“It might have been beautiful to you,” Megan said. “You arranged everything so nobody else could say no without embarrassing you.”
From the dining room came the soft ring of cutlery against glass. Priya’s headset buzzed again. Guests were asking why the welcome presentation hadn’t begun. Hassan excused himself to address the front of house. Reid made to follow him, but Megan stepped aside rather than blocking the way.
“You can speak to them,” she said. “You just can’t tell them Lauren is taking part.”
“It’s my restaurant.”
“Our restaurant,” Megan corrected. “And the staff are already being asked to manage a problem you made.”
Reid opened his mouth, then closed it. Lauren knew that expression. He was finding the angle from which he could make himself the generous injured party. She felt a familiar urge to help him. In their twenties she’d often filled uncomfortable silences with explanations that made his choices sound noble. She could do it again. She could say the surprise had been misguided but sweet, that she hadn’t understood the scale of his ambitions, that all he wanted was to believe love mattered.
Instead she asked, “Why did you need the blue dress?”
Reid looked at the cabinet. “People connect to visual stories.”
“You recreated something I wore fifteen years ago because it would look convincing from the audience. Did you ever think about the person I am now?”
“I wanted to remind you.”
“Of what? That I used to be easier to surprise?”
He swallowed and reached for the bouquet. “You don’t understand what this could mean for all of us.”
“Then explain it without flowers,” Megan said.
He described a plan for a series of intimate evenings in different cities, each built around the story of a person taking a difficult romantic risk. The first event would be the proof of concept. He had already spoken to a producer who liked the idea of documenting the transformation. If tonight worked, Reid believed he could license the format to hospitality businesses. His words came faster as he spoke, acquiring the cadence of a pitch he’d practiced in the mirror.
“And where was I in that plan?” Lauren asked.
“At the center.”
“Could I leave?”
“Of course.”
“Before the guests arrived, without ruining your night?”
He hesitated.
That hesitation was the clearest answer she’d heard from him in weeks.
Chapter Six: The Guests
Hassan returned with a problem. Several guests had been told in advance that the evening would include a remarkable announcement and were asking whether the surprise still existed. One woman had traveled three hours from another city. A man had brought his brother, recently divorced, because the invitation promised an honest discussion about love after regret. They weren’t faceless purchasers. They were people who had assigned hopes to a description Reid wrote.
