“Take your time. Talk and get acquainted. I’ll come back to get your order.”
As soon as Billie Jean walked away, Elle said, “I’m sorry she’s put us on the spot like this. You don’t have to stay.”
“And miss out on this soup? Are you kidding? I mean, if you want to leave, please.” He gestured toward the door, silently willing her to stay.
“No, I’m staying. Because soup and lunch is on Gigi. We need to take full advantage of that to teach her a lesson. In fact, maybe we should order a couple of seafood towers.”
“I’m paying for lunch,” Daniel said.
When Elle started to protest, he held up his hand. “That’s nonnegotiable.”
“You don’t have to do that,” she said.
“Why not?”
“Because Gigi stood us up—because she was conniving and trying to set us up. And I’ll feel bad.”
“Why should you feel bad? You weren’t the one who planned the bait and switch. Or were you in on it?”
He loved the way her eyes flashed.
“Absolutely not.” She scooted her chair back and stood up in one swift motion. “Look, this is awkward. I apologize on my grandmother’s behalf. I’m going to go.”
“Elle, don’t leave.”
She frowned at him and shook her head as she hitched her purse up on her shoulder.
“You always did run when things got tough,” Daniel said.
“No, I don’t. You’re the one who left town.”
She stopped, crossed her arms and caught her bottom lip between her front teeth.
“So did you,” Daniel said. “Look, don’t go. Please.”
Elizabeth hesitated a moment. Then she sat down at the table again.
“Thank you,” he said.
Her eyes flashed again. “For what?”
“For staying.”
Her brows were knitted and he could see the pain in her eyes. She sighed loudly, and for a moment he was afraid she was going to stand up again.
“Can we talk about this?”
“About what, Daniel?”
“About you and me—”
“There is no you and me.”
“I know there’s no you and me. What I was trying to ask was can we talk about what happened between you and me—at the church that day. I know you think you have a reason to dislike me. If you need someone to blame, it’s okay if you don’t want to talk and you want to spend the rest of your life blaming me. I’ll never bring it up again. But if you want to know the rest of the story—because you only know one side—we can talk about it.”
She stared at him for a moment, as if letting his words sink in. As if maybe the words were even sinking in and settling in against her will.
“Daniel, I don’t want to do this here.”
“Okay.” He signaled to the server. “Let’s pay the check and get out of here. Let’s go somewhere else and talk.”
“No, I don’t want to talk about it.” The words were there, but the edge was blunted.
Billie Jean stepped up to their table. “Are y’all ready to order?”
“No, just the check, please, Billie Jean,” Daniel said.
“Separate checks,” Elizabeth said.
“But y’all haven’t even had your lunch yet. You only had the soup—and you didn’t finish it. Is everything okay?”
“The soup was delicious,” he said. “We have to go. An unexpected meeting came up.”
Billie Jean raised a brow. “An unexpected meeting, huh?” She looked at Elle and then back at Daniel. “Is that what you kids are calling it these days? Well, you’re in luck the bill has been paid. Your grandma took care of it. You’re free to go.”
As Billie Jean walked away, Daniel’s phone rang. Normally he wouldn’t have answered it, but the words Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police appeared on the caller ID. “This is weird. It says it’s the police. I’m sorry, but I’d better take it.”
Elle nodded and they both started walking toward the exit.
“This is Daniel Quindlin,” he said as they walked.
“Daniel Quindlin, this is Sergeant Eric Briggs of the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department. Are you related to an Aidan Quindlin?”