“Yes, you are.”
She picked up her purse.
“You have no right to embarrass me.”
I almost laughed.
“You did that yourself.”
She glared at me.
“I wasn’t speaking to you.”
“You were speaking about my mother.”
Mom touched my hand.
This time, I stopped.
Not because I agreed with the woman.
Because Mom looked different.
She wasn’t only hurt.
She was shaken by seeing Alaric.
Something much bigger was happening.
I looked at both of them.
“Someone needs to explain.”
Alaric pulled out the empty chair beside us.
“May I?”
Mom nodded.
He sat.
“We worked together,” Mom said.
“At a diner,” Alaric added. “Before you were born.”
I stared at her.
“You never told me.”
“There are plenty of things I never told you.”
Alaric smiled faintly.
“Your mother saved my career.”
Mom immediately shook her head.
“No, I didn’t.”
“You did.”
He turned toward me.
“I was twenty-two. Broke. Arrogant. Talented enough to be dangerous and stupid enough to ruin every opportunity I got.”
Mom almost smiled.
“You weren’t that bad.”
“I threw a pan at our boss.”
“You threw it near him.”
“It was a technical distinction.”
A few people nearby laughed.
Even Mom did.
Some of the tension finally broke.
Alaric continued.
“Your mother was the only person at that diner who took me seriously.”
He looked at Molly.
“She stayed after closing while I tested recipes. She tasted everything. She convinced the owner to let me work in the kitchen.”
