very nice men. What did he say their names were? I can’t remember the one, but I think he said the one who’s also a chef is named Alex. You two would have a lot in common, Hailey. Did you like him?”
I struggle against my nature to tell her Cade’s name because I know if I do, she’s going to read something into the fact that I remember it when that means nothing. I remember everything. She knows that. She used to joke that I had a mind like a steel trap, but I know if I even mutter his name, she’s going to make it something it isn’t.
So I just shrug like none of what happened earlier made any impression on me whatsoever. “They were like any other two guys, Mom. How do you and Dad know they aren’t gay? They came in together and I saw them talking and it looked like they were bickering. I’m sorry to tell you, but that might mean they’re both taken.”
The mere thought that those two handsome young men who would be perfect for me could be gay stops my mother for a long moment, and she stands in front of my dough table with her mouth hanging open. It’s like her mind is processing the likelihood that those two fine specimens she’d already had me choosing between could possibly not be available, and with every second that passes, she hates the idea more and more. Her expression morphs from one of shock to one of utter unhappiness.
“Well, your father thought they might be brothers since they resembled one another,” she says, practically snapping at me for ruining her fantasy.
They did look alike. Both had dark brown hair and brown eyes, and they did both have tattoos up and down their arms. It never occurred to me they could be brothers, though, but in all honesty, I only paid attention to the one named Cade, especially once I found out Alex is a chef at a five star restaurant.
I’m not a chef, by any stretch of the imagination, so being around someone who actually is instantly makes me feel self-conscious. A chef at the best restaurant in town? I couldn’t have focused on him if I wanted to.
“Well, I have no idea, Mom. It’s not like we had a deep conversation or anything. They liked the cookie and told me so. I thanked them and came back here to do work. That was it. If Daddy made it out to be anything else, then he was seeing something I wasn’t.”
My mother’s five foot five body seems to deflate right in front of me at my disinterest in Cade and Alex. “Oh. I just thought since they came in and they were young like you that you might have wanted to get to know them. It’s not every day young men come into the diner here, Hailey.”
“Sorry. I didn’t have my man-hunting thing going on today. Maybe if they come in again.”
She grimaces, twisting her face into a disapproving scowl. “You know, honey, it’s no crime to like people. You’re a beautiful young woman who shouldn’t think she should spend all her time hiding away in a kitchen. When opportunity knocks, you want to make sure to answer that door.”
I grab the rolling pin from the rack next to me and drop it onto my table. It makes a loud thud that startles my mother.
“Oh, my God, Mom! Opportunity did not knock just because two good looking men came into this restaurant. I don’t care if one is a chef or not, and just because he works around food doesn’t make us have anything in common. I’m not a chef! There is no comparison to what he does and what I do here. As for the other one, I didn’t even catch his name, so I’m sorry to disappoint you, but this episode of Set Up Your Daughter With Hot Strangers has come to an end.”
Instantly, I see in her eyes that I’ve hurt her feelings. Frowning, she gives me a nod and silently turns to leave the kitchen as regret fills me.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. Well, I did, but not that way, Mom.”
Without turning around, she nods again. “It’s fine, honey. I’m just going to go out front and see how things were this afternoon.”
Every word sounds sadder than the last, so by the time she gets to the end of her sentence, I think I hear a tiny sob.