“Where did you live before you moved here?” Noelle asked as their server placed water glasses and appetizer plates on the table.
“California.”
Noelle handed an appetizer plate to Lou before taking one for herself. “I lived outside of Sacramento until I was sixteen. I'd move back in a heartbeat. Whereabouts did you live?”
“Sonoma.”
“And you moved here? Why?” Noelle's voice went up an octave. “That area is one of my favorite places to visit. Lou and I considered going there on our honeymoon. But we decided on Hawaii since we're getting married in February, and neither of us has ever been there.”
It was a fair question. Northern California was a beautiful area, and many people enjoyed visiting. “I was ready for a change.”
Across the table, Noelle slipped her hand over Lou's. Although holding hands was a minor thing, she and Duncan would need to do it while in Puerto Rico. So now seemed like as good a time as any to start.
Before she second-guessed herself, she covered Duncan's hand with hers and entwined their fingers. “A friend told me about an open position in Boston, and I applied.”
“I cannot wait to get out of the city. Four years of commuting in and out is more than enough. Next month, I start working out of the company's Londonderry office.”
“I bought a condo in Duncan's building for that exact reason.”
“Is that how you two met?” Lou asked before taking a sip of water. Although he'd been the one to suggest sitting together so he and Duncan could catch up, his fiancée had done most of the talking so far.
“Actually, Tory and I went to high school together,” Duncan answered, as the employee set down the charcuterie board they'd ordered. Once she walked away, he shared the story they'd agreed upon earlier in the week.
At least to her, it sounded convincing. And nothing in Lou or Noelle's expression suggested they didn't believe it.
Maybe they would pull this off.
* * *
After leaving the winery,they'd headed back into the city for a romantic dinner at what she suspected was Boston's best Italian restaurant. The emphasis there was on the word “romantic.”
When they had arrived, an employee escorted them to a private room upstairs, away from the main dining area and bar, where Tory had found a dozen long-stemmed red roses waiting for her. Throughout the meal, soft music had played through the speakers, just loud enough for them to hear but not interrupt a conversation, while light from the various candles around the room bounced off the Tuscan limestone lining the walls. After dinner, they went to Duncan’s favorite café for dessert and coffee before heading home.
“The last time I had Italian food that good, I was in Italy.” Tory pressed the button for the elevator. “I'm going to have to go back there.”
“Emilia is by far my favorite restaurant in Boston. I wish they delivered.”
Between their visit to the winery and then dinner, they'd spent a decent part of the day together. Despite that, she wasn't ready to see their time together end. That didn't mean Duncan shared her feelings. He might be counting down the minutes until they went their separate ways for the night.
“It's only eight. Do you want to come over?” When the elevator doors opened, Tory stepped inside and pressed the button for her floor. “We could finish going through those questions or watch something on TV.” Her finger hovered near the button for Duncan's floor.
“I was going to ask you the same thing. But let's save the questions for another night. I don't feel like going through them, and we still have time.”
She was okay with that. “Which one would you rather go to, your place or mine?”
“Doesn't matter to me.”
If Duncan didn't care, they'd go to her place. She'd been looking forward to kicking off her shoes for over an hour, and she couldn't do that at his place.
“Is there anything specific you feel like watching?” Tory grabbed the remote off an end table and switched on the flat-screen television mounted to the wall after they entered her entertainment room.
“I'm open to suggestions,” he said, making himself at home in her favorite spot on the sofa. Although you could see the television from anywhere in the room, she didn't have to sit at an angle to see the screen or worry about the glare from the sun when she sat in that corner of the sofa. Plus, the end table was right next to it, so she had a place to put a drink or snack while watching a movie.
Mom had a lot of beliefs when it came to what her daughter should and shouldn't do. Some Tory agreed with, and others she didn't. However, never intentionally being rude was one they both agreed on. And asking a guest to move because he was sitting in her preferred spot to watch television would be not only rude but downright childish.
“I know how much you loveGunsmoke, but unfortunately, I don't own the series,” she said, logging into her library.
Duncan's shoulders drooped, and he placed a hand over his chest. “I don't know what to say. I'm heartbroken. I don't know if I'll ever recover.”