Page 35 of A Forgotten Mistake

“It’s the only way I can make sure Gabriel keeps me around and loves me,” he tells her.

“Do not listen to him. He’s lying,” I say before turning in my seat to look at him. He’s so smug.

“You better straighten up,” I whisper.

His grin makes me want to kiss him, but I don’t think it’d be overly appropriate at this moment. “Or?”

“Or I’ll make you get another cat.”

“Please don’t.”

“You’re going to love this place,” Mom assures Liam. “Absolutely love it.”

“I’m excited to try it out.”

We pull up and Mom comes around to meet Liam as he gets out of the back seat, like she’s going to guide him right inside. She even takes his arm. Liam doesn’t seem to know what to do with that, but when he realizes that I look amused, he’s given no choice but to let her lead him in.

“Isn’t this just the cutest place?” she asks.

“Is it?” he questions as we head over to a table.

“They have the best specials too. Tonight looks like fish. Ooh, I do love fish.”

Liam flips through the menu before looking over and seeing that I’m watching him. He winks at me.

“I know it’s not super fancy,” Mom says. “You’re probably used to like… high-dollar places.”

“I’m not. As long as the food is edible, I’m happy.”

“It’s not a very big place but always quite busy.”

“I see that.”

“I think they should rearrange the tables a bit to fit more people in,” Dad says. “Wasting far too much space.”

“Oh, and the previous chef was quite a bit better, but the current one still does a great job,” Mom assures Liam.

“That’s good. What are you getting, Gabriel?”

“Maybe this BLT chicken sandwich? That sounds good. What about you?”

“I think I’ll do that too,” he says. “I heard the owner of this place is atrocious.”

Mom, who loves gossip, leans in. “Oh yeah?”

“Definitely. It’s why the chef quit. He couldn’t stand the owner.”

I stare at Liam as it slowly dawns on me what he’s saying. “Was the chefthe owner?” I ask as I realize that my parents’ favorite place to eat is Liam’s diner that he’s completely neglected.

Liam just smiles as the server comes up and stares at us for a long moment.

“Am I fired?” she asks. “Did you show up because you heard about the pancake incident?”

“Do you want to be fired?” Liam replies.

“I’m just glad you didn’t burn it down like you threatened to.”

“You were going to burn down the diner?” I ask.

---