Picking Up the Pieces (Pieces, #2)(76)

I glanced over at her, wishing I could read her mind. I reached over and grabbed her hand that I had just realized I must’ve let go of at some point. “I know what it’s like to feel like you’ll never take a deep breath again. Believe me.” I gave her hand a squeeze and she turned to face me, a shy smile on her face. She squeezed back before looking out her window again.

“Me too,” she whispered.

I pulled into the parking lot, wishing I could’ve been convinced that she was referring to me.

***

When I told the hostess Frank’s name for the reservation, I was surprised when she told me that the rest of our party had already arrived. Is anything going to go the way I’d planned tonight? I put my hand on the small of Lily’s back as we followed the hostess through the restaurant toward our table.

“There he is,” I heard Frank bellow.

We approached six smiling faces and I felt Lily tense slightly. But her face was all smiles as we walked up to the table.

“Hi, guys,” I said. “Lily, this is Frank and his wife Claire, Troy and his wife Kelly, and Doug and his wife Shannon. Everyone, this is Lily.”

Lily reached around and shook everyone’s hand before I pulled out her chair and she sat down.

“So how is everyone?” I asked, trying to delay the impending inquisition I knew was coming. Everyone nodded and murmured that they were good, fine and so on.

Claire was the first to strike, as I knew she would be. “Lily, that’s such a pretty name. Where did you get it?”

“From my parents,” Lily deadpanned. Quickly, her eyes widened as she realized she’d replied before considering her answer.

I covered my mouth with my hand to hide my smirk.

Claire looked momentarily flustered. “Oh, no, I meant is it like a family name or anything?”

Lily smiled. “No, I know. Sorry, I have kind of a sarcastic sense of humor. I apologize. Uh, yes, it was my paternal grandmother’s name.”

Claire smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

This is going well. Lily had her head practically buried in her menu. I swung my knee under the table to bump hers. When she looked up, I shot her a reassuring smile, which she returned as she visibly relaxed.

“What’s everybody having?” I asked in an attempt to get a conversation flowing again.

Once we discussed our dinner choices, the waiter came over to take our drink orders.

“We’re ready to order our dinner too,” Kelly said impatiently.

Of all my buddies’ wives, Kelly was my least favorite. She was snobby and cold. I wasn’t sure what Troy saw in her. Other than her obvious physical appeal, she was a bitch.

“Yes, ma’am. Would you like to start?” the waiter kindly asked her.

“Wouldn’t it be easier to start at one end of the table and work your way around? I don’t want my order getting messed up.”

And here we go.

“You can start with me,” I heard a soft voice next to me say. I turned to see Lily smile at the waiter before giving him a wink. “I’ll have the—”

“He really should start with Frank or Doug. They keep the order straight if they start at an end.” The look on Kelly’s face showed that this was no longer about our order. It was about the new girl learning her place in the female hierarchy.

“Oh, I don’t know.” Lily leaned slightly toward the waiter to read his name tag. “Kevin here looks pretty intelligent. I think he can take eight orders without too much difficulty. Right, Kevin?” She directed her question toward the waiter, but her eyes remained locked on Kelly.

“Yes, ma’am,” Kevin replied, discomfort lacing his voice.

“Great.” Lily snapped her attention back to him. “Then I’ll have the tortellini alfredo.”

“Would you like a soup or salad with that?”

“Salad. With Italian dressing, please.” Lily handed him her menu, smiling brightly at him.

Kevin smiled gratefully at her. “Sure thing, ma’am.”

The waiter moved on to Claire and as I watched Lily’s victory sink in around the table, I hoped that her need to defend our server was worth potentially ruining our evening.

***

The women decided to abandon their questioning of Lily after her pissing match with Kelly. I talked sports with the guys, and eventually the mood at the table warmed and we all fell into our usual bantering. Well, all of us except Lily. She seemed to be content to listen, rather than participate.

“So, Lily, Adam told us you’re a teacher?” Shannon, probably the sweetest of them all asked.

“Yes, seventh grade English.”

“Wow, that sounds difficult. We have two boys who are three and five, and they’re tough enough. I can’t imagine a room full of teenagers,” Shannon said sincerely.

“It’s interesting, that’s for sure,” Lily replied.

“Lily’s great at it though. She’s even a mentor to a new teacher this year.” I knew that Lily didn’t want to be the center of the conversation, but I couldn’t resist. If she wasn’t going to willingly interact with my friends, then I'd have to prompt her to.

Lily shot me a tight smile before speaking. “It’s really not that big of a deal. They hired someone at the last minute, so the principal asked if I would help her get her feet wet.”