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“WHAT’S THE APPROPRIATE outfit for a double date with my brother?”
Aiden grabs Quinn by the waist and pulls her back. She doesn’t want to laugh, but she can’t help it as she squirms away from his grip.
“How about you just chill and consider this a dinner with Matt and Jessie, something we’ve done a hundred times?”
Quinn cocks her head to the side, her standard response when Aiden is being too rational.
“She’s just been trying to vent to me a lot about him lately and I’m not trying to be in the middle of my brother’s relationship issues. I have enough issues of my own,” Quinn says.
Aiden smiles. “Oh, do you now?”
“Aiden! Two women have been murdered and there’s a good chance the killer got the idea from one of my books. In fact, some idiots are saying I did it myself. I’d call that an issue.”
Although she makes her living with words, she can never find the right ones to describe how it makes her feel when he smiles the way he’s smiling at her now. Her body is transported to 1997 when her awkward teenage self laid eyes on Aiden for the very first time. She felt a way she didn’t know possible, and her life was never the same. She remembers the way she yearned for him during the winter when she was months away from being able to see him again. Sometimes when he smiles at her now and looks directly into her eyes, she remembers it all. The unbearable ache of losing him and the relief in her heart of finding him again, after all the tragedy. Aiden is the best thing that has ever happened to her, and she can’t believe she’s still keeping Jessie’s secret from him. Although she’s being deceptive, she reminds herself of all the hurt it would cause if Aiden knew the truth behind his cousin’s death. Quinn knows that Aiden doesn’t harbor any animosity toward Sarah, whom he thinks was present during the deaths. He only blames Cassie, Vinny’s true killer. If Jessie is telling the truth, Aiden’s blame lies with the right person and Quinn sees no point in changing that. Cassie killed his cousin, not Jessie.
“If you’re thinking of backing out of this dinner, just remember the butter flight,” Aiden says as he brushes a stray hair out of her eyes.
Quinn’s eyes light up.
“The butter flight,” she says slowly, nodding. It’s her very favorite thing about tonight’s restaurant, The Freshwater Tavern. Aside from the benefit of wall-to-wall windows overlooking Lake Michigan, the staff also brings a complimentary butter flight with the breadbasket before each meal. She’s not sure exactly what they put in the assorted kinds of butter or how they make them so soft, but she’s always left thinking about that flight for days each time they dine there.
Quinn keeps her thoughts on the butter as Matt pulls out Jessie’s chair at the restaurant; something she’s never seen him do in his life. She’s still thinking of the butter as she follows the sight of his arm reaching over under the table, quite obviously on Jessie’s leg. She certainly continues to think of only the butter when Matt asks Jessie to move in with him, right there at the dinner table with his little sister.
“I’m sorry I’ve been a little off lately, I just found the perfect house for us downtown and the bank was giving me a hard time about getting the loan. Dad helped me find a new lender and we worked everything out. The house is ours,” Matt beams as he tells Jessie.
“Trouble getting a loan? Why didn’t you call me?” Quinn asks, wide-eyed.
“Maybe I didn’t want your help,” Matt snaps.
“So, dad went with you? Did he cosign for you or something?”
“What’s it to you?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I guess I’d like our father to enjoy his retirement, instead of being on the hook for a loan his son took out on a whim and has no plans on paying on time for the next thirty years. You should have just called me and left dad out of it, Matt.”
For a split second, Aiden prepares to stand in defense because he’s convinced that Matt is going to hit Quinn, right there in the middle of the restaurant. Once he sees Matt settle back in his chair, he puts both hands out and makes a motion for them both to keep their voices down.
“Quinn, I didn’t take it out on a whim. I’ve been wanting to find a place for Jess and me for a while. The bank was giving me shit because I’ve only been at the dealership for a few months, so dad took me to his bank. It’s not that big of a deal,” Matt says, dipping his roll directly into the dish containing the cinnamon sugar butter, which he knows is Quinn’s favorite.
“I can’t wait to see it, babe,” Jessie tells him, trying to break the tension between Matt and Quinn. It works. His eyes light up as he tells her about the big front porch and how it’s walking distance to the beach.
“That sounds like it’s by Heather’s house,” Quinn says with discerning eyes.
“Yeah, it’s like three blocks away,” Matt says nonchalantly. “Maybe now you’ll actually come to visit.”
“Of course, we’ll visit man,” Aiden tells him. “Congratulations.”
Matt leans over the table and fist-bumps him.
“So glad someone is happy for me at this table.”
“I’m happy for you, Matt. I swear I am. I just hate that you involved dad. I can’t wait to see the place.”
“And I’m happy that I finally know why you’ve been acting so weird lately,” Jessie says, reaching under the table to squeeze Matt’s hand. “I can’t wait to put it behind us.”
Quinn always pictured being involved when Matt went house hunting. She could give him design advice and help him pick out plants for the garden. She often daydreamed about writing a check for the house and surprising him for being such a great brother. She hasn’t had that daydream in months.