Page 74 of Every Broken Promise
“Don’t worry, honey, you won’t get food poisoning from me. Ty cooked today. His lasagna is pretty darn good.”
My father’s words must have caught Astrid by surprise because she turned toward me and her pouty little mouth formed a cute “O”.
When I winked at her, she scowled and then immediately schooled her features. What I wouldn’t give to be able to turn back time, and I would have stopped myself from making one mistake after another.
“I’m okay at following a recipe. EZ, on the other hand, is great with a grill,” I told her, even if she avoided making eye contact with me.
Was she thinking about what happened last weekend? That I was seconds away from having her come on my hand? About the fact that we had crossed a line that was so murky, I asked myself why it was there in the first place?
“And you, Adam? What can you do?”
“Someone has to taste-test. You know me, I’m not scared of hurting my brothers’ feelings. If it tastes like shit, I’ll tell them.”
“You’re so nice,” Astrid said sarcastically. “We need more people like you in the world.”
“You hear that, Pops? I told you I was special.”
“I think she means dropped-your-head-on-the-floor kind of special,” I chimed in.
At that, Astrid let out a small giggle, and I hoped that by the end of this dinner, I would be a little closer to knocking down those damn walls she had built against me.
Astrid
What was the accepted time to stay for dinner at someone’s house? I wanted to leave, and not because the food was bad. The lasagna was pretty good. Tyler made it with ricotta and spinach. I loved ricotta cheese. I was never a fan of ground beef with my pasta, and I wondered if that factored into his cooking.
Ezekiel had brought the drinks, and Adam whipped up a quick salad. It was beautiful to watch the Kanes come together like this, and that made my heart ache. How did this come about? I was so used to being here for this family, whether it was good or bad, that now that I had new traditions shoved in my face, I was not handling it well.
I knew I was being unreasonable. But I couldn’t help the way I felt.
“So, what is it you do, Astrid?” Mr. Kane asked me.
My cheeks turned a bit red. I hoped no one said anything negative about the gossip column. I know I was anonymous, but it was still my column, and I was a bit attached to it.
“I work forThe Willow Grove Herald,” I told Mr. Kane.
Ezekiel pulled out his wallet and handed Ty a twenty-dollar bill.
“What’d I miss?”
Adam asked the same thing I was wondering.
“Ty said she went into journalism. I didn’t believe it.”
“He hustled you,” said Adam. “Astrid helped me with two of my research papers my senior year.”
“When was this?” asked Ty.
Adam chuckled.
“You honestly didn’t think I gave you two all those rides from the goodness of my heart, did you?”
The conversation was getting dangerously close to the past. Before anyone else could say anything else, my phone began to ring, and I pulled it out like it was a lifeline. When I saw it was Rachel, I immediately got up and excused myself so I could answer since I had not heard from her all day.
Rachel was okay. She needed me to do a favor, and since I was looking for the first excuse to leave, this was perfect timing.
When I returned to the table, Tyler was up and looking intently at me.
“Is everything okay?
