Chapter 90: Getting To Know Each Other

Rose stopped halfway to the car.

Adrian noticed because she’d been walking beside him without saying much since they left Maison Élan, and now she was looking at him with that particular hesitation he’d learned to recognize.

She did it whenever something bothered her and she hadn’t decided whether she wanted to ask about it yet.

"What else did Jenna say?"

"Nothing." Adrian glanced at the message again. "She just said she needed to talk to me."

Rose was quiet for a moment.

That was probably the part she didn’t like. If Jenna had explained what was wrong, at least Rose would know what she was dealing with.

Instead, there was only a vague request sitting on Adrian’s phone, and with Maya involved, vague wasn’t exactly reassuring.

"Do you want to call her?"

Adrian looked at Rose.

"We have time."

Rose’s eyes dropped briefly to his phone before she shook her head.

"Not yet."

"Why?"

"I don’t know what she’s going to say." She adjusted her grip on the dress bag. "And if it’s something bad, I’d rather not hear it right before meeting your mother."

Adrian considered that and nodded. It made sense. If they called Jenna now, whatever she said would probably follow Rose straight into dinner, and there wasn’t much they could do about it tonight anyway.

"After dinner, then."

"Yeah."

He put the phone away, and Rose finally started walking again.

"If she really needs you, she’ll call again."

"I know."

That was enough. Adrian didn’t bring it up again.

The drive to the restaurant was quieter than the one they’d taken earlier, although Rose didn’t seem uncomfortable. She spent most of it looking out the window, occasionally catching her reflection in the glass whenever they passed a brightly lit storefront.

Adrian noticed it the third time.

He didn’t mention it.

A few minutes later, Rose finally looked at him.

"Does this dress look okay?"

Adrian glanced over briefly before returning his eyes to the road.

"It looks good."

"For meeting your mother."

"Oh."

Rose waited.

Adrian thought about it for another second. "It’s appropriate."

"That’s a very practical answer."

"You asked a practical question."

She gave him a look before turning back toward the window, although the corner of her mouth moved slightly.

Adrian smiled to himself and kept driving. Rose checked her reflection again a few minutes later, and this time he definitely wasn’t going to comment.

When they reached the restaurant, Adrian understood why his parents had chosen it.

The place wasn’t flashy, but everything about it looked expensive in the quiet way that usually meant the prices were worse than they appeared.

Warm light spilled through the tall windows, the entrance was clean enough to make him conscious of his shoes, and the cars parked outside were enough to make him reconsider how much his parents considered a normal dinner.

Rose looked through the window before getting out.

Then she straightened her shoulders.

Adrian noticed but said nothing.

He parked, came around the car, and waited while she adjusted the dress bag and smoothed her dress one last time.

She looked at him afterward.

Adrian gave her a small nod.

"You look fine."

"Fine?"

"Good."

"Better."

They walked toward the entrance together.

Inside, a member of the staff greeted them and confirmed the reservation under Mrs. Hayes’s name before leading them toward a quieter section of the restaurant.

Adrian looked around as they walked, taking in the neatly arranged tables and the low conversation around them, and he had already started wondering what the menu prices looked like when he realized Rose was doing something similar.

Her eyes moved across the room, then she quietly exhaled.

Adrian almost told her there was nothing to worry about, but that seemed like the fastest possible way to make her worry about something she hadn’t been worrying about yet.

Their table was still empty.

Adrian checked his phone.

Nothing from Jenna.

He slipped it back into his pocket, and Rose noticed without asking.

A few minutes later, his mother appeared at the entrance.

Adrian recognized her immediately, even before she looked in their direction. She spotted him a moment later, smiled, and walked toward them with the same easy confidence she always carried when she knew exactly where she was going.

Her eyes landed on Adrian first.

Then Rose.

Adrian caught the slight change in her expression.

Not surprise.

Interest.

He knew that look.

"Mom."

Mrs. Hayes smiled and hugged him briefly before turning to Rose.

"So this is Rose."

Adrian glanced at Rose.

"Rose, my mother."

"It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Hayes."

"The pleasure is mine." His mother smiled warmly. "I’m glad you came."

"Thank you for inviting me."

The first few minutes stayed mercifully normal. His mother asked about the drive, Rose answered, and they exchanged the sort of polite conversation people had when they were meeting for the first time and neither wanted to make the other uncomfortable.

Adrian watched Rose relax by degrees.

Not completely.

Just enough that her shoulders stopped looking quite so stiff.

His mother noticed too, although she didn’t comment on it.

They were shown to the table, and Mrs. Hayes sat first. Rose waited until she had settled before taking the seat beside Adrian, which was another small thing his mother probably filed away somewhere in that frighteningly organized head of hers.

Menus were placed in front of them.

Rose opened hers and scanned the page.

Then she looked at Adrian.

"This is expensive."

Adrian glanced at the menu.

"Probably."

Mrs. Hayes laughed softly from across the table.

"Don’t worry about that. Tonight is my treat."

Rose looked up. "Are you sure?"

"Of course."

"But..."

"Buh-buh-buh... No buts." Mrs. Hayes waved the concern away. "After everything that’s happened recently, I was given an unexpected blessing, so I thought I’d celebrate a little."

Adrian looked at his mother.

He knew exactly what she meant.

She caught his expression and gave him a small smile that told him she had no intention of explaining it yet.

Fortunately, the waiter arrived before he could ask.

They went through the menu, placed their orders, and settled back into their seats. Rose chose something simple, Adrian ordered a dish he knew he would actually eat, and his mother made her choice without needing nearly as much time as either of them.

Once the waiter left, Rose seemed more comfortable.

That was probably because nothing had gone wrong yet.

Adrian was beginning to think that was the easiest way to handle the evening. Let things happen normally instead of trying to prepare for every possible question before it arrived.

Then his mother leaned back slightly.

Adrian knew that movement.

He had seen it before.

It meant she was comfortable enough to stop making polite conversation and start asking what she actually wanted to know.

Rose seemed to notice the shift too, because her hands came together on the table.

His mother smiled.

"This really is a nice place."

"It is," Rose said.

Mrs. Hayes nodded, then looked between them.

Adrian waited.

"How was Maison Élan?"

"Good," Adrian answered.

Rose glanced at him.

"We may have spent too much time there."

"Or too much money," Adrian added.

Rose gave him a small look.

Mrs. Hayes smiled.

"Well, at least you enjoyed yourselves."

Adrian nodded.

His mother took another sip of water, then placed the glass down.

"I actually have a few questions for you two."

Of course.

Adrian leaned back in his chair.

Rose remained composed, although her fingers shifted slightly against each other.

His mother noticed.

Adrian noticed his mother noticing.

This was why he preferred dealing with his mother one-on-one.

At least then there was only one person being analyzed.

"I’ll start with something easy," Mrs. Hayes said.

Adrian almost laughed.

His mother had apparently decided that "easy" was a flexible term.

She looked directly at Rose.

Then at him.

"How did you two meet?"

Adrian glanced at Rose.

Rose looked back.

For a second, neither of them answered.

The question itself wasn’t difficult. Adrian remembered exactly how they had met, what had happened afterward, and how quickly things between them had changed.

The difficult part was deciding how much of that story his mother actually needed.

Because his mother knew him.

If he skipped something obvious, she’d notice. If he made the story sound too polished, she’d notice that too, and if Rose tried to help him out by making it simpler, his mother would probably notice that as well.

Adrian looked at Rose again.

She was waiting for him.

Right.

Apparently, this was his problem now.

He took a slow breath.

"Well..."

Mrs. Hayes smiled.

And Adrian knew immediately that dinner was going to take longer than he’d expected.

"You’ve been keeping this one quiet," Mrs. Hayes said. "I knew there was someone, but Adrian was strangely determined not to give me any useful details."

"When you put it like that it sounds a bit ominous ma.," Adrian said.

"Well, you have been a bit unlike yourself lately. Don’t you think?"

Adrian paused and looked at her. She still had her smile at him.

"But that’s a discussion for later. As for now..." she looked at Rose. "I wanna know everything about you two."