I add a little salt to my salad and get ready to take a bite when—
“Oh, for God’s sake…” I mutter under my breath.
Seriously? My ex did not just walk into this restaurant.
Except that she did.
Raine Cunningham. Her hair is covered in a red bandana, but otherwise she looks fresh-faced and pretty, as she always does. Her jeans fit in that slightly loose way that she likes, and she’s wearing a T-shirt and denim jacket. But it’s all put together in a way that works for her. Raine is the kind of person who can put on sweat pants and still look like she’s ready to go out on the town. You can’t be the town beauty expert and look unkempt.
And already, she’s seen me.
It would be totally okay with me if she chose to ignore me. But Raine is not a rude person. We didn’t end on the best of circumstances, but she’s not going to be disrespectful.
I don’t mind eating alone, but eating alone in front of my ex? Not really on my bucket list.
She walks toward the table. “Hi, Rory.”
“Hi, Raine. What are you doing here in Snow Creek?”
“I had a few extra boxes at the salon that I needed to grab from Willow. Then I thought I’d head over here for some of Lisa’s lasagna before I drive back to Denver.”
Ask her to join you, Rory. You’re eating alone, and it will look really bad if you don’t.
“Why don’t you join me?” I say. “Callie was here, but she got called back to the office.”
“Oh… Well… Sure.”
Damn. I shouldn’t have asked. She’s looking for a way to get out of it, but now she can’t because she’s not a rude person. She takes Callie’s vacated seat.
“I’ll grab our waitress.” I wave to Sadie across the room.
Sadie arrives promptly. “Hi there. Will you be joining Rory?”
“Yeah. I guess so,” Raine says.
“What can I get you?”
“Lasagna, please. And an iced tea.”
“You got it.” Sadie sets my check down. “Here you go, Rory.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
Thank you, Sadie. Now I won’t get roped into paying for Raine’s lunch, and she won’t get roped into paying for mine. Perfect.
I pull my credit card out of my purse and slap it on top.
“You’re paying already?” Raine asks.
“Yeah. Like I said, Callie had to leave early, so I just went ahead and asked for the check.”
“That’s good. Now we don’t have to bother her for separate checks.”
“True.”
And…we’ve effectively run out of things to talk about. It’s strange, really. Raine and I used to stay up late into the night talking. What did we talk about? At the moment, I can’t remember a damned thing.
“So how’s everything going in Denver?” I ask. “Are you getting set up at the spa?”