Page 86 of A Fool's Game

“Taylor used to have his own restaurant,” Gem announces.

I let my eyes fall closed briefly, still facing Ainsley, before sucking in a breath and turning back to the table. To my fate.

“Is that right?” Victoria asks, clearly happy to have someone offer up a new topic of conversation. “Where was it?”

“Downtown Seattle. Just across from Pike Place Market.”

“Young,” Ben says, an entire monologue of his feelings on the topic wrapped up in one word.

I nod. “I was young. I worked at a place back then with a chef who was hell bent on world domination. He got it into hismind that I would spearhead a new project downtown. We took over a small cafe space and turned it into a restaurant.” I smile fondly at the memory. How new and possible everything felt back then. “So, it wasn’t actually mine, per se. I would have become partner.”

“But?” Ben tosses out another perfectly selected word, apparently still displeased with me from earlier.

I shrug, taking up my wine glass just as the fleet of servers arrive with another course. It’s the lamb dish, and my eyes lock onto the perfectly seared meat resting atop a bed of what the server tells us are Jerusalem artichokes.

We thank the server, and a few moments pass when everyone comments on the food and takes first bites. The ladies moan, and honestly, I would moan too if Ainsley’s dad wasn’t sitting across from me, still poised for attack.

I swallow a bite, chasing it with the perfect, velvety red, before daring to look back up. Sure enough, Ben’s waiting.

I set down my fork. “But some family stuff got in the way of me being able to work for pennies. I held out as long as I could, but in the end, I had to take a full-time corporate gig to be able to help out.”

I watch Ben’s gaze shift to Ainsley, who meets it and offers the tiniest shrug.

It takes me a second to process the exchange, but when I do, it leaves me dumbstruck.

Ben’s wondering why Ainsley hasn’t bailed me out, being my boyfriend and all, and clearly in a financial position to do so. I suddenly remember Ainsley asking me something similar, on that first ferry ride home from Bainbridge together. Offering help if I wanted it.

“We’re getting it worked out, though. The family stuff.” I throw the words out quickly, hoping the finality of them will allow the subject tochange.

No luck.

“Your parents?” Victoria asks, leaning forward as she cuts into her perfectly rare meat.

I glance down at my own, feeling my appetite waning. The last thing I want is to get into all this right now, especially since it’s a subject I haven’t exactly discussed with my new boyfriend yet.

And then it hits me, sucking the breath out of my lungs.

Has he been avoiding it because of the way I shut him down when he offered to help out financially before? I mean, he knows there’s something going on with my family. He witnessed the ill-explained drama on New Year’s, brushing it off with a joke about a stripper. Right after that, he let me know he could help, and I shit on him, as I tend to do when I get nervous. And he’s never asked about my family again.

My thoughts stumble but I know I need to get it together. I can’t show any cracks at this table. This is not the time for weakness.

“It’s not a big deal,” I start, but my words come out too loud, too forceful. I take a deep breath. “My parents own a house on Bainbridge Island, it’s been in the family for generations. The foundation needs some major repairs, so we’re working on getting those done.”

The sound of silverware and soft chewing is deafening in the silence that follows my words. I catch another exchange between Ben and Ainsley, Ben clearly asking why the hell Ainsley hasn’t given me what is probably chump change to these guys.

“Really, it’s not a big deal.” Just the house crumbling into the sea. Just the homeowner’s association threatening to have it condemned unless we can work some kind of miracle.

After another pregnant pause, Ben clears his throat. “Well, you just let us know?—”

“Will do,” I say quickly, before he can make the same offer Ainsley made.

Then I pick up my own fork and knife, tearing into my lamb instead of cutting out my own heart to end this torture. “How’s the wedding planning coming?”

Chapter 30

Ainsley

We all stand in silence as the elevator doors slide closed, sealing us off from the hotel lobby. After a beat, Taylor’s the first to speak.

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