Page 36 of Tides and Tidings

“We have a reservation at L’Acqua.” I beamed as I squeezed Charlie’s hand.

The man cocked his head, “L’Acqua on Historic Place?”

“That’s the one,” Charlie responded.

They looked at each other before shaking their heads.

“That place closed down three days ago.” The woman added.

“That’s impossible. I confirmed my reservation earlier this week.” Charlie’s hand let go of mine to reach for his phone.

The elevator came before he could find the email confirming the reservation. We stood in the lobby while his million emails loaded. This man has over eighteen thousand emails. I could never.

“It’s right here.” Charlie turned the phone towards me.

Sure enough, there was a confirmation email on the screen. I double-checked the date. Everything was correct.

“It’s down the street. Why don’t we just walk over there? Those people probably had the wrong place. You have the confirmation email.”

“Yeah,” he shook his head, his brows were furrowed. “You’re probably right.”

We walked hand-in-hand the two blocks to the restaurant. We were face-to-face with a brick building with the word thief spray painted across the window.

Charlie gulped, “What the fuck.”

It was more of a statement than a question.

I reached for my phone in my clutch. I typed in the restaurant, and when I clicked search, I had no idea what the results would reveal.

Charlie

No. No. No.

Absolutely not.

This cannot be real. Not today. Not with this. My stomach sank and my blood boiled. The head chef was embezzling money and the restaurant was shut down three days ago with no warning.

Blythe continued to read the article as I stared at the graffiti. “Antonio DiNofrio has been charged with embezzling. L’Acqua, his flagship Italian restaurant, was shut down immediately. No reason as to why has been released.”

Her eyes followed mine to the window. “We could head back to the hotel and order that room service.”

“They didn’t even call to let me know.” My blood pressure rose. Tonight needed to be perfect and this ruined it. Was this the universe’s way of telling me I shouldn’t ask her to marry me? Because this seemed like a sign. “Tonight is fucked.”

Her face softened, “Babe, it’s fine. It was just dinner.”

“It wasn’t just dinner.” I snapped. Blythe’s eyes went wide. “Tonight was supposed to be the best and…” I caught myself before I said anything. “And now it’s ruined.”

“It’s not ruined, Charlie. We just need to change our plans.” She rebutted.

“Blythe, can you not for one damn minute?” I tried to take a deep breath but it felt like my lungs couldn’t take any more air.

“What the fuck is your deal?” Blythe shook her head slowly. “You’ve been off all day and now you’re losing your ever-loving shit because the owner of the restaurant is a douche. Get a grip, Charlie.”

My fists balled at my side. “This isn’t how it was supposed to go!” I leveled my voice, remembering we were in a very public place.

Blythe cocked an eyebrow at me. “So what? Was dinner the make or break? No.” She pinched the bridge of her nose, “I can’t speak for you, but I’ve enjoyed our time alone. I love Wren with every fiber of my being, but not having any responsibilities has been nice.”

I raised my eyes from the sidewalk to meet hers, “I just want to go back to the hotel.”