Obsessed 18+✔️

Forty-One - Redemption Dinner ✔️

Meeting Colton's parents for the job interview was awkward; meeting them at the ski resort to announce Jo's fake pregnancy was even worse; now preparing a full-fledged meal for the two of them and acting like the first two meetings never happened...

Ugh...

I am in way over my head.

I have no idea what I am going to say or how they will react to me.

I take a couple ibuprofen, trying to knock out the pounding in my head, wash it down with some cold water, and get ready to cook this meal.

■■■

Jolie has still been walking around with her head in the clouds, but I am not entirely convinced it isn't just all part of the act because her text messages with her usual casual hookups have resumed full force.

One thing is damn sure: marriage didn't suddenly make her faithful—not that I was expecting it to.

Steve is now fully off the vent and is responding more and more every day.

The doctors said it would take time given the extent of his injuries, but they are hopeful he will make a full recovery, though the damage to his brain may cause some lasting effects. It is one of those time will tell types of situations.

■■■

Focus on the food, not everything else.

I opt for a typical four-course meal for tonight, consisting of hors d'oeuvres, an appetizer, a main course, and dessert.

The menu I came up with is.

Grilled nectarine and cheese crostini for the hors d'oeuvre.

Mushrooms stuffed with Pecorino Romano, bread crumbs, and garlic for the appetizer.

Flatiron steak with rosemary potatoes for the main course.

And

A blueberry mascarpone mousse with a layer of sponge cake for dessert.

I have no idea if these things even go together or not; I just found all of the recipes by scouring Pintrest for fancy meal ideas.

To top it off, I have never made a single one of them before, other than the steak and potatoes.

I figure there should be at least one thing on the menu I am halfway familiar with. That way, if the rest of the meal is shit at least something will be edible.

It is also a good thing that Colton lets me use his card to buy the ingredients for all of the meals I fix here because this dinner alone is more than I typically spend on my food budget at home for better than a month.

Now, here's to hoping I don't burn the shit.

■■■

"Well, this meal was absolutely divine." Colton's mother says dabbing at her mouth with her napkin.

Divine.

I repeat it in my head with her sophisticated accent.

"I sure wish Jolie could have joined us." She adds unconvincingly, which causes me to smile. I wipe my own mouth with my linen napkin to keep from being so obvious of my amusement.

I'm sure the two of them have strong feelings for Jo as well, based on the few things that have been said about her tonight. Very few things.

"You should cater the masquerade." His dad chimes in, changing the subject from my sister.