Page 47 of Awestruck at Dusk
“But yeah, I agree with you. You’re better off. And youwillfind someone better,” I continued. “I don’t think that will be very hard to do.”
Nathan stood up and excused himself for a second without telling me where he was going. Nina took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh.
“There’s a bunch of things I just learned about Thomas, too,” I told her. “Things that have been—hard to process.”
“Billie, I know we haven’t talked about what happened. But know that whenever you feel like talking—I’m here. And Caleb …” Nina looked away and shook her head. I knew she liked him. She got to know him somewhat. I could tell it’d been hard for her to process the news. But I didn’t want to talk about Caleb. Not now.
“It’s okay. If I’m honest, I haven’t felt like going back to remember any of that, but we’ll talk about it some other time, I promise.”
Nathan came back with Aiden. I greeted him, and then Nathan introduced him to Nina.
“Nina, this is Aiden Hall. We work together. Aiden, this is Nina Lewis.” They both smiled at each other as they shook hands. “Aren’t you hungry, love?” Nathan asked. “They’re already serving dinner.”
“Oh. Yes. I’m starving. Let’s go.” I winked at Nina, and she chuckled under her breath.
Nathan and I walked away to allow them to get to know each other in peace. Aiden was such a good, wholesome guy. The opposite of Juan Pablo ineverypossible way. He was tall, elegant, and such a gentleman, just like Nathan.
We approached the area where dinner was being served. A few people were already eating, and it smelled delicious. I knew paella wasn’t Nathan’s favorite dish in the world, but it was the only choice for him tonight.
We stepped into the short queue of people waiting to grab a plate, and William appeared out of nowhere and walked around the table to talk to one of the chefs serving dinner. He kept pointing at the paella as the chef scraped the bottom part of the iron casserole. William grabbed the plated dish and tossed a piece of bread onto it as he walked back—inmydirection.
I looked away.
“Come rain or shine,” he said, offering the plate to me. My eyes went wide, and I gave Nathan my wineglass to grab the plate.
Nathan glanced at me with a puzzled face, probably wondering what that meant. I planned to explain later. If he asked …
“Will, can you get me a plate too?” Zara said behind me. There were three people ahead of us. It wasn’t going to be a long wait. But she wanted William to pamper her or something. He lifted his hand and signaled one of the chefs for another.
Nathan’s face was expressionless. I couldn’t read him. Zara stood in between him and William and linked her arms with both of them, resting her head on William’s shoulder as we waited for Zara’s paella.
The sight of that almost made me drop my plate. And I was sure Nathan agreed with me. His expressionless demeanor began to ooze with annoyance.
And I believed William, for a change, when he told me there was nothing going on with Zara. I’d learned from experience that William had never once lied to me about anything. But I felt like Zara was probably secretly in love with him. Or maybe it wasn’t a secret and he already knew.
It didn’t seem to me like Zara was trying to hide her obvious affection for him, not even in the presence of Nathan, who had been very vocal in disagreeing with them ever being an item.
And I didn’t blame her, especially with howsplendidWilliam could be. There he was, getting her a spot in Juilliard and paying for her tuition? How would she not get the wrong idea? Or a dash of hope, at the very least.
“You’re up, Nate,” Zara said to him, pulling slightly on his arm.
“Nah, I’m not hungry,” he said, taking a swig of his whiskey. “I’ll eat later.”
“Here you go, Chef,” one of the chefs said to William, giving him Zara’s plate. He nodded and passed it to Zara, who had to unlink herself from them to grab it. It was so weird hearing William being calledchef. I kinda liked it. It suited him. It also reminded me of the simpler times when I met him and how I thought that’s what he did for a living.
But William’s face indicated discomfort after the chef’s remark for some strange reason.
I looked around and saw my father sitting on one of the sofas in the lounge area by the bar with Nathan’s boss, Mr. Chapman. They were both eating and talking.
“Should we join them?” I asked Nathan.
“Sure, let’s go,” he replied.
“Thank you,” I whispered to William, lifting my plate.
Nathan signaled one of the servers and asked for more whiskey when he approached us. I still had my glass of wine that Nathan held for me, so I was good.
“Good evening, Mr. Chapman,” I said to him with a smile. I hadn’t had the opportunity to say hi to him before. There were so many people. He greeted me back, and I asked them if we could join them.
