Restless Ink

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  He frowned. “Your place?”

  She waved him off. “Oh, you should know. This is one of the places my people come to for dinners with the committee and such. I never thought I’d ever see you two here, but it makes me so happy that I am.”

  Her people?

  And why did she keep saying that she was surprised to see them at this place? Sure, they couldn’t usually afford it, but her words were getting under his skin. But it wasn’t like he could say something right then in public. He didn’t want to be the man who hated his ex-wife, but she was making it hard. He was the one who’d chosen her years ago. He was the one who had married her. If he hated her now, that reflected on him and his choices rather than on her in his opinion.

  “We’re just enjoying our night,” he said, knowing there wasn’t anything he could say at the moment that wouldn’t be awkward.

  Thea met his gaze quickly before turning back to Molly. “It’s nice to see you, Molly. You look great.”

  Molly beamed, running her hand down her side. “Oh, I do love this dress. You remember it, don’t you, Dimitri?” She winked, and Dimitri barely resisted the urge to growl. What was up with her tonight? Under the tablecloth, he reached out and gripped Thea’s hand, giving it a squeeze. With the way they were sitting, no one would have been able to see the action, and he was grateful. Things were just too freaking awkward already.

  Molly continued, “Anyway, I’m off to my table near the bar. Dinner for one is the new me, but you know how I am. I’m fine no matter where I am. I’m sure I’ll see a friend soon and join them. I’ve done it a few times.”

  Thea looked over at him and winced. Dimitri knew exactly what she was going to say before she said it, and he didn’t like it. "How about a drink with us before you go have your dinner?"

  Dimitri could only feel like something was off between the women. He didn’t know what was going on, but this wasn’t the Molly he knew, not the one he’d fallen in love with, and not even the one he’d fallen out of love with.

  He was missing something, and yet he couldn’t think of what it was.

  “I’d love to! Just a drink, though. I don’t want to take over your whole night.” Molly moved to the side as a waiter showed up out of nowhere to push a chair behind her so she could sit down. She waved him off, and another came to bring her a glass of the same wine Dimitri and Thea were already drinking. He knew the whole thing hadn’t been planned, but the show was something else.

  Something he didn’t know if he liked.

  But he didn’t like the fact that Molly was having dinner alone, and since Thea was her friend, they’d make do, however weird it was. He just hoped this drink went quickly and he could get on with his date.

  Jesus, how the hell had this become his life?

  The waiter stopped by and bowed slightly just as Molly and Thea started talking about Molly’s day. “We have your first course, a Viennese mushroom in cream, minus the shellfish of course, ready in a few minutes, would you like to wait until your guest is through with her drink?”

  “That sounds fine,” Dimitri said, clearing his throat. “Sorry for the wait. We appreciate it.”

  “It’s no problem, Mr. Carr. We want to make sure you enjoy your night.” With that, the man moved away, and Dimitri looked over at Molly, his memory prickling at something the waiter had said.

  Molly winked. “Thank you so much for letting me have a drink with you. I’m almost done, and then I’ll let you have your dinner back. Their mushroom in cream is divine, though usually it’s topped with delicate lobster flown in fresh each morning since finding lobster in Colorado isn’t the easiest.”

  Dimitri reached out and squeezed Thea’s knee. “I’m allergic to lobster, so not having it on the meal works for me.”

  Molly rolled her eyes. “Of course, you’re allergic to shellfish.”

  “Then why did you tell me to make him something with shrimp?” Thea asked, her voice a bit hollow. There was an undercurrent there that he knew he should be getting, but the thoughts he had of why everything had happened didn’t line up with the Molly he’d known for so many years.

  Molly turned to Thea, her eyes wide. “Did you hear me wrong? I'm so sorry that you didn’t understand what I said. I would never want to hurt you guys. Oh, what an unfortunate misunderstanding.”

  Thea frowned, tapping her finger on the table while Dimitri just stared at Molly, wondering what the fuck was going on.

  “Are you both okay? That must have been scary. But I mean, really, Thea, Dimitri's been allergic all his life. I could have sworn we talked about it before.”

  Thea sighed. “Oh. Well, I guess I just mixed things up.”

  Dimitri wasn’t so sure. He just didn’t know why Molly would play around like that. To make Thea feel bad? To hurt him?

  Or maybe she was losing herself or her mind…along with him.

  Hell, he needed something stronger than wine just then.

  “Maybe you did. Wouldn’t be the first time, would it?” Molly trilled a laugh. “Now, I must be off, and you should enjoy your date. I see Barney over in the corner. I think I’ll see if he wants to join me.” She stood up and picked up her sparkly bag that he knew cost more than he made in a month. “Ta-ta, darlings.”

  Then Molly sauntered off, leaving Thea and Dimitri sitting at their table as if they’d been through a tornado and not a simple drink with his ex-wife and Thea’s best friend. A waitress came to take the empty glass away and remove the chair, while another brought their mushroom in cream, minus the lobster.

  Dimitri turned to Thea and cupped her face before they started their meal. They were out of everyone’s line of vision thanks to their position in the booth, and he needed to know that she was fine, that she was his.

  “Hey, want to start the night over?”

  Thea gave him a sad smile. “Sure. We can try that. It’s just…that was weird.”

  He nodded, giving her a quick kiss. “Yeah, it was. But how about we try these mushroom things, because I’m starving.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  Only he didn’t know if their date would be as good as they wanted to make it. The night hadn’t gone as planned, and by the time they’d finished their food, trying their best to act as if Molly hadn’t interrupted them and made it seem like either Thea had been wrong or had lied outright about her dinner recommendation, Dimitri didn’t know if any of their evening could be salvaged.

  They’d tried to do something different, and it hadn’t worked. Not even in the slightest.

  Dimitri walked Thea to her car after they’d finished dessert, completely full, yet feeling as if he were two steps behind in a game he hadn’t known he was playing.

  “Is it okay if I just go home tonight? Alone? I have a headache, and I need to breathe a bit.” Thea said as she looked up at him, a frown on her face and sadness in her eyes.

  He thought about the bag he had in his car, and the weekend he’d planned with her and Captain.

  “Okay.”

  “It’s not okay, but…but I think I need to take a step back and remember who I am and why we’re doing this. Because something’s off, and I don’t think it’s you. Or me.”

  He nodded. “Yeah. I get that. Why don’t I take Captain up to my brother’s house this weekend? We can talk when I get back. Or during. Or whenever. Because I’m not letting you go, Thea. Even if tonight didn’t go like we expected.”

  “I think that might be best.”

  He kissed her softly, putting everything into it, but he knew this was a step, a moment in time that would become a part of who they were. They would have to find out who they could be together soon, but right then, it was a tipping point.

  He watched her walk away, feeling more alone than ever.

  He knew something needed to change. There was something wrong with Molly and the way she treated Thea, the way she treated him. And that needed to stop.

  It had to.

  Chapter 21

  Thea pounded her fist
s into the dough, trying to untangle her thoughts and form the gluten for her bread. There was chemistry involved, baking magic that turned a few ingredients into countless baked goods. But for her, all she wanted to do was put some punch and anger into it. With every fold, every smack of her fist or dough on the counter, she thought that maybe she could get some of this…oddness out of her system.

  But as she’d been working in the back of Colorado Icing for a few hours now, she didn’t know if that would actually happen.

  She’d already made loaves of bread, rolls, and two new starters for her sourdough since she was afraid one of her best was starting to lose its action abilities. She’d made cookies, cupcakes, brownies, tarts, and even a mousse for their special today. She’d made frostings, a couple of cakes to order, and had begun baking the tiers for a wedding cake she’d spend the next day decorating with all her energy and creativity.

  And she’d done all of it in a fog while trying to figure out what had happened on her date with Dimitri. She hadn’t spoken to him since she’d left him standing alone in that parking lot after their uneasy date. They’d texted, or rather, he’d texted her, and she responded, just not as quickly and verbosely as she had in the past. He’d gone to Denver to visit his brother and to hang out with this dog, all because she’d needed time to think about what had happened with Molly and what everything would mean to all of them in the future.

  “You look like you went ten rounds with the Pillsbury Dough Boy and lost.”

  Thea’s head whipped around at Roxie’s voice, her shoulders sagging. All day, she’d been prepared for either Dimitri or Molly to walk through the doors of the café and even come back to the kitchen. All damn day. Neither had shown up yet, though Dimitri had texted saying that he was working at home today on lesson plans, getting a jump start on the new semester. He’d said he’d try to stop by later if she wanted him to.

  She’d told him to have a good day.

  Why?

  Because she couldn’t get Molly’s weird interactions out of her head, and they were shading her thoughts about Dimitri. She couldn’t think when he was around, and the one thing she needed to do was think.

  “Thea?” Her sister frowned and walked toward her, her arm outstretched. “What’s wrong? Do you need to sit down?”

  Thea shook her head in answer as well as a way to try and clear her thoughts. “Sorry, I’m fine.” She looked down at herself. “Apparently, just covered in flour.”

  “You’re always covered in flour, but when I come and see you during the day, you’re not usually trying to take out any anger and aggression you might have on the poor defenseless dough in front of you.”

  Roxie leaned against one of the cleaner counters and would probably end up with flour on her as well, but Thea knew her sister wouldn’t really mind. Sure, her outfit was much nicer than Thea’s, and her sister scrimped and saved for them for work, but she also didn’t flee from dirt and things.

  Unlike Molly.

  And that was a thought Thea didn’t need to have because she hated that she kept putting the other woman down in her head. Yes, Molly had issues, but they weren’t that bad. Right?

  The more Thea thought about it, the more she lingered on the digs Molly made, and the way her so-called friend had been acting lately, the more Thea worried that she was only obsessing over it to find fault because she was falling in love with Dimitri.

  “Earth to Thea. What the hell is wrong? Don’t say you’re fine or nothing is wrong. That would be a lie.”

  I could ask you the same.

  But she didn’t.

  Couldn’t.

  Thea folded her arms over her chest and leaned against her other counter. “I won’t say I’m fine. I was just thinking.”

  “Want to talk about it?” Roxie tilted her head, studying Thea’s face. “Is it Dimitri? Did you two have a fight? Or is it the bakery? I know the expansion sounds like a lot of work, but we’ve gone through the numbers, if you get that loan with those recommendations, you’ll do wonderfully.”

  Thea shook her head, then rubbed at her temple since the action made that part of her face throb.

  “It’s not that. Or maybe it’s not all of it. There’s just been a lot of change happening in a short period of time, and I feel like I’m struggling to catch up. Plus, something just feels hinky, and I have no idea why.”

  “Hinky?”

  “It’s a word.”

  “Well, yeah it is, but what do you think is hinky?”

  “It’s about Molly.”

  “Your so-called best friend,” Roxie put in dryly.

  “Why do you and Adrienne keep calling her that?” And, yeah, she’d used the phrase while talking to herself, but she figured her sisters were the ones that put those words into her head when it came to Molly.

  “Because she’s not good for you,” Roxie said with a shrug. “I know, I know, we don’t have to like every single one of your friends, but it doesn’t make it any easier to see the two of you together. Not that we ever see you together since she doesn’t like to slum with the Montgomerys.”

  “That’s not nice. She’s not slumming with us. We’re not lower class. We’re mostly blue collar, sure, but she’s not like that.” Even as she said the words, Thea wasn’t sure she was being entirely truthful with herself.

  “Whatever. I know we’re not lower class or whatever the fuck Molly thinks we are. It’s not that. It’s how she treats you.”

  “What are you talking about?” Thea picked at wet flour on her hand, frowning.

  “She’s constantly putting you down, Thea.”

  “She does not.” She paused. “Well, I don’t think she means anything by it.”

  “Listen to yourself, Thea. Don’t make excuses for her. Every time you’re near her, you shrink in on yourself as if you don’t want to become too big of a target. She’s totally passive-aggressive. And she’s damn good at it. It wasn’t until recently that I felt like the gloves had come off and I could actually step back and see it clearly. She comments on your little bakery, about the flour on you, the fact you have curves and have to work for a living.”

  “It’s not what you think. Not really. She doesn’t do that.”

  But Molly’s words came back to Thea, confusing her as she remembered the things her friend had said to her over the years.

  “It’s not…it’s not that bad.”

  “Thea…”

  “No, because if it’s that bad, then what kind of person am I that I could be her friend for all these years? She says stupid stuff that hurts me, but she doesn’t do it on purpose. She can’t be doing it on purpose, or she’s far crueler than I thought possible. I don’t think I’d be happy with who I am if I’ve really let her put me down like that for years. So that can’t be what she does.” It was circular reasoning at its finest, but she knew that Molly hadn’t always been this way, hadn’t always been the person who could make Thea question everything.

  “Maybe she’s not cruel. Maybe that’s just who she is, someone who feels better about herself by putting others down. But that’s a different kind of meanness and cruelty, right?”

  Thea let out a breath. “I don’t know. I just don’t know. She showed up at my date with Dimitri this weekend.” Thea hadn’t meant to blurt out that last part, but maybe she needed to.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Roxie’s eyes widened. “Like, actually showed up at that fancy place you were so excited about?”

  “Yes. It’s apparently one of her places. Not that I knew that. Not that Dimitri knew that, since neither of us can actually afford it.”

  “What did she do?”

  Thea winced. “Well, she came over to the table, made a few comments about how surprised she was to see us. Considering it’s not our usual place, I got that. Then because she said something about dining alone…”

  Roxie groaned. “Tell me you did not invite Dimitri’s ex-wife to join you for dinner. Because I get that you and Molly know each other, but there will alw
ays be that sense of you being the other woman with her around.”

  “I know, I know. Too many tangled webs and hurt feelings. Hence why I have a headache. And, no, we didn’t invite her for dinner, but I did invite her to stay for a drink because I was stupid and felt bad and didn’t want to see her walk away all alone without friends. Dimitri did his best to be cordial with her but didn’t engage her in conversation or invite her to sit down. That was all me, and because I can’t put the idea that she’s his ex and my friend in the same category, I asked her to join us for a drink. She did, but just that. She didn’t eat with us, and we didn’t see her again. But then she made a comment about Dimitri’s allergy, and I got confused all over again.” Thea met Roxie’s gaze. “I think she lied to me, Rox. That night and before about the shellfish. And I don’t know why or what to do about it.”

  Roxie held up her hand. “Wait. What about the shellfish? You mean the fact that Dimitri had that reaction when you cooked for him? How is that connected to her?”

  Thea explained about the day that Molly had come into the bakery and mentioned what she thought was Dimitri’s favorite dish.

  “That bitch! She tried to kill her ex-husband. That’s what you’re saying. She tried to kill him and make you the culprit.”

  Thea’s eyes widened. “No. No way. It wasn’t that bad. We caught it in time, and he normally wouldn’t have even had a bite of the food since he always checks things first, but I was being silly and trying to be romantic about it. I don’t think Molly tried to kill him. But I think…I think she wanted to somehow prove she knows him better and put me down in the process. And because of that, I don’t know what to think.”

  Thea looked down at her hands, at the dough under her fingernails and the burn marks along her fingertips. She did her best to keep from comparing herself to others since she couldn’t put her next foot forward if she were constantly looking to the side, but she couldn’t help but think about the little comments Molly had made about her hands. How her friend—or the woman she’d thought was a friend—would mention how she was off for a manicure, something Thea needed but never got because of money and time.