by A. D. Ellis
I ran a hand over my face and took a deep breath. “Fine, I may find myself in the predicament of finding Mitch somewhat attractive.”
“By somewhat attractive, I’m going to assume you mean you’d like to climb him like a tree,” teased Travis.
I groaned. “Shut up.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“Well, let’s see. First, I’m here in town for business, not for some wild romance. Second, Mitch is a lot older than me. What could we possibly have in common?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Plus, I’m a city-slicker, and he’s a small-town golden boy.”
“Ever heard of opposites attract? Age gaps are a thing too. You guys both love cooking. You’re both restaurant owners. And I’m sure there’s plenty you could teach each other and not only in the kitchen.”
I bristled. “I graduated early from high school and top of my class in both culinary and business school. There’s not a whole lot I need to learn from the guy who clearly looks at me as nothing more than a pest.”
Travis snorted. “Well, first, maybe Mitch can help knock your cocky arrogance down a few notches. Second, no one says you have to send out wedding invitations, but what would a few dates hurt? Plus, for a city-slicker, you sure do look good in the small-town Midwest. And you need to remember that Mitch has been in business for years for a reason. He’s good at what he does. Doesn’t mean you can’t both be good at what you do. But why not work together rather than against each other?”
“And if we date and things go south, what then? I tuck tail and head back to Chicago? I don’t think so. Tanner Gentry doesn’t quit. He doesn’t back down.”
Travis teased me again. “No, he only refers to himself in third person. There’s always the chance that things don’t work out.”
“That’s your advice? It sort of sucks.”
“But there’s also always the chance that things work out beautifully and you find the love of your life. Do you want to risk missing out on that?”
It was my turn to snort. “Right. Again, I’m not here for love.”
“Yeah, but maybe love is here for you.”
“Oh, Lord. That’s cheesy. Are you sure you don’t come up with greeting card messages on the side?” I bumped Travis’s shoulder. “And if we don’t work out?”
“That’s one of the pros of an older guy. Mitch, at least, could probably be mature about a breakup.” Travis glanced at me slyly. “Are you sure a youngin’ like you could?”
“Shut up.” I snarled through a smile.
“Are you planning on running home? I can give you a ride.”
“I despise running. Truly. I’ll take the ride.” I slid from the truck tailgate and walked toward the passenger door.
“But for real, you totally want to climb him like a tree, right?”
“Shut up,” I shot back. But damn, every inch of me knew that Travis was right.
7
Mitch
I knocked Barry’s feet off the edge of the coffee table. “I’ve told you this before. If you hang out so much at my place, I’m going to put you to work. That’s what I do. No freeloaders on my watch.”
Barry pulled his eyes away from watching the TV screen and growled. “Damn, you’re not a whole lot of fun lately, Mitch. Are you still sore over the chili thing? I thought you were the guy that always keeps an even keel. You know that I don’t give up my drama queen crown easily, but lately, you’re giving me a run for it.”
I started to protest, but I knew it would be dishonest. Barry had a point. I was pretty sure what my mood was about, but I wasn’t ready to admit it to myself. Certainly not to Barry.
I changed the subject and asked, “What are you so into on TV anyway? I don’t see Cher or drag queens on the screen. What is that? A movie?”
Barry patted the cushion next to him on the couch. “Sit. Yeah, it’s a movie. This small-town guy went away to some fancy-ass college out east, and then he got called home to run the family business when his dad died. Now he’s falling in love. There’s a happy ending on the way for sure.”
Sitting next to Barry, I folded my arms across my chest and knocked his feet again. “Surely, you’ve got a tiny bit of manners. Since when do you put your feet on the coffee table in somebody else’s house? I will make you dust that if you insist.”
Barry pulled his feet back and turned to look at me while a commercial filled the TV screen. “Where’s my laidback friend? I want him back. This must be the fault of the new kid in town.”
I ignored his taunt and instead waved my hand in the direction of the TV before the commercial break ended. “I hope you do realize movies like this are nothing like real life. They make it all look five times as easy as it is in reality, and then they make people assume that—”
Barry planted a sharp elbow in my side and interrupted. “Whoa whoa whoa! Let it go. Why don’t you ask him out on a date?”
I wrinkled my brow. Picking up the TV remote, I muted the sound and issued an order. “Ignore that. Who the fuck are you talking about? Ask who out?”
“Oh, come on. You’re not fooling me. Tanner’s on your mind almost all day long. Fess up. You’ve got it bad, Mitch. I think I get it. I saw how he looks at you, and I think he only wanted you more when you got all worked up. It was like a poodle wanting to get humped by a bulldog.”
I rubbed my face with my hands and shook my head. “What in holy hell did he tell you after I left?”
“Where would he tell me something? I don’t hang out with him. Tanner’s been hanging with Travis a lot.”
“I mean at the contest—that damn chili cook-off. And Travis? Really?” My voice rose in tone. “Do you think they’re a thing?” I didn’t want to give the possibility of a relationship between the two T’s any serious consideration, but Barry brought it up.
Barry must have seen the worried look on my face. He apologized for the elbow and reached out to put his hand on my shoulder instead. “Still stuck on the cook-off?” Barry chuckled. “Of course you are, but that was over a week ago. And no, I wouldn’t worry about Trav. He’s a good buddy, but honestly, Trav’s like that old horse pulling a cart around town while Tanner’s a thoroughbred. They’re a total mismatch.”
“What is it with you and animals?” Sometimes Barry got stuck on themes in his conversation. For some reason, he was full of beast metaphors.
With a shrug, Barry answered, “Don’t know. I call it as I see it.” He reached out to try and grab the remote from my hand. “C’mon, the commercial break is over, and look—the hot guy’s taking off his shirt. He really should be with a man and not the woman, but hell, a nice body’s worth a look. Just once, maybe they’d have him get his head turned by a hunky gardener or janitor.”
I laughed and held on tight to the remote. “I don’t think our conversation is over. So, I’ll bite and jump on the animal thing. Travis is an old horse with an oat bucket attached to his muzzle. Tanner is this thoroughbred training for the Kentucky Derby. What does that make me?”
“That’s an easy one. You’re the wild stallion. No one’s tamed you yet.” Barry waggled his brow with a mischievous grin.
“Aw, man, I kind of like that. Thank you. It’s a good image. I guess some of the guys I’ve dated tried to tame me. I don’t respond well to that. You do know me well.”
Barry lowered his voice tone, and I knew he was moving into one of his rare serious moods. “But you know that man is out there. He’s going to show up someday, and you won’t know what hit you. Maybe he’s closer than you think. I know it will happen, Mitch. I’ve seen it before. Once your prince worms his way into your heart, you’ll do anything he asks.”
I responded with a vehement shake of my head. “Never.” Standing up, I said, “Go ahead and watch your pretty boy there on the screen. I need to clean up in the kitchen. And no feet on the coffee table. I’m serious about that.”
As I retreated to the kitchen, I heard the sound of voices from the TV again. A masculine one wailed, “I can’t conce
ntrate. She’s on my mind every minute, and I can’t get any work done.”
The dialogue was awkward, and the male protagonist sounded annoying to me, but I recognized the sentiment. I was doing okay trying to forget about Tanner until he mysteriously appeared out back at the diner. He was almost like a stalker. He didn’t even have a reasonable excuse. He said he wanted to tell me that he’d send back my pots and pans and wanted to avoid the general public out front. What kind of businessman was that? I wanted to kick myself after the encounter. I fixed my gaze on his lips a little too long, wondering what it would be like to kiss them.
“Hey, want a beer?” Barry had a way of breaking into my thoughts at the best and the worst times. I couldn’t decide which this was.
Barry’s face looked strikingly empty of any critical judgments or deep thoughts. Perhaps I liked that most about him as a friend. He so often took me away from the noise inside my head. The rest of the time, he helped distill all of the disturbances down into one crucial idea. That’s how he kept me in Willow Springs when I had my crisis over whether I should leave.
Back then, Barry said, “Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think so. You owe it to your town, family, and friends. Stay.”
And so I did. I pulled open the refrigerator door and tossed a longneck bottle to my friend. Grabbing one for myself, I said, “Yep, a cold beer’s exactly what I want. Let’s go back and see if that movie of yours has a happy ending.”
Barry cocked his head slightly to the side as he caught the beer. He didn’t say anything. He only stood stock still staring at me. Pointing at his head, Barry asked, “Everything okay?”
“Just peachy, Mr. Bee Gee. Just peachy.”
I strode into the living room, knowing what I needed to do. I sat on the couch ahead of Barry, and I patted the cushion. Moving in a slightly wary fashion, he sat beside me. I wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close so his pudgy body rested against me. I guess I am a touchy-feely guy at heart.
After an additional commercial break, the movie came back on, and Barry reached for the remote control. He pointed it at the TV and lowered the volume. Barry said, “I bet you know you’re worrying me just a bit.”
I curled up one corner of my mouth. “I thought you were confused before. I’m good now. I know what I’ve got to do.”
“Well, maybe you can share that with me. I’m not sure what happened. You left the room annoyed about my feet on the coffee table and grumpy at the world in general. Then, when I found you a few minutes later, an eerie calm had taken over. Honestly, it scares me a bit. What’s up?”
I rubbed the stubble on my chin. “Scary, eh?” It was so damn tempting to play a bit with Barry’s mind. I had him on edge. That much was obvious. Unfortunately, I thought I might need his help to make sure Tanner didn’t get away.
Barry pulled away from me and sat up. “Okay, now you’re not playing fair. What’s up, Mitch?”
“I think I need a date with a certain Mr. Gentry. Don’t you?”
“Well, yeah, that was my conclusion long ago.” Barry stopped. His eyes opened wider. Sometimes it took a while for thoughts to make it from his brain to his mouth. “Yeah? Seriously? Are you going to ask the young kid out?”
I growled. “Not if you insist on continuing to call him a kid. I only date men.”
“Oh, hell. I think the two of you are a great match. You know that already, and yeah, Tanner’s a man—skinny one, but yeah, a man. I only meant kid in terms of the relative age. You know, you could almost be his—”
I reached out and slapped a hand over Barry’s mouth. I leaned in close and tried to look as threatening as possible. It wasn’t easy when I also wanted to laugh. Barry looked appropriately alarmed, although I was pretty sure he was pretending.
I said, “I don’t think I need to hear that particular comment ever again. Is that understood?”
Barry squirmed, and he nodded in agreement. I pulled the hand back, and he gasped for breath. “Fuck, what’s wrong with you? You’re acting like you’re planning the heist of the century or something. It’s just asking a guy for a date.”
“Just? I’m asking a guy who quite possibly could be better at doing my life’s work than I am. It would seriously suck if he is, but there, I said it. I appreciate the kid’s talent. There’s something that’s kind of a turn-on about that. I don’t want to dig too deep into—”
Barry interrupted me. He poked at my chest with a chubby index finger. “You said kid!”
“I’m allowed.”
“Okay, fine, fine. Can we watch the rest of the movie? I think he takes his shirt off again in a few minutes. He’s surprised by the girlfriend. She’s at his place when he comes out of the shower.”
I shook my head while Barry turned the volume back up. “Sometimes, I think you need a boyfriend, too. Do you ever look?”
“Nah, I gave it up about five years back. I figure that if I’m meant to fall in love, I’ll wake up one morning, and he’ll be sitting astride a white horse on my front lawn. Anything short of that, and I’m meant to stay single.”
I leaned back against the couch and trained my eyes on the screen. For a moment, I thought I might find that white horse pawing at the turf by the peony bushes out front. Tanner probably looked good in cowboy duds. I asked Barry, “You will help me, right?”
“You need help? It’s not like downtown is so big that it’s hard to find Tanner among the five or six blocks where you’d need to look.”
“That’s not exactly what I meant. I might need a wingman, Barry. A buddy to help keep me on the right path if I get nervous.
I watched the grin spread across Barry’s face. I’d said the right thing. He wanted to be part of my pursuit of Tanner, and he was proud that I needed him. He didn’t take his eyes off the TV, but he nodded exaggeratedly. “Wingman. Yep, I like the sound of that. Reporting for duty. Ready for your orders, Boss.”
8
Tanner
“Tanner Gentry,” I spoke into the cafe phone when the call interrupted an early morning supply inventory. I needed to have the order ready by noon.
“Good morning, Mr. Gentry,” the smooth, polite voice on the other end of the line greeted me. “I’m Cassandra with the Willow Springs Chamber of Commerce. The chamber, along with the Willow Springs Gazette, is putting together a little Welcome to Willow Springs type event, and we’d like to invite you as a guest of honor.”
My brows lifted in surprise as I counted the to-go coffee cups and lids. “Wow, that sounds like a real honor, but I definitely wouldn’t expect the town to go to such trouble just for me.” However, the free publicity wouldn’t hurt.
“We had the same thought,” Cassandra went on, “so we’re hoping to make it a little bigger than just you. We’re planning to focus on local establishments every other month. This inaugural event will feature our fine food and drink establishments in Willow Springs. We plan to have you, Mitch Aiken, and Luke Benson as our featured guests. We’ll have a small gathering open to the townsfolk, interview the three of you for the paper, and maybe we’ll put together a fun little video for the chamber’s social media account. What do you think? Would you do us the honor of taking part?”
Making a note of how much of the English Breakfast tea I needed to order, I pursed my lips and nodded. “Of course, that would be lovely. Thank you for the invitation.”
“Fantastic. I’ll need to check on the date with Mitch and Luke, but we were hoping to do this sooner rather than later. Would you be free this Saturday if the two of them are also?” Cassandra spoke as her fingers made clickety-clackety sounds on a keyboard.
I almost made a snide comment about my wide-open social calendar now that I was living in Willow Springs, but instead, I bit my tongue. “Yes, Saturday would work just fine. Can you email me the time and location once you have everything set up?”
“Yes, yes, of course.” Cassandra took note of my email address before ending the call.
An hour later, as I finished up the sup
ply order, my phone buzzed with a notification. Cassandra’s email stated I should be at the Chamber of Commerce office on Saturday at two o’clock and dress in whatever clothing felt comfortable.
Well, at least I had plans for Saturday now that didn’t include beer by myself on my grandma’s front porch.
Mitch, Luke, and I sat on high stools positioned around a small round high-top table in a little corner office. The seats and table looked as if they’d come from a restaurant auction, but they added some character to the room and likely looked great in photographs and videos.
Earlier, the three of us shook hands and made small talk with ten or twelve Willow Springs citizens and the entire membership of the Chamber of Commerce. Mitch and Luke had it easy because they’d lived in town most of their lives. Luckily for me, chatting with strangers, especially current and potential customers, had never been an issue.
After the meet-n-greet, the newspaper reporter finished his questions with us and promised to send us each a free copy of the Gazette when the story ran. I idly thought about getting frames along with three extra copies of the article. I’d hang one in the cafe and give the others to Luke and Mitch as a little gift.
After the talk sessions, we sat and made idle chit chat as a cameraman prepared his video equipment. I smiled at how excited the Chamber members were about putting the video on all of their social media platforms. That was something I loved about Willow Springs. A little video of the three of us would be watched by almost every citizen and shared with family members and friends who’d moved away or gone off to school. I knew we wouldn’t go viral, but it was nice to know a handful of loyal citizens would watch and share.
Luke wore black jeans and a teal button-up. He was so long and lean that I’d wondered for a brief moment whether he had to have his clothes tailored to fit. The man was just arrogant enough to annoy me ever so slightly, but he always got me the organic produce and grocery items I needed. Gentry’s Java definitely benefited from Benson’s.