“Two?” the host asks.
“I’m meeting someone.” I point toward my brother, who stands from his table. He meets me halfway, giving me a hug. Things feel different. His texts haven’t been sporadic these past few weeks. Every day he’s checking in. Things feel somewhat normal with him. I can’t even remember the last time we talked every day.
“I should have known you’d pick the OG for lunch.” It was where we always went when we were younger and we were celebrating something. Even after Mom landed a big fancy job in the city. I remember when I asked Con to take me here the first time. His eyes almost popped out at the bill.
“You can never beat endless breadsticks.” He pulls out my chair for me.
“We do have something to celebrate,” he says as the server comes over. “Two tours of Italy?”
“Perfect.” Well, I guess I’m having the tour of Italy today since Teddy took it upon himself to order for me. I pick up my Coke and take a giant gulp, needing any caffeine I can get. I can’t shake this fatigue today.
“I’ll be back with your salads.” She takes our untouched menus from us. My mouth waters thinking about the warm breadsticks that are about to make an appearance.
“Are we celebrating that you’re back in my life?” I smile over at him. It always makes me happy to see him. I think a lot of it is because the older he gets, the more he looks like our dad. It feels like a stolen moment that I get to go back in time. If only he’d turned out more like Dad, but I have to hope that maybe he’s getting there.
“That and I think I’ve found my new career path.” I hold my breath. “Not gambling.”
I lift my soda. “Cheers to that.” He clicks his water with my cup. Thank God he’s finally letting that go. “Tell me about it.”
“Cryptocurrency,” he says as the server drops the salad and breadsticks.
“I have no idea what that is,” I admit as I spoon myself out some of the salad and snag a few breadsticks.
“It’s going to put bitcoin to shame.” Yeah I don’t know much about that either, but I let Teddy launch into it. I don’t understand half of what he’s saying, but his excitement is clear. I haven’t seen him this excited about anything in a long time, if ever. I make a mental note to somehow ask Con more about bitcoins and cryptocurrency. He can break anything down for me. I bet he knows all about it, but I need to do it in small doses or he might get suspicious as to why I’m suddenly so interested.
“All the pieces are finally starting to come together.” He pauses for a moment as the waitress returns with our food. She places it down, asking us if we need anything else before she leaves us to enjoy it. I pick up my fork and dig in, hoping that me being hungry is the cause of my sleepiness.
“That’s really good, Teddy. It sounds like you’ve got your stuff together.” I look up at him.
“Yeah, I’m just pulling some last-minute stuff together for funding and I’ll be set.” My fork pauses almost to my mouth. Is that what this has been all about?
“I’m sorry, Teddy, but I don’t have the funds to invest in something like that.”
“Your husband is worth what now? Billions?” I actually don’t know what Con is worth. It’s never mattered. My stomach starts to sour. “But I’m not asking,” he quickly adds. “I’m still working on some stuff. I’m not going to jump in until I get everything sorted.”
“That’s smart.” I take my bite of pasta. See, he has changed.
Chapter 9
Constantine
Abigail looks tense. There’s a tightness around her pretty lips and a worry glimmering in her eyes as she pats her face cream on. That doesn’t sit right with me.
“I’m thinking we should take a trip,” I propose. “Not anywhere fancy, but maybe to Maine or Rhode Island. We can walk along the beach, skip rocks, eat a lot of pancakes with maple syrup.” Make love in front of a giant roaring fire. It’s quiet and peaceful up there.
“That sounds nice. Maybe in a couple of months? I’m still helping Orchard out with the grocery chain.”
“I remember.” Abigail is so invested in this business, you’d think she was part owner. Blank’s words filter through my brain. “Isn’t Abigail an investor? I swear I heard that on the street.” It makes no sense that she would keep it from me, though. What do I care if she owns a grocery store chain or ten of them? I’d only be angry that she kept me out of the loop, not that she spent money on this. “Then as soon as you’re done with that project, we can go.”