“Of course.” Emily turns on her heel, heading through the kitchen.
“I’ll head back to the kitchen to make your lunches. We’re serving a margherita pizza with goat cheese and arugula. Is that okay?”
“Sounds delicious.” I stare up at Logan with a grin. My stomach grumbles as if it heard Logan’s promise of food.
“Sounds good to me,” Abby says.
“Should only take about fifteen minutes.” Logan bends, planting a kiss on my forehead. His lips linger a bit longer. It isn’t long enough to be noticeable to Abby or anyone else in the restaurant. But I can feel it in the way his warm lips meet my skin. I close my eyes, savoring the moment before it vanishes.
And then he vanishes. I watch his back as he disappears behind the swinging door. Back to where Natalie is.
“Do you know where the bathroom is?”
I snap my head to my left to find Abby staring at me. She’s sitting across from me, porcelain plates and linen napkins between us.
“Uh, yeah.” I blink several times then point to the back corner. “They’re back there, down the small hall. It’s the door on the right.”
“Cool.” She stands up, wrapping her purse around her shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”
Once Abby’s gone, I turn my attention back to the window. An old man down by the dock, bends down, unraveling the rope tying his boat to the pier. The rope is long, and it takes several minutes for him to get it loose.
I wish I could say that my thoughts don’t completely wander but I’d be lying if I said they weren’t. I couldn’t wrap my finger around it. Something was off between Abby and Logan. And there was certainly something off with Natalie. I still didn’t understand why I had reservations about her. My husband never gave me any reason to question him.
Either way, I couldn’t ignore that damn annoying pit sitting at the bottom of my empty stomach.
“Oh. Thank God.” Abby is back from the restroom, lifting the glass of wine that’s been placed in front of her plate. I hadn’t even noticed Emily bringing us the wine. I didn’t even order it.
The rest of lunch flies by without any sign of Natalie. Logan brought out our plates, only stopping long enough to chat for a few minutes. My mind was somewhere else. It was with Logan, but it wasn’t.
Once we’re finished with our lunch, Logan meets us by our table and walks us to the front of the restaurant. Abby walks ahead of us, clearly ready to head back to her new office. We’ve nearly made it to the door when Max walks in.
He’s wearing a crisp, dark blue suit and a smile to match the bright color of his red tie. His black hair is slicked back, the scruff lining his jaw a little longer than the last time I’d seen him.
“If it isn’t Mrs. Lena Moore.” His introduction is a little over the top but that’s how Max has always been.
He leans down to give me a hug. My too small arms wrap around his muscular frame. “It’s good to see you, Max.”
Logan shakes Max’s hand, updating him on a few things about the restaurant.
Max’s eyes shift in Abby’s direction the whole time Logan talks. When he’s finished, Max shoves his hands in his pockets, leaning back as if he’s admiring her. “And who is this gorgeous woman you have with you?”
“This is my best friend, Abby." I place my hand on Abby’s arm. “She just moved here not too long ago and is opening up her new business a few blocks over.”
“Really?” Max’s eyebrows shoot up his forehead. He winks. “A woman in charge. I like that.”
I roll my eyes and so does Logan. Logan shakes his head, crimson flushing his cheeks. He turns to Abby. “I apologize for my boss, Abby. He can be a little forward sometimes.”
Abby laughs. “I don’t mind at all.”
Max sticks out his hand. “I’m Max, the owner of this restaurant.”
Abby leans forward, returning Max’s handshake. “It’s an incredible restaurant you have here. The food was delicious.”
“Thanks.” Max lifts his hands and claps them together. “Say, why don’t we all have dinner here Sunday night? It’s our least busy night so it won’t be too crowded.”
Logan and I turn to Abby, waiting to hear her answer. She looks between me and Logan before turning back to Max.
“Good with us.” Logan shrugs, giving me a smile across the circle we’re standing in.
“I’m in,” Abby says. Her smile is nearly as big as Max’s.
“Great,” Max says, cheerfully. “We’ll meet here at seven.”
Logan says goodbye to me and Abby before he follows Max to the kitchen. We walk the several blocks in silence. I don’t ask her about Max’s enthusiasm toward her and she doesn’t ask me any questions about him either.
It’s not until I’ve said goodbye to Abby and I’m on my way home that it dawns on me that we never even went over the mock-up for her business logo. Guilt lodges itself against the pit in my stomach, the same one that’s made its home inside my body the last few hours.
If I thought I was a terrible friend for leaving Abby in Providence, I sure as hell was proving myself right
I pull into my driveway just as small rain drops fall from the clouds above. They splatter across my windshield, sounding like tiny taps pattering against the glass. The heavy gray clouds fill the sky and thunder rumbles in the background. A typical Seattle day.
My phone chimes twice from inside my purse. I fish it out, unlocking the screen to find a new email sitting in my work inbox.
The email is from an address I’m unfamiliar with, but I open it, thinking it must be a new client. Immediately, that growing pit in my stomach swells, bile rising in my throat. I reread the words typed out,
