“I’m glad you’re back too,” he spoke with sincerity, his gray eyes crinkled with a smile.
Tessa felt warmth in her cheeks and quickly averted her gaze.
“Have you had lunch?” he asked, bringing her attention back to his eyes, now boring through her.
“I had a granola,” she answered, holding up the wrapper as evidence.
“You have to eat to keep your strength and to prevent another incident like what happened,” he advised.
“You’re right,” she agreed. “I’ll get something more filling to eat shortly.”
“Why don’t you come to lunch with me?” he suggested.
“I don’t know,” she hesitated. “I have a lot of work to finish, and I’m already behind because of my absence.”
“It’ll still be here when you return,” he suggested. “I’ll help you get them sorted if you’d like. You need to eat.”
Tessa opened her mouth to decline the offer but found herself saying, “Okay.”
The two left the hospital, and he took her to a restaurant he said he’d discovered his first week on the job.
“Mariani’s is a very good restaurant. Their service is great, and their food is exceptional. You chose well,” Tessa complimented.
“Thanks. Hearing such a compliment from a local is a stamp of approval if I’ve ever heard one.” He smiled wide.
“Welcome to Mariani’s,” the hostess greeted.
“Table for two, please.”
“Right this way, please.” The woman smiled before taking them to one of the two empty tables in the center of the room.
“Your menus. A server will be with you shortly.”
“Thank you,” they both said at the same time.
The server came almost immediately to take their orders.
“So. Boston is such a big city; what made you move here?” Tessa asked, starting the conversation.
A shadow of grief passed through Justin’s eyes. “I needed a change of scenery. My wife died of colon cancer four years ago.”
Tessa’s hand flew to her mouth. “I’m so sorry to hear that.” She comforted him.
Justin gave her a small smile. “It became too difficult to live in the house we shared for over twenty-three years and doing the same routine over and over again. It just wasn’t worth it, especially with my daughter off at med school. It was just me.”
“Oh, you have a daughter.”
“Yeah. Her name is Jasmine, Jazz for short.”
“That’s so sweet,” she complimented.
“So what about you?” he threw back at her.
“Well, I have two children. You met my daughter, Diane. She was once in med school but opted out to open her own café/bistro. She’s following her passion.”
“I applaud her for taking that leap of faith to do what makes her happy.”
“Yeah. I do too. Although, until recently, I thought she was throwing her life away to do something that might fail and leave her with nothing to fall back on. But I’ve come to recognize that you can’t force your children to do what you want them to do because it’ll make them miserable, and they’ll resent you for it. I’m really happy she found her own path even though I was of no help.”
