Great, their first restaurant hunt was a complete failure.
He seriously doubted Miles and his girlfriend's taste in food.
"How is it?"
Dane asked Claire.
Claire tasted a few of the dishes. "The dessert is decent, but the main courses don't
even come close to what your private chef makes."
Chances were, the five-star rating was mostly driven by Miles's girlfriend.
After all, most girls couldn't resist a good dessert.
"We are never coming back here." What else could Dane say?
It was an undeniable fact that the food was painfully mediocre.
To the average person, it might have tasted like a delicacy.
But to someone accustomed to world-class dining, it simply didn't make the cut.
"Don't look so miserable. Just treat it as a new experience."
"Besides, that live jazz stage is pretty unique, and the singer is gorgeous."
Claire tried to comfort him.
Hearing her say that, Dane began to suspect that Miles had only picked this place for the aesthetic.
In his opinion, the food was a three out of ten at best. The ambiance and the stage added maybe one more point, bringing it to a solid four.
Truth be told, Miles and his girlfriend really had fallen in love with the jazz stage. They thought it was incredibly romantic.
How were they supposed to know their boss would hate it?
Dane and Claire finished their meal, took a leisurely stroll outside, and finally headed to the Cole family estate.
It was already three in the afternoon by the time they arrived.
At this hour, the question of whether they had eaten lunch was entirely irrelevant.
Even so, Kendrick had the staff prepare a lavish afternoon tea for the two of them. Caleb was also home, waiting for their arrival.
Cassandra was there too.
She had stayed behind only because Kendrick mentioned that Dane was bringing someone over to treat his illness.
Otherwise, she would have headed straight back to her lab.
"Cassandra, pour our guests some tea."
Kendrick directed his granddaughter.
Cassandra obediently complied.
After pouring tea for Dane and Claire, she covertly assessed the other woman.
Was this really the doctor Dane had found to treat her grandfather?
Wasn't she a little too young?
Was she actually reliable?
"Cassandra, let me introduce you. This is Dane's girlfriend, Claire."
Coming straight from Kendrick, the introduction solidified the truth.
Cassandra remembered that her grandfather had previously wanted to set her up with Dane.
In their social circle, Dane had an impeccable reputation he kept his nose clean, stayed out of scandals, and was mature and reliable.
At the time, Cassandra had figured she had no real interest in finding a boyfriend
anyway.
Rather than navigating the messy
dating scene and risking getting her
heart broken by some jerk, it was
easier to just agree to her grandfather's arrangement
Dane was a tried-and-true option, after all.
The old man had an excellent eye for character.
But who could have predicted that right after she silently accepted the idea, Dane would turn around and. bring his actual girlfriend to their doorstep?
Honestly, Cassandra had stayed home today assuming that Dane's visit was just her grandfather's excuse to set them up on a blind date.
She felt deeply embarrassed by her own overactive imagination.
After exchanging brief pleasantries, she felt too awkward to even look at Claire.
It wasn't like she had coveted the man, but the misunderstanding was humiliating enough.
"You brat, you bolted out of here like lightning yesterday."
"I was waiting for you to come over for lunch today, and you dragged your feet until the afternoon."
"What, do you think the food at the Cole estate isn't as good as yours?"
Kendrick joked.
"You misunderstand, Kendrick." Despite the polite words, Dane's expression remained perfectly nonchalant.
The topic was quickly brushed aside.
Kendrick urged them to try the tea he had brewed and the freshly baked pastries.
Dane took a sip of tea while Claire tasted a pastry.
Once the small talk concluded, Claire focused all her attention on checking the old man's pulse.
Kendrick's physical condition was remarkably similar to Baldrick's, perhaps even slightly worse.
His severe arthritis had progressed to the point where even a wheelchair didn't entirely solve his mobility issues.
When the flare-ups hit, the agony was probably enough to make him wish for death.