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she had passed it down to her son – my grandfather. My grandfather was still technically in charge, but he had passed on the day-to-day operations to my Uncle Tim. My grandfather still went to the restaurant everyday, but it was usually to just hold court with the regular coffee drinkers that frequented the establishment.
    It was a real family endeavor – with much of the family still working there. The décor was basic, and the booths vinyl. I found it warm and inviting, but I was curious about how Eliot would see it.
    For his part, Eliot seemed to be getting increasingly nervous during the drive. He kept asking me pointed questions about my family.
    “So, you’re an only child but you have a lot of cousins, right?”
    “Right.”
    “And you’re all close?”
    “Right.”
    “Will Lexie be there?”
    That was a good question. Eliot had met Lexie when she had been living with me a few weeks ago. It was his idea for her to go to rehab – a move she had initially fought. Eliot didn’t overtly dislike Lexie, but he wasn’t exactly fond of her either. He thought she spent too much time flitting from thing to thing – and leeching off whatever person was most convenient at that point in her life.
    “I don’t know. Last time I heard, she was still in rehab.”
    “She should stay there,” I heard him mutter.
    “Don’t say that in front of my family. They’ll lynch you.”
    Eliot looked at me out of the corner of his eye. I had a sneaking suspicion he was starting to rethink family dinner. It was too late for that, though.
    “Will Derrick be there?”
    My cousin Derrick, Lexie’s brother, was a sheriff’s deputy in Macomb County. He worked for Jake. We were close in age, which meant we usually fought like brother and sister. Between Lexie and I, Derrick was constantly being teased by his co-workers.
    “Probably.”
    “Will he have that television reporter with him?”
    Much to my disdain, Derrick had started dating a television reporter from Channel 4 about five weeks ago. I had thought he was doing it to irritate me at first, but they were still going strong. I still couldn’t stand her.
    “Probably,” I growled.
    Eliot smirked. “You still don’t like her?”
    “No.”
    “What’s your mom do?”
    “She’s a teacher.” Which was probably why she was always treating me like I was in the fifth grade.
    “And your dad?”
    “He’s a businessman, but he won’t be there. My parents are divorced.”
    Eliot seemed relieved by that little tidbit. I didn’t blame him. My mom was going to be bad enough. My dad would take one look at him and think he was a dirty hippie, though. That was a bridge we would have to cross at a later date. Thankfully, my dad traveled a lot.
    When we got to town, I directed Eliot to the family restaurant. When we exited his Range Rover, I could see that the nervousness had returned. “It’s going to be fine,” I promised. I was mostly certain of that. “We’re a lot harder on each other than we are on newcomers.”
    Eliot looked slightly placated.
    “Of course,” I continued. “You’re the first guy I’ve brought to family dinner since I was a teenager. So they’ll probably look at you like you’re a circus freak and expect you to perform on command.”
    Eliot groaned. “Did Jake come to these?”
    “Yeah,” I admitted reluctantly.
    “Were they nice to him?”
    “Yeah,” I said blithely. “Of course, he knew them because we grew up together.”
    “You’re not making me feel any better.”
    “You’ll be fine.” I waved off Eliot’s concerns. I had my own problems to worry about. The truth was, I was happy Eliot would be there because it might stop my mom from railing at me in front of everyone for missing two family dinners in a row.
    Eliot was still standing on his side of his truck. I could tell he was debating about getting in it and driving away – leaving me to deal with my family alone. I stalked to the other side of the vehicle, grabbed his hand,