The woman stopped smiling.
“What is this? You can’t trap me inside a restaurant.”
But Alaric was no longer looking at her.
He turned toward my mother.
“Molly?”
Mom froze.
Her purse slipped from her fingers.
“Alaric?”
The way she said his name immediately told me they weren’t strangers.
Alaric slowly crouched beside her chair.
“I thought that was you.”
Mom stared at him.
“You work here?”
He smiled faintly.
“I own the place.”
I looked between them.
“Mom… you know him?”
She barely seemed to hear me.
Alaric and Mom continued staring at each other with the unmistakable recognition of two people who shared a history.
Finally, he explained.
“Molly and I knew each other a long time ago.”
