"Hi, I'm Sarah, and I will be your waitress." Arriving at Applebees, we went in and was shown to our table by our waitress. After we were seated, she handed us menus and took our drink order. She left to go get our iced tea while we perused the menu. I decided on the spinach dip for starters and for my main dish I chose fried shrimp and baked potato with a side salad. Weston decided on the same. However, instead of shrimp, he ordered the rib eye steak. When our dinner arrived and our drinks were refilled, we dove in to satisfy our hunger.
"I really appreciate you being here, Alyssa. This is the most I've eaten since Denise died."
"I wish I had come sooner. Had I known she was ill, I would have come sooner. You know Wes, I shouldn't have let this be the reason to bring me home. Even though Dad is gone, you and Denise were still like family. I really missed you all. I missed seeing your babies born. Don't get me wrong, I love that you sent me pictures over the years. I'm just feeling overly sentimental right now. I never realized how much I missed the place where I grew up, until now."
"I knew how hurt you were when your dad died during your last year of college. That couldn't have been easy for you. Denise and I understood you wanting to start fresh somewhere else. We knew you never got over what happened with Drake. Finding out that Autumn was pregnant by him didn't help make matters any better."
"The past is the past, so let's just leave it where it belongs. I'm enjoying my life in New York. I have a wonderful man in my life who I think loves me. I enjoy teaching and I love my kids. Who could ask for anything more?"
"That's great, Alyssa! You deserve to be happy." Finishing his meal, Weston insisted on paying the bill, even though I tried to take care of it myself.
When we arrived back at his house, I dropped him off and promised to see him the next day, which was the day of the funeral. All I wanted to do when I reached the hotel was crawl into bed and sleep until morning. I pulled off my clothes, put on my nightgown and crawled between the crisp clean sheets. I was out like a light within minutes.
The next morning, I called room service and ordered a light breakfast. I showered and put on a matching baby blue lacy bra set with matching lace panties. I slipped on a short-sleeved fitted black dress with a squared neck. Slipping my stocking-covered feet into three-inch black heels, I put on a pair of pearl drop earrings with a matching necklace. On my way out the door, I grabbed my black clutch and cell.