Page 153 - It Ends with Us

bad ha bits for the nex t sev era l mont hs .”

The waiter ret urns with a des sert cart. “The chef gives all ex pec tant
mothers des sert on the ho use, ” he says. “Cong ratulations .”
“He does ?” Allysa says, perk ing up.
“Gues s tha t’s why it’s called Bib’s,” Marsha ll says. “Chef likes the
babies .”
We all look at the cart. “Oh, God,” I say, looking at the options .

“Thi s is my new favorite res taurant ,” Allysa says.
We pick out three des sert s for the table. The four of us spend the
time waiting for it to be ser ved discussing baby na mes .
“No,” Allysa says to Marsha ll. “We’re no t na ming thi s baby after a
state. ”
“But I love Neb raska,” he whi nes . “Idaho ?”
Allysa drops her hea d in her ha nd s. “Thi s is going to be the dem ise

of our marri age. ”
“Dem ise, ” Marsha ll says. “Tha t’s actually a good na me. ”
Marsha ll’s murder is thw arted by the arri val of des sert . Our waiter
places a piec e of cho colate cake in front of Allysa, and step s aside to
make roo m for the waiter behi nd hi m who is ho lding the other two
des sert s. The waiter motions toward the guy placing our des sert s

down and says, “The chef would like to ex tend hi s cong ratulations .”
“How was the mea l?” the chef asks, looking at Allysa and Marsha ll.
By the time hi s ey es make it to mine, my anx iet y is seep ing from
me. Atlas locks ey es with me, and witho ut thi nk ing , I blurt out,
“You’re the che f?”
The waiter lea ns around Atlas and says. “The chef . The owner.
Somet imes waiter, somet imes dishw asher. He gives a new mea ni ng to

ha nd s-on. ”
The ne xt fiv e sec ond s go unn oticed by ev er yone at our table, but
they play out in slow motion to me.
Atlas’s ey es fall to the cut on my ey e.
The band age wrapped around R yle’s ha nd .
Back to my ey e.

“We love your res taurant ,” Allysa says. “You ha ve an inc red ible
place here. ”
Atlas does n’t look at her. I see the roll of hi s thro at as he swallows.
His jaw ha rdens and he says no thi ng as he walks away.