Page 139 of Share with Me

Chapter Forty-Four

The moment Ivansaw the menu, he knew he would have a full stomach tonight. He glanced across the table. Brinley placed her menu down.

“Decided already?” Ivan asked.

“I’m not very hungry tonight. I’m going to have some salad.”

Ivan couldn’t read her face. Was she dissimulating? What did she mean by not being hungry? Salad was one of the cheapest items on the menu. Was she insulting him? Didn’t want him to pay too much for their first formal night out?

“You look nice this evening,” he said instead, straining a smile.

Brinley did dress well. On the drive here, Brinley had explained to him that her fabric was called a jacquard. The rose colors on her dress reminded him yet again of thePleasant Dayscomposition he should finish sometime.

For her.

“Thank you,” Brinley said quietly. “You look nice too. I like that cord jacket. Black looks good on you.”

“You sound a bit tired.”

“A little bit. I’m glad the transition is done though it took more than a month.” Brinley sipped water.

“How’s Brooks Renovations coming along?”Not that you have to do any work.

“I miss having Dad looking over my shoulder, but it’s nice to have veto power.”

“I suppose there’s a lot of work to buy, fix, and sell houses.”

“Or rent them out. Yep.” Brinley nodded. “I’m not working alone, to be sure. I thank God for a good crew.”

“It still sounds harder than playing music.”

“You think so?”

“Yep. I’m not much into construction and renovations.”

“I agree.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ivan folded his arms.

“Well, you let your house fall apart—oh, I didn’t mean to bring that up.”

“No, let’s.” Ivan liked a challenge. “I was going to fix things. You stepped in front of me.”

Brinley leaned forward. “Are we fighting? Is this our first fight?”

“Actually, no. This is our second fight. The first one was over the subterranean termites, remember?”

Brinley smiled. “Well, considering the termites had been eating your porch posts, I think they were no longer subterranean.”

“No worries, Brin. Now they’re no longer anywhere.”

The server came to take their orders without a notepad. It amazed Ivan.I mean, is he going to remember everything we’re ordering? Even some fast food places use an iPad to take orders.

Ivan decided to go for one of the most expensive items on the menu, some sort of lobster and scallops combo, and a couple of extra sides. And soup to boot. He ordered dessert while he was at it. If there was anything left over, he could take them home for a midnight snack. He roughly calculated the cost. As long as he stayed within two hundred dollars it should be fine.

Brinley pointed to the wash of sunset in the sky. “Some view.”

“We should’ve timed it better. We could have gone upstairs to see the sunset before we were seated. Next time I’ll make a later reservation.”