Page 104 of The Summer We Started Over

She should tell him, Barrett thought. She should let him know she was committed to Paul.

Would it be wrong to do it over the phone? It wasn’t as if they had a long-term relationship.

“Sorry, Drew. It’s been busy here today, and—”

He cut her off. “Look. I’m at the Brotherhood. Come meet me. I’ll buy you a drink.”

Barrett hesitated. It was after six. No customers were around.

“Okay. I won’t be able to stay long. But I’ll be there soon.”

She texted her father and sister and went back out the door to her car.

The restaurant was crowded. As Barrett entered the historic brick building, she heard the shouts of laughter from the men at the bar and felt, for just a moment, that she was in the nineteenth century, and the bar was full of hearty sailors returning from exotic voyages. Dinah would love this place.

Drew was seated at a table in the corner. Barrett threaded her way through the crowd and joined him. He rose and kissed her, and she turned in time to receive the kiss on her cheek.

“I’ve ordered already,” Drew said. “Sorry to be rude, but you never got back to me. I’m having the fish and chips. I ordered a glass of red wine for you, and if you want food, too, that’s fine.”

“I can stay only a short while.” She sat in the chair across from him. “I’ve had a crazy day—”

Drew interrupted her. “Tell me about it. I’m trying to put out five fires at the same time. We’ve got a lot of things going on. I’m exhausted. First, our number one bookkeeper, she’s been with the company forever, says she’s retiring. I’ll be damned if I’m going to give a retirement party for someone who leaves us when we’re struggling tohold things together. I’ve had three Zoom meetings with three different banks, and thank God I could record them, because one of the bankers put his foot into some shit and I can call him out on that—”

The waiter brought Barrett a glass of red wine and set the fish and chips in front of Drew.

“Another beer,” Drew said to the waiter.

Drew ate a bite of the chips.

Good, Barrett thought. While he was eating, she had the opportunity to talk.

“Drew. I’m sorry to tell you this when you’ve had a difficult day, but I need to let you know that I can’t see you anymore. I’m in a relationship with another man. Paul. You met him at the opening of my store. We—”

“Thatguy?” Drew sat back in his chair, shocked. “You can’t mean that…thatcarpenterfellow.”

“I do mean that carpenter fellow. He’s also an artist, he sculpts wood, really beautiful pieces—”

Drew snorted. Shaking his head at her in a kind of patronizing pity, he said, “You won’t have much of a life if you marry him. You’re better than that, Barrett. I mean, go look at his home and then look at my parents’ house here on the island—”

Barrett reminded him, “You’ve never invited me to meet your parents.”

Drew swatted her words away. “I was going to, Barrett. We’ve been so freaking busy. Plus, I haven’t known you very long. I didn’t want to do anything prematurely.”

“Inviting me to your house would be premature?” Barrett knocked back a big swig of wine before she said anything rude.

“Barrett, come on. You know who I am, who my parents are. I didn’t want you to get the idea that…I mean, some women I’ve dated get dollar-bill signs in their eyes once they’ve seen our house, our antiques, our art.”

Barrett was angry and somehow amused. She took a deep breath and managed to speak in a civil tone of voice. “I didn’t know a woman had to be vetted before meeting your parents.”

“Well, come on, be honest,” Drew said. “I don’t think you were ready for the meet-the-parents bit. I mean, you wouldn’t even have sex with me.”

Shocked, Barrett burst out laughing. “What? Do you have a checklist a woman has to complete before you issue a coveted invitation to step inside your family’s summer home?”

Drew stopped eating. He gave Barrett a solemn stare. “I didn’t know if you were serious. Summer affairs usually end, and not nicely. But I really like you, Barrett. You need to give me more time. Plus…how can I feel close to you if you won’t have sex with me?”

Barrett took another sip of wine. “This has got to be the strangest conversation I’ve ever had, and I’ve had some doozies.”

“Barrett—”

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