"I still think we shouldn't have come here," Claire Monroe said, glancing around Taverna. She and Matt Wilson had a table in the corner, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.
"It'll be fine," Matt replied. "Besides, this is the only good restaurant in Pine Lake."
"And unfortunately, it's owned by the parents of the girl my son ran away with," Claire added.
Matt smiled, "From what I gather, she was only too happy to go."
Out of the corner of her eye, Claire saw Helen Kallias at the back of the restaurant. Helen had seen her, too, but Claire couldn't quite read the expression on her face. "Oh, God, there's Helen. What if she comes over here?"
"What if she does?" Matt answered. "Even if she is upset, which I seriously doubt, she's not going to yell at you and make a scene in her own restaurant."
"She might kick us out."
Matt shrugged. "We'll order a pizza."
Claire felt herself relax just a bit. Matt had that effect on her. She had grown very fond of this man who was so easy-going. Nothing rattled him, and as far as she could tell, it took a lot to make him angry. It had been a a long time since she had felt this way about a man. Taking her cue from him, she decided not to worry about Helen and give her full attention to Matt. "You're right, I need to let it go. It's not my fault that Biff and Selena left town." She took a healthy sip of her chardonnay. "Now, tell me, what is this surprise you've been talking about?"
Matt grinned and reached across the table for her hand. "I have a great idea," he began. "I think we should ---"
"Claire!" Helen had managed to come around the corner behind their table so that neither Claire no Matt had been aware of her approach. To Claire's amazement, the woman was beaming as she said, "Claire, your son is my new hero." Helen bent down and planted kisses beside both Claire's cheeks. "He risked his life to come back here and rescue my Selena, for which I can never, ever thank you enough."
Helen reached up and snapped her fingers in the air, signalling a waiter who stepped over to the table with a bottle of Dom Perignon. "Your dinner tonight is on the house, as is this bottle of champagne. Enjoy!" She turned and left.
Astonished, Claire and Matt sat speechless as the waiter filled two flutes with golden bubbles and set the bottle in a cooler next to Matt.
"Did I just imagine that?" Claire asked.
"I don't think so, but if you did, you've got a great imagination, baby."
They clinked glasses and took a sip. Matt put his glass down carefully. "Now as I was saying . . .I think you and I deserve some fun. How does an all-expenses paid week in Vegas sound?"
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