you’ll probably like it. It’s really tender. Usually served fairly pink in the center.”
She dropped her gaze back to the menu. “Hmm…do you always order the most expensive thing on the menu?”
Burke smiled. “I have no idea.” It occurred to him then that she might be worried about the price. He had said he was treating, but perhaps she felt awkward ordering what was, apparently, the most expensive option. “I’ve been fortunate in the finance department. I’m not worried about the price.”
He cringed inwardly, hoping he hadn’t come off conceited. But honestly, money was no object when looking at a menu. And it’d been a long time since he’d been in the company of someone who considered restaurant pricing at all.
Burke wasn’t sure Justine had taken him at his word until the waiter came to take their order.
“I’ll take the filet mignon, please,” she said when asked.
The waiter, a tall gentleman dressed in black, had already brought out their drinks. He gave her a nod. “And how would you like that?”
Justine shot a look to Burke.
“I do medium rare,” he said.
“Let’s do that.” Justine closed her menu and handed it to the waiter, who turned to Burke next.
“And you?”
“I’ll take the same. And could you start us with the shrimp cocktail…” He looked up at Justine. “Do you like shrimp?”
She nodded.
“What other appetizer should we get?” he asked.
“The sautéed mushrooms sound good.”
“Very nice,” the waiter said as he took note. “I’ll be back shortly.”
He liked that she hadn’t hesitated to add the mushrooms. And that she’d opted for a glass of wine. He watched as she lifted her glass, closed her eyes to inhale it, and then took a sip.
“Ah,” she said. “That’s really good.”
Burke grinned. “I’m glad. So I better get the rundown on you if I’m going to convince Wilfred that we’re in love.” Whoa. The words in love had not been planned in the least. What he’d pictured saying was engaged. Sure, the love part should accompany an engagement, but it sure made his face warm to say it.
“You seem to be very close to your granddad,” he started. “Have you two always been that way?”
She nodded. “He raised me, so yeah.”
Raised her? “You’re kidding,” he said. “And your grandmother too?”
“Yeah, once they were married, anyway.” Justine set down her wineglass and straightened up in her seat. She surprised him then by resting both forearms on the table to lean across it. Closer to him.
Burke followed suit as she continued.
“So my actual grandmother was killed during delivery when she had my mom. And it was even more tragic since it took them fifteen years to have a successful pregnancy. But on the flipside, it gave them fifteen years together, you know? If she was destined to die in childbirth—and who knows if she was—at least they had those years together first.”
He nodded. “True.”
“So Wilfred raised her on his own until Gretchen, my grandma, came along. That’s when my mom was about ten. My granddad says Gretchen tried to be the perfect mother to her, but my mom was just…” She paused there, the first spark of emotion showing in her eyes as she glanced at the hanging lights for a blink.
Burke leaned in even more as she fixed her eyes back on him.
“She was probably bitter, you know? Her real mom died. And so she’s getting raised by her dad and it’s just the two of them, until suddenly some lady steps into the picture and takes time away from her and tries to replace her mom.”
He couldn’t help but admire the way she’d made sense of it. Being generous to both sides. “I could see that,” he said.
Justine reached beyond the wineglass and secured her iced water this time. She took a few sips before setting it back into place. “Anyway, she acted out. Gave them hell, apparently. She experimented with alcohol, got into drugs, and when she was just sixteen, she gave birth to me.”
“That’s…a lot younger than my mom was,” Burke said. And it was, by half, actually; his mother had been in her thirties when he was born.
A sigh slipped through Justine’s lips as she ran the tips of her fingers along the outside of her glass. Drops trickled to the base and seeped onto the coaster.
“I guess there was a lot of talk over whether they should keep me or give me up for adoption since my bio father refused to be in the picture, but my mom didn’t want to give