Perfect Summer by Bethany Lopez
Mitch
Ihad so many more questions. A million of them actually. But she’d already said she didn’t want to go into detail in the middle of the restaurant, which I completely understood, and I’d probably already prodded her into telling me more than she’d intended.
But I swear, I wish Jed wasn’t already dead, so I could kill him myself.
I pushed all the questions from my mind and decided to change the subject and focus on having a nice dinner with the woman I knew I wanted to see a hell of a lot more of.
Once the burrata came and Faith had taken a few bites, I asked, “So … what do you think?”
“I’ve really never had anything like it,” she said, her eyes wide. “You wouldn’t expect these ingredients to go together, but they really do. I mean, cornbread with honey butter, peach preserves, and pickled chilis? The chef is an artist.”
I grinned, pleased she was enjoying one of my favorite restaurants in Montana.
“I’ve been missing all of the restaurants I used to go to in Chicago, but this place is right up there with them. Who knew I only had to travel a little outside of town to get food like this?”
“There are some other places I’ll take to you that I’m sure you’ll enjoy, but I wanted to impress you, so I figured we’d start here,” I admitted, not the least bit embarrassed for her to know it.
“Well, I’m definitely impressed,” she said happily, taking another bite.
“Good.”
Once the starter was done, along with the first round of drinks, Faith ordered another glass of wine while we waited for our entrees to arrive. I opted to switch to water, since it was a long way home, and I was driving precious cargo.
“How is your mom doing? I’ve only seen her in passing and haven’t had the opportunity to do much more than say hello,” Faith asked just as our food arrived.
“Would anyone like anything else? Steak sauce, ketchup, hot sauce, maybe some horseradish?” Ann asked politely.
I looked down at my New York Strip, which was already smothered with black garlic and blue cheese cream and paired with truffle scalloped potatoes, and said, “I’m good.”
“Mine is perfect, thanks,” Faith agreed, so Ann told us to “Enjoy” and left us to dig in.
“Mom’s doing great,” I said, answering Faith’s previous question. “She actually recently started dating Mr. Lock … er, Sam.”
“Our algebra teacher?” she asked with a disbelieving laugh.
“The very one,” I answered.
It was weird for me to think of my mom dating at all, but with the man who used to call me out in algebra for passing notes to Faith … well, that was like some kind of strange karma.
“He was sorta cute, for an older man,” Faith said with a half shrug.
“If you say so … anyway, she seems happy. And like I said, they’ve only been a couple dates.”
“That’s really sweet.”
“Speaking of parents. Your dad called me his guy earlier. Isn’t that funny? I mean, the man used to threaten me with his shotgun every time I picked you up for a date.”
Faith had just taken a bite, so she simply nodded and then answered once she swallowed.
“Yeah, both my parents are very team Mitch. Especially since the festival. They aren’t even sneaky about it; they just keep singing your praises and telling me I should stake my claim before someone else does.”
“Really?” I asked with a grin.
“You don’t have to look so pleased about it,” she joked dryly.
“Sure, I do. It’s nice to know Mr. and Mrs. Evans, or should I say Grace and Richard, since your father informed me we are all adults now, have my back and think we’d be a good fit.”
“I’m not sure your mother would feel the same way,” she said, her statement sounding more like a question.
I put down my fork and looked her in the eyes.
“Yeah, my mom was pretty upset when you left, mostly because I was, but it’s been a long time and you know she’s not one to hold a grudge. She may be a little reserved at first, but she’ll come around. She always loved you, you know that.”
Thinking about my mom now made me wonder why I hadn’t heard from her as soon as the rumors of me and Faith started.
Huh. Strange.
“I know, and I’ll make a point to go and talk to her … apologize.”
“She’d love that. Thanks,” I said, sincerely pleased that she’d make the effort. “How’s the bulgogi?”
“So delicious. I didn’t think I’d be able to eat it all, but they’d have to pry it from my dead hands at this point.”
I took a bite of my potatoes as I searched for the guts to say what I needed to.
Once I found them, I said, “I’m glad we’re talking about our families and our past and everything that’s transpired over the years, because I want to be completely honest with you. And I hope you will be with me as well.”
“Of course,” she replied, her expression curious.
“The past is the past, and I don’t want to relive it, but I’d be lying if I said these last few weeks haven’t been the best I’ve had in the last decade. I realize we have to get to know each other now, and you have Hope to consider, but I need you to know how I feel, what my intentions are.”
“Okay…”
“What I don’t want to do is freak you out, put pressure on you, or turn you off.”
“You won’t,” Faith assured me.
“I want to take you on more dates,” I told her, my palms beginning to sweat. “I want to get to know who you are now … to get to know Hope. I’m not seeing anyone else, and I haven’t in a long time. I have no desire to. I won’t move too fast by saying I want you to exclusively see me, but if I’m being honest, I won’t be seeing anyone else. I’ll leave it there for now and I hope I haven’t already said too much. But, Faith, now that you’re back in my life, I really want to keep you there.”
When she didn’t say anything and instead took a long drink of wine, I worried I’d come on too strong.
“Are you okay?” I asked softly.
“Yeah,” she said with a wave of her hand. “I’m not having an attack or anything. I’m a little surprised, is all. I guess I never imagined we’d be able to get back to this place with everything that’s happened.”
“I didn’t either,” I admitted with a sharp laugh.
“But I’m so happy we did,” Faith said, her face opening up. “I’d love to date you, Mitch, and get to know the man you are now.”
“Really?” I asked.
She nodded and said, “Absolutely. And Hope already thinks you’re the best thing ever.”
“I think she’s amazing.”
“Thank you, that means the world to me. And Mitch? There’s no one else I’m interested in seeing either.”
And just like that, it was the new best night of my life.