She picked up two menus. “Follow me, Mr. Liston.”
She hadn’t bothered to glance at me once. I wondered if Rachel would have gotten the same response. Had I worn the wrong outfit?
We were seated in the back of the restaurant near a roaring fire. There was just enough of the heat to make me feel right at home when I settled into my seat.
“Your server will be around shortly to take your drink order and inform you of the specials,” the hostess said.
“Thank you,” Parker said.
The woman’s mouth spread into an overly wide grin. I stifled a laugh into my hand as she walked away.
Parker looked at me. “This place is nice, right?”
“I bet you take all the girls here,” I teased.
r /> “I actually haven’t been here before,” he admitted.
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
I couldn’t help feeling flattered that I was the only person he’d taken to Valencia’s. It made it a little more special.
Parker ordered a bottle of wine for the table and the server returned quickly.
I looked down at the table as the server poured me a glass.
We placed our order for an antipasto plate while we decided on dinner. I was going to take advantage of Parker’s unlimited funds for once; I had a feeling coming to Valencia’s wasn’t going to be a regular occurrence.
There were several utensils in front of me, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“What is it?” he asked.
“This is the first time I’ve been to a place that had more than one fork.”
“I believe that,” he said smirking.
I wrinkled my nose at him. “Har har. Seriously, though, as kids did you ever imagine going to a place like this? Our parents would have never come to such a fancy restaurant.”
“I always did,” he said.
“Really.”
He nodded. “I always wanted to. Remember that place downtown, Deluca’s?”
Deluca’s was like the Valencia’s of our neighborhood, but to kid’s eyes. It couldn’t have been this fancy.
“I used to walk by it after practice at school in the afternoons. I’d watched the servers cleaning wine glasses through the windows. For some reason drinking out of a wine glass was the epitome of higher living.” He smiled to himself. “I knew someday I’d get out of there and make something of myself.”
“And you did.”
“Yes, I did,” he said.
“Times have changed,” I noted.
He raised his glass, and I took mine. “To old friends,” he toasted.
We clinked the crystal glasses and I took a sip of wine. The taste was full bodied with a hint of fruit. Sure beat the nine dollar bottle I bought myself on special occasions.