. “No kidding? Clark, that’s that fancy restaurant your boss would take us to for Christmas. Remember? It was so good. We could never afford to go there ourselves, so we loved the Christmas party. We were so sad when it closed.”

“Oh shit, you’re right,” Dad says. “Didn’t the owner…” He trails off as his eyes dart away from Liam like he’s said something wrong.

“Didn’t the owner, what?” Layla asks.

“Nothing. It was just a really good restaurant,” Dad says as he nervously glances at Mom who is just nodding as quickly as she can, like that’s not suspicious in the slightest.

I realize that what happened to Liam’s parents was probably a hot topic for a while if the original restaurant was in the area. The idea that three people would break into a multimillionaire’s home and kill him and his wife would definitely have spread around. I was so young at the time that I never would’ve picked up on it or related it in any way to Liam or his father’s restaurant.

“Thanks. My dad was quite proud of it.”

“Do your parents still own restaurants?” Layla asks. Mom and Dad are giving her “abort” eyes.

“They passed away,” Liam says.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Thanks. It’s been a while now.”

“Will you be joining us for Thanksgiving?” Mom asks, quickly shifting the topic. “It’ll be at my house.”

Liam looks minorly horrified. “Oh… I don’t know. Gabriel might need me to stay home and stare at his cat.”

“I would like it if you went.” I’ve been trying to figure out how I could convince him to go. He’s not exactly the easiest person to talk into doing things with others.

---