"Great," Aaron said, picking up a menu.
She nodded, glancing a little uncertainly at Julie. "My name's Denise, by the way. What is it you do?"
Julie was caught off guard with questions aimed at her, but then she hadn't intended on laying it on quite so thick either, she had just reacted to Shannon.
"I'm a full-time student, and I actually work at the café."
"You're in college? What for?"
"I'm an English major," Julie informed her. "I intend to become a college professor myself someday."
Denise nodded, but before she could ask anything else Aaron said, "So, Dad, how's the plumbing business going?"
Josh, Aaron's father, offered his son a little smile. "Same as always."
"I think he was trying to deflect attention off his girlfriend," Rebecca chimed in.
Aaron sighed, and Julie bit her lip to try to cover her smile.
They were going to make him so grumpy, and she was going to be the one to have to deal with the big bear all night, she didn't know why she was amused, but she was.
"Julie's a girl—why don't you tell her about that great deal you got on your dress?" suggested Aaron's dad.
"Oh, she'll see that soon enough. I want to hear about Aaron's girlfriend, too," Rebecca said, not taking the bait.
Josh half smiled. "Sorry, son. I tried."
"Becky," Aaron said, shooting her a dark look from where he sat at the table.
Sighing, she said, "Fine. Let's leave Aaron alone for the moment and talk about the wedding. I am so excited, and you know what I did? You know how normally at the reception the bride's feet are hurting from the heels and everything? Well, since no one is actually going to be seeing the heels because my dress is so long, I got a pair of white ballet slippers so I can dance the night away and never have to worry about my feet hurting."
As the waiter approached the table, Aaron leaned in a little and said, "Will you drive us back to the hotel?"
"Yeah," she said with a nod. "How come?"
"I'm not going to make it through this dinner without something to take the edge off," he stated.
Smiling, she said, "No problem at all. Order one of everything they serve."
He gave her an ironic smile. "You're always trying to take advantage of me, aren't you?"
"I'm not trying to get any information out of you tonight, I just sympathize. Trust me, if I were you, I would require a few gallons to be hooked up to me just to be able to sit at this table for the remainder of dinner. You're a good man, Charlie Brown."
She didn't really realize they were leaning in and talking to each other in hushed voices until she spotted Rebecca grinning at them with a look that said, "Aw, aren't they cute?"
Aaron shot her a dirty look. "Stop."
"I did nothing wrong," Becca said innocently.
Aaron glanced down at the menu very briefly, then he looked up at the waiter. "Can I get a Heineken, please?"
The waiter smiled. "Of course. Did you know what you want to order yet?"
"Spaghetti," he replied.
"With meatballs?" the waiter suggested.
"No thanks," Aaron said, shaking his head.