by Carol Lynne
Asa turned and kissed Mario’s forehead. “You’re going to be late for work.”
Mario sighed. “I don’t care. I’m not leaving until you realise what we just did was sexy and fun, and absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.”
Asa kept quiet for several moments before he began to chuckle. “You know, this conversation would probably go a lot better if I didn’t still have a dildo up my ass.”
Chapter Four
Mario fiddled with his silverware. Why are there so many forks?
“Does this place make you uncomfortable?” Asa asked.
Mario started to deny the question but knew his lover needed to know the truth. “Yeah. But this evening is for celebrating. What better place in Cattle Valley than The Canoe.”
Asa reached for Mario’s hand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think of your past with Erico when I suggested it.”
“Erico?” Mario shook his head. “Me being uncomfortable has nothing to do with Erico. Sure we…dated, but we parted as friends.”
“Speak of the devil,” Asa mumbled.
Mario glanced up. Erico was making the rounds, giving each diner a few seconds of his time. Mario knew it was Erico’s favourite time of the evening. He squeezed Asa’s hand. “He may come off as a hot-headed ass, but he’s really a nice guy once you get past the crusty outer shell.”
Asa shook his head, eyes still on the owner and chef of The Canoe. “I don’t know anything about his temperament. I guess it’s his sexual accessibility to anyone looking for a good time that I’ve always had a problem with.”
Even though Mario knew he shouldn’t let the comment bother him, it did. Everyone in town knew the two of them once had a thing going. Did Asa think of him as a slut, or did his lover think he’d just been used by Erico, because neither was true.
Before he could correct Asa’s way of thinking, Erico stepped up to their table. “Mario! I’m surprised to see you here. I thought you hated fine dining.”
Mario didn’t miss the way Asa and Erico stared at each other. He expected the two men to draw their weapons at any moment. “We’re celebrating. After weeks of hard work, Asa’s on to the next step in his recovery.”
“I guess I’m just surprised to see the two of you together after what happened. But it’s good. Congratulations.”
Although Erico said the words, Mario didn’t know how sincere his old friend was. Come to think of it, something was definitely off with Erico. Mario brushed his foot against Asa’s. “Yep. No more braces.”
Erico glanced at the walker next to the table.
“I’ll still need that for a while,” Asa answered the unspoken question.
“Well, if anyone can get you into shape, it’s our Mario.” Erico flashed a forced smile.
“Yes, my Mario is quite a task master.”
Mario bit his lip to keep from laughing as Asa staked his claim. One look at Erico, and Mario’s mirth faded. Yep, there was definitely something wrong with Erico. “Are you going home for Thanksgiving?”
Erico shook his head. “Can’t. I lost another chef.”
Mario knew how much Erico’s family meant to him. The hot-blooded Latin usually only got home on Thanksgiving and Easter. Maybe that’s what’s bothering him? “Why don’t you just close the place for a couple days?”
“No. Too many people have already booked Thanksgiving Day reservations. I’m trying to find another chef. Who knows, maybe I’ll be able to get home for Christmas.”
“Good luck.” If they had been alone, Mario would have suggested Erico keep his dick in his pants with the next chef, but the tension between Asa and his friend was already palpable.
Erico nodded. “Well, enjoy your dinner.”
Mario watched as Erico seemed to hurry back to the kitchen. He wasn’t sure if it was the lack of a backup chef or his need to hide his emotions. He returned his attention to Asa. Suddenly, it was his lover who looked uncomfortable. “Please don’t worry about him. What we had was over a long time ago.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you hated this place?”
Mario shrugged. “Like I told you, the evening isn’t about me.”
“Where do you usually go?”
“Depends on my mood. Sometimes I go up to the Grizzly Bar, sometimes Debs, but mostly I tend to hang out at O’Brien’s. Sean and Jay have both become pretty good friends.”
“Jay, that’s the girly-looking fellow, right?”
Mario wondered how many times people had used those words to describe Jay. Like Erico, Jay was so much more than his appearance. “Yeah. I can’t wait to introduce you to him. He has to have one of the purest souls of anyone I’ve ever met.”
“No time like the present.”
“Huh?”
Asa brought out his wallet and tossed some bills onto the table. “Let’s get out of here and go to O’Brien’s.”
Mario was all for eating at O’Brien’s, it was the money being left by Asa that bothered him. He dug out his own wallet and handed the money on the table back to his lover. “I invited you out. I’ll pay for it.”
Asa opened his mouth. Mario knew his lover intended to argue the point, so he held up his hand. “Please.”
Asa finally nodded and reached for his walker. Mario helped steady Asa with a hand on Asa’s lower back. Once outside, he gestured to the car they’d driven into town. Mario admitted to himself that he liked the way the sleek Jaguar drove, but, like The Canoe, it made him feel uncomfortable.
He helped his lover into the car before folding the walker and stowing it in the trunk. According to Asa’s doctor, Asa wouldn’t be able to use a cane for at least another month, maybe longer. Mario knew Asa took the doctor’s words as a challenge. Like he did in business, Asa would push himself to the brink of exhaustion in order to exceed expectations.
Mario folded himself into the low-slung car and turned to give Asa a kiss. “I think my truck fits my size better.”
Asa grinned. “Although you look damn good in this car, I might need to consider buying a sedan to better accommodate your size.”
“Or, we could start taking my truck once you’re able to climb into it.” Part of him knew the statement was a test, but he needed to know how Asa would handle their obvious class differences.
“It’s got a bench seat, right?” Asa surprised Mario by asking.
“Uh, yeah.”
“I’m all for bench seats. They don’t make many of them anymore. The closer I can ride to you the better. This damn console between us is driving me nuts.”
Good answer. Mario grinned and leant over said console for a kiss. “I’ll remember that.”
“So what did Erico mean when he said he was surprised to see us together after what happened?” Asa asked.
Mario started the car, appreciating the purr of the engine as he waited for the heater to kick in. “He was talking about the hospital thing.” He shrugged. Things were so good between him and Asa, he hated to bring up bad memories. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve gotten over it.”
“Over what?”
“Your refusal to see me right after the collapse.”
“What? I didn’t even know you came by.”
Mario let out a snort. “I did a hell of a lot more than that. I slept in the damn waiting room for days, hoping you’d call for me.” The memories still caused an ache in his gut.
Asa reached out and gripped Mario’s thigh. “I didn’t know. I was so upset that you never came. Who told you I didn’t want to see you?”
Mario shrugged again. “One of your flunkies.”
Asa’s hand turned into a fist. “It tore me up that…”
Mario stopped Asa with a kiss. “It doesn’t matter anymore. Those assholes are gone and we’re together.”
He pulled out and drove towards O’Brien’s. “The food is a lot better than you might think, much better than when it was Brewster’s. Jay’s done a damn good job revamping the menu. Of course the food’s not fancy, but there’s usually a lot of it and it’s good.�
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“Just how often do you normally eat out, because you sound like an expert.”
Mario shrugged and pulled in to a parking spot a couple of stores down from O’Brien’s. “Before I started hanging out at Casa Montgomery every night, I’d eat out four, maybe five, times a week. Most of the time, I’d just stop and get something to go.”
He started to get out, but Asa stopped him. “That’s why you were so angry when I asked you to help in my rehabilitation.”
Mario shook his head. “Yeah, but I really don’t wanna go into it. It was the hurt talking. Not my heart.”
“I’m so sorry. We both could have been saved pain if only…”
Asa’s grumbling stomach interrupted the touching moment. Mario leant over the console and gave his lover another kiss. “We were both duped. Let’s just move on.”
Asa nodded.
Feeling better, Mario unfolded himself from the car and retrieved Asa’s walker. By the time he reached the passenger door, Asa already had it open and was standing beside the car, bracing his hands on the still-open door.
Mario rolled his eyes and shook his head. Only hours after the doctor had initiated the challenge, Asa was already testing his limits. Mario set the walker in front of his lover and waited for Asa to clear the door so he could shut it.
They’d barely reached the sidewalk when Asa’s phone began to ring. Mario knew enough to slow to a stop. Asa rarely let a ringing phone go unanswered. In his professional life, an unanswered question could mean thousands of dollars. Mario did his best to block some of the brutal wind from blowing on Asa as his lover answered.
“Hello?”
Asa sighed and rolled his eyes. “Can I call you later, sis? I’m right in the middle of something.”
Mario began to rub Asa’s back to keep his muscles warm.
“Well, I’m sorry he wants an answer now, he’ll have to wait until I get home.”
Mario couldn’t help but notice the slight flare of Asa’s nostrils as his voice grew in volume. “Look, I’ll call back later. End of subject.”
Asa ended the call and slipped the phone back into his pocket.
“Everything okay?” Mario asked.
“Yeah. I’ll tell you about it once we get out of this fucking cold.” Asa gripped the walker with both hands as they slowly made their way to O’Brien’s.
Mario found them a booth and stowed Asa’s walker out of the way. Ethan walked up to the table with a couple of menus. “When did you start working here? Walk out on Nate already?”
Ethan laughed. “Naw. Just helping out a couple nights a week. Not much else to do besides sit in my apartment anyway.”
Mario declined a menu, but Asa took his. “I’ll have a Bud Light Lime for now.”
Ethan nodded and looked at Asa.
“White Russian, please,” Asa ordered.
“Coming up.”
Ethan left and Asa opened his menu. “So, what would you recommend?”
“Their steaks are always top quality, but I think you can’t go wrong with whatever pasta dish Jay’s whipped up for the special.”
“Sounds good to me.” Asa closed his menu and set it to the side. “You know I’ve been in here a couple of times for Taco Tuesday, but I guess I never thought about them having food the rest of the week,” Asa said with a chuckle.
“Well, now you know.” Mario threaded his fingers through Asa’s. “So, you were going to tell me about the phone call?”
Asa grunted. “It was my sister. My nephew’s trying to go around an agreement we made several months ago.”
“What kind of agreement?” Mario leaned back as Ethan walked up to the table with their drinks.
“Have you decided?” Ethan asked.
“We’ll have two specials.” Mario picked up Asa’s menu and handed it to Ethan.
“Great choice. The three cheese ziti is exceptional.”
As soon as Ethan walked off, Mario returned his attention to Asa. “Sorry.”
Asa waved away Mario’s apology. “One of my nephews wants me to buy him a car. I told him if he managed to work and save five hundred dollars, I’d get him one. Well, he’s never bothered to do anything to earn the money, so he’s begging my sister to put up his share. I tried to tell her that was not the agreement. My whole thing is teaching the kid that you need to work for stuff, but maybe I’m being a hard ass. We all know the cost of a car isn’t going to put a dent in my bank account.”
Mario thought of his mother. She’d been handed expensive gifts by rich men and he knew where that had gotten her. He didn’t want to tell Asa what to do, it wasn’t his family after all, but he also didn’t want Asa to be taken advantage of.
In the end, Mario decided to tell Asa what he thought, without just coming out and telling him. “My mom worked as a cocktail waitress in one casino or another. She had one boyfriend who bought her a Mercedes. So, for the couple of months she dated the guy, she drove around in style. One day the guy left, like they all did, and mom was back to looking for a replacement. I remember waiting for her to pick me up from school. It was starting to get late, and I figured she must’ve forgotten me, so I started to walk towards home. I found her beside the road in tears. Her beloved Mercedes had died and she had no idea what to do.”
Mario finished off his beer and signalled for another. “Turned out the car needed some work done. It wasn’t much, maybe a few hundred dollars worth of repairs, but Mom didn’t have that kind of money. She ended up selling the car for pennies on the dollar because she didn’t even have the few hundred dollars it would’ve taken to repair the damn thing.”
Ethan stepped up to the table with a fresh beer. “Thanks.”
Asa cleared his throat. “I know there’s a lesson in there. Why don’t you just come out and tell me what you want me to know.”
Mario shrugged. “Just that a nice car doesn’t do a person any good if they don’t have the money to maintain it. It’s the ‘you can give a man a fish’ story. If you buy your nephew a car, how will he maintain it? Will you be expected to pay for that, too? Because I guarantee if he gets that car, the incentive to find a job will vanish.”
“So, what would you propose I do? I know giving my family money isn’t helping them, but I’ve done it so long, how do I stop?”
Once again, Mario thought of his mother. “Start with your nephew. Explain to him, or your sister, that you’ll buy him a safe, used car that he can afford the insurance and maintenance on.”
“And what happens when they try to argue that I bought the other kids new cars?”
For a businessman, Asa just didn’t seem to get it. “It’s your money. If you had an employee who just expected a raise every year without putting in the effort to do a good job, would you give it to him?”
“No.”
“What if he argued and said your decision wasn’t fair because you gave so-and-so a raise?” Mario could see the light dawning in Asa’s eyes.
“I wouldn’t let an employee argue with me and still remain an employee.”
“Exactly. If your family doesn’t like the way you’re willing to help, tough. My mom never learned to save or how to take care of herself. It was easy for her to get money from rich men when she was younger. Now she’s a sixty-year-old alcoholic pawning pieces of her jewellery every month in order to pay utilities and have some left over for booze.”
Asa squeezed Mario’s hand in sympathy, but Mario didn’t need it. He’d come to terms with the way his mother was years earlier. “All I’m saying is what happens to them if you suddenly lose all your money? Will they be able to take care of themselves?”
“No. I doubt they would. But I have so much of it. Isn’t it a little shitty to not give the people I care about some of what I have an abundance of?”
“I’m not saying a nice gift from time to time would be a bad thing. All I’m suggesting is that you make sure they can take care of themselves without those gifts.”
Mario could see the wheels churning in Asa’
s head. He knew his lover had a lot to think about. He was so concerned about Asa, he didn’t see Jay coming until two steaming plates of ziti were set down in front of them. “Wow, they let you out of the kitchen.”
Jay smiled. “I’m all caught up for the moment so I thought I’d say hi.”
Mario scooted over. “Have a seat.”
Jay glanced at Asa and then back to Mario. “Are you sure it’s okay?”
“Sure,” Asa answered for Mario. “I’m Asa Montgomery.” Asa stuck his hand out and Jay gave it a hesitant shake.
“Jay De Luca.” Jay released Asa’s hand and sat beside Mario. “Don’t let me stop you from eating. I just needed to rest my feet.”
Mario stabbed some of the cheesy ziti onto his fork and blew on it before putting it into his mouth. “Mmm mmm mmm.”
Jay ducked his head, his cheeks turning a cute shade of pink. “Glad you like it.”
Mario knew Jay had been kicked out of his house at a young age and had wound up on the streets before he found a home at the shelter in DC. He couldn’t imagine how the man had learnt to cook so well. “So, whose recipe is this?”
“My nana’s. She taught me how to make pasta before I could even see the top of the counter. Nana bought a special step-stool just for me.”
Mario’s chest tightened at the peaceful expression on Jay’s face as he spoke of his grandmother. He didn’t need to ask if the woman was still alive. No grandmother who cared enough to teach a boy to cook would allow him to be thrown out on the streets because of his sexuality.
“Where’re you from?” Asa asked.
“I came here from Washington, DC.”
Mario noticed Jay didn’t say he was from DC, just that he’d arrived from DC. The man truly was a mystery. It didn’t help Jay was so incredibly shy he didn’t often speak to anyone, but Mario thought over the months they’d become friends he would’ve learned more than he actually had about the man.
He decided to steer the topic away from Jay’s past. “I see you got Ethan to come to work here.”
Jay automatically studied the room until his gaze landed on Ethan. “Yeah.”