Of Love and Corn Dogs

by Parker Williams

  “We’re here,” Henley snapped.

  Darwin looked up. They weren’t home. Instead they were parked outside of Rossi’s.

  “What’s going on, Henley?”

  “Tonight the two of you are going to talk,” Henley said, his tone harsh. “I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of the fact that you go into work early and stay later than anyone except the cleaners. I get that you don’t want to bother Ricky while he’s learning a new job. That’s commendable. But avoiding the situation won’t make it any better. And to be honest, you’re kind of turning into a dick.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “What did Maria make you for breakfast this morning?”

  Darwin tried to recall. She always made him something special, but he couldn’t come up with what it had been.

  “Scrambled eggs with chorizo. Your favorite. She didn’t like seeing you mope around the house like a puppy that someone kicked. She thought maybe it would perk you up. You didn’t even say thank you. I told her I’d talk to you, but she insisted it was fine.”

  It wasn’t. Not one bit. Maria would be one of the last people Darwin would ever want to hurt. She took such good care of him and the few people who remained on staff.

  “I’ll apologize.”

  “Oh, hell no. You apologize to her, and I’m going to end up with my privates on her cutting board. That woman is ruthless. What you will do is go see Ricky. Talk to the man. Get whatever is bugging the two of you out in the open and deal with it. Enough of this pussyfooting around.”

  Darwin hated when Henley was right.

  “But I don’t have a reservation,” he wheedled.

  “I had Heather make one at eight o’clock in Ricky’s station.”

  A low growl rumbled from Darwin. “You know, I can fire you.”

  “Then do it,” Henley snapped. He raised his chin defiantly. “Right now, I think I’d rather look for a new job than watch you self-destruct anymore.”

  The venom in Henley’s words rattled Darwin. He’d never heard so much barely restrained anger from the man. He figured he should listen. Finally.

  ****

  Ricky couldn’t believe how busy the night had been. He’d had two parties of eight, and a couple of four-tops that had kept him jumping. Fortunately, Bertie staggered the parties, so even though he’d run his butt off, it hadn’t been overwhelming.

  He’d loved every minute of it. The fact that they already trusted him with parties like this meant a lot. And the customers? Oh, damn. While the tips weren’t quite as good as they’d been at Asiago, the guests he had weren’t tense or snooty. The families that had come with their kids seemed to adore him, as he took great care in making sure the children felt like they were part of the evening. Several commented on how well behaved their kids were when he included them.

  He glanced up at the clock. Almost eight. He had one booth in his station that had a reserved sign on it. Unless it got busy again, this would be his last table of the evening. He finished clearing the dishes from the seventieth birthday party of Bertie’s mother—and what a hoot she’d been—and poured a couple glasses of water for his next guests.

  When he heard Bertie approaching with his people, and that smooth as velvet voice he knew so well washed over him, Ricky hesitated. It couldn’t be. He hadn’t seen Darwin in two weeks and, if he were honest, he really didn’t think he could handle seeing him now.

  He’d gone online and done some research on the man. He found out how he lost his first love and read the articles about how it seemed to impact him and his business. But the more he discovered, the less comfortable he felt. Darwin knew the governor, for fuck sake. As if that hadn’t been bad enough, he discovered a picture of him with the goddamn president. He’d shut the computer off after that and hadn’t even bothered to look any deeper.

  When he turned around, he tried to put a smile on his face, but he knew it would look false. No way could he pretend around Darwin. The man deserved better.

  “Good evening. Welcome to Rossi’s. My name is Ricky. Would you like to start with an appetizer this evening? Perhaps something from the bar? We’ve got a very nice glass of Kendall-Jackson merlot that would pair well with several of the specials for tonight.”

  When he looked up and met Darwin’s gaze, a pain seared through Ricky’s heart. The man looked demolished. His eyes had Prada-size bags beneath them. It took all Ricky could manage not to slide into the booth and pull Darwin close.

  “Hi, Ricky.”

  The voice still gave him goose bumps, but it sounded weary. Sad, even.

  “Hey, Darwin. Look, I really can’t—”

  “I know. Henley kidnapped me and dragged me down here. How’ve you been?”

  “Oh, fine.” The light tone he’d tried for was proved a lie when his voice cracked. He’d been anything but okay. He missed Darwin. More than he ever thought he could miss anyone. But, now that he had come in, Ricky knew the time to lay out what he’d been thinking had arrived.

  “Listen, Darwin. I’ve been thinking. I’m not sure it’s a good idea for the two of us to see one another. We’re from two different worlds, and I know that I can’t fit into yours. I’ll never be the sleek, polished guy you need on your arm at events, and I doubt you’d be happy going to auto shows with me.”

  Darwin looked stricken, and a low throb started building in Ricky’s chest.

  “I had a great time with you, but I think we should maybe call it quits.”

  Darwin didn’t speak. He nodded, then slid out of the booth and rushed for the door. Ricky wanted to call after him, tell him he’d been wrong, beg him to stay, but what good would it do? No matter what, they’d never be compatible.

  As soon as the door closed behind him, Bertie came up. “He decided not to eat?”

  “Yeah. He had a meeting or something he got called to.”

  “Okay. Then since it’s slow, you can go if you want.”

  Ricky nodded mutely. “Thanks. I think I will.

  He headed back to the lockers to change, so he could go home to his empty apartment. Hopefully Merlin would be in a talking mood tonight, because Ricky really didn’t feel like being alone.

  ****

  “I hope you’re fucking happy!” Darwin snapped as he approached the limousine. “Every goddamn one of you.”

  “Calm down, Dare. What happened?”

  “He dumped me. Told me we weren’t meant to be together.” Darwin’s voice continued to rise, and they got looks from people leaving the restaurant, but he didn’t care.

  “Did he say why?”

  “Apparently we’re too different. My having money makes me unsuitable to date him. To…love him.”

  “Aw, Dare. I’m sorry.” He put a hand on Darwin’s shoulder. “Let’s go home.”

  “No,” Darwin shouted, twisting away as if the touch burned.

  “Okay, where do you want to go?” Henley asked, as if trying to soothe a child.

  “With you? Nowhere. I would have been happy with what we had. Talking to him on the phone would be better than not talking to him at all. But now I don’t even get that.” His hands clenched, and it took everything in Darwin to not lash out. “I’m going back to the office.”

  “Okay, I’ll drive—”

  “No. I don’t want to see you—anyone—tonight. I’ll stay there. Tell Maria not to make breakfast for me.”

  With that, he turned and stormed down the street. Even though it would be a long walk, Darwin didn’t care. He didn’t want anyone trying to talk to him. To tell him that maybe Ricky had been right.

  But he wasn’t, Darwin was sure of it. They’d been good together. Had fun. It had meant something to both of them. Maybe he could salvage this. It shouldn’t be that hard. He pulled out his phone, found the number he needed, and dialed.

  “Hey, Darwin.”

  “Kent? I need to see you and Mila in my office, please.”

  “Is something wrong? It’s almost eight-thirty.”

  “I know it’s late
, but if you can manage it, I’d really appreciate seeing the two of you.” He’d put an end to this tonight, one way or another.

  He heard Kent talking to Mila in the background, then he came back and said, “Sure, can you give us an hour?”

  Darwin chuckled. “That would be great. It’ll take me that long to get back.”

  “Is everything okay?” The tone of concern in Kent’s voice warmed Darwin. It had been so long since he’d heard it.

  “I think it will be.”

  He disconnected the call, then started walking again. He half-expected Henley to pull up behind him, but when that didn’t happen, Darwin breathed a sigh of relief. He’d never been so angry with his friend. It wasn’t anyone’s fault but his, though. Still, at least with the plan he had in mind, there might be a way to put things to right.

  His feet ached by the time he made it to Kincade International. The shoes he wore looked great, but weren’t meant to be used to walk two miles over rough roads. When he arrived, Mitch from Security let him in.

  “You’re here awful late, Mr. Kincade. Everything okay?”

  “Yes, I’ve got some work to do. My brother and his wife will be arriving soon.”

  “They’re already here, sir. I sent them on up to your office.”

  “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

  He got on the private elevator that delivered him to his suite. Mila sat in one chair, while Kent occupied the other. As Darwin walked in, Kent stood and covered the distance between them in four long strides.

  “What’s going on? I have to admit, you’re kind of scaring us.”

  Darwin waved at the chair. “Sit, please. This shouldn’t take long.”

  Kent went back to Mila, sat down, and clutched her hand, his expression grim.

  “I’m not going to beat about the bush. I want you and Mila to step up and take over Kincade, just like you should have done from the beginning.”

  The eerie silence disturbed Darwin.

  “Kent? Is something wrong?”

  “No, I understand the question. I just don’t understand why.”

  A myriad of excuses floated through Darwin’s head. But the only one that seemed acceptable pushed out of his mouth. “I’m tired. I need to do something for me. I can’t do this job anymore, because the cost is just too high.”

  “What happened?” Mila asked.

  He didn’t want to tell them. It shouldn’t matter. But they sat there, looking at him expectantly. He sighed. “I fell in love.”

  “That doesn’t preclude you from running the company. We handle it.”

  “Yes, the two of you. Together. The person I love sees my money as a blockade between the two of us. I can’t let that happen.”

  Mila stood and rushed to Darwin, pulling him to her.

  “Honey, you’re always going to have money. Even if we took over the company, you still have your inheritance, stocks, bonds. You can’t get rid of it all.”

  “I can donate it,” Darwin insisted. “Give it to charities that can make good use of it.”

  “To what end, Dee? Are you sure this will make…Ricky, right?”

  Darwin nodded.

  “Will this make Ricky happy? How do you think he’ll feel knowing you gave up your life for him?”

  Logically Kent made sense, but Darwin wasn’t interested in making sense. He wanted to be with Ricky, no matter what it took.

  “If you do this, and he still rejects you, what will you do?”

  “I don’t know,” Darwin wailed. “But I can’t do nothing. I love him.”

  “I believe you do, but how does he feel? Are you sure it’s the money, or is that an excuse? You can’t change who you are for someone.”

  “Why?” Darwin yelled. “You did.”

  “No, I did it for me. I didn’t like who I was and realized that I needed a change. Mila helped with that. Huge difference.”

  “Why won’t you just help me? I gave you money for your company. I didn’t ask for anything in return. Please. Just do this for me.”

  Kent glanced over at his wife, and she nodded.

  “Okay, fine. We’ll do it. But you have to know, it’s under protest. We think you’re making the worst decision possible.”

  Darwin slumped in his chair, relief coursing through him. He’d see it got done. He’d call his lawyers tonight; tell them to prepare the paperwork. He wanted this done swiftly, no matter what it cost. He’d gladly change his whole life if it brought Ricky back to him.

  ****

  Ricky sat on the chair, rubbing Merlin between the ears. He’d long ago put his phone on speaker and placed it on the table next to him. It was almost midnight, and his mother had been berating him for nearly an hour. That came after Trish talked his ear off for almost two.

  “You’re being stupid,” she insisted.

  “No, I’m not! He’s had dinner with a president, Mom. A fucking president. I can see it now. Me all dressed up in a tux, walking into that dining room which will be filled with beautiful people, and the president comes over, shakes my hand, and asks who I am. I’ll tell him I’m Ricky Donnelly. He’ll ask what I do, and I’ll smile ever so sweetly and say, ‘I wait tables at a restaurant.’”

  “So? I don’t understand. Being a server is an honest profession. A good one. Why should you be ashamed of it?”

  Ricky took a deep breath. They were going around in circles and getting absolutely nowhere.

  “I’m not, Mom. I like being a server. But it’s not something you say to the president of our country. Hell, even if I open my own place, it’s still nowhere near important enough to brag about.”

  She sighed. “I don’t know what to say. The man is crazy about you, and you’re just going to dump him because you feel bad. Your father taught at the college. I was a homemaker with two kids. Do you think your father thought of me as less than him? Do you think I saw myself as being not as good because he had a better education and job?”

  “It’s different, Mom. You know it is,” Ricky protested.

  “No, honestly, I really don’t.” She sighed. “I’m tired. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, honey.”

  She hung up, and Ricky felt the weight of his decision crashing down on him. He’d made the best choice he could. Why couldn’t anyone understand it? Darwin needed someone from his own world, more like himself. Someone who could make him look good. Ricky definitely wasn’t that person.

  When his door buzzer rang, Ricky thought it might be Darwin. Part of him hoped it was, but the larger part prayed it wouldn’t be. He decided he’d ignore whoever it was, because he didn’t think he could face Darwin right now.

  A few minutes later, a knock at the door startled Ricky. He got up and turned the knob. When the door swung open, the very last person he expected to see stood before him.

  “Hey, Ricky. We need to talk.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Ricky couldn’t believe it when he opened the door to find Darwin’s driver standing there. He peeked around the corner, expecting to see the man himself, but Henley shook his head. “I’m alone,” he assured Ricky.

  “How did you get up here? I didn’t buzz you in.”

  “There was this little old lady coming in carrying a bunch of groceries. I offered to help, and she got me in.”

  “That would be Mrs. Metzger.”

  “Yeah, that’s her,” Henley said, a big smile gracing his face. “She’s a sweetheart. I’m invited back next week for hot and sour cabbage soup.” Henley rubbed his stomach. “I can’t wait.”

  Ricky chuckled. “Her son doesn’t visit enough, but when he comes, she makes all kinds of cabbage things for him.” Ricky paused. “Is Darwin with you?”

  “It’s just me. I was hoping we could talk.”

  “About what?” Ricky asked suspiciously.

  Henley frowned. “Please. You already know about what.”

  “Did Darwin ask you to come?”

  “Oh, God no. He’d be pissed if he knew.”

  The words put Ricky at e
ase. He stepped back and let Henley into the apartment.

  “This is…nice.”

  “It’s awful. You don’t need to be diplomatic. Right now it’s all I can afford.”

  Ricky could see Henley wanted to say something, but he cut him off before he could.

  “Can I get you something to drink? I have…well, water. I could probably make some coffee, too. Not sure if I have enough for a full pot, though.”

  “No, I’m fine. I just came to talk. Can we sit?”

  Ricky shooed Merlin off the chair, then waved his hand. “Go ahead.”

  Henley took the chair and immediately found himself with a lapful of cat. Merlin rubbed against him, before snuggling down on his lap.

  “Cats usually hate me,” Henley said, rubbing Merlin’s ears.

  “Merlin thinks he’s a dog,” Ricky replied. “He’s affectionate, likes to cuddle, and will run and grab things I throw then bring them back.”

  “He seems like a sweetheart.”

  Ricky sat across from Henley. “So, not to be rude or anything, but what’s going on?”

  Henley glanced up, then dipped his head and went back to stroking the cat.

  “Why did you break up with Dare?” he asked cautiously.

  Ricky’s cheeks heated. “Excuse me?”

  “I know it’s not any of my business—”

  “You’re right,” Ricky snapped. “If Darwin wanted to know, he could have come and talked to me himself.”

  He could see the flush on Henley’s neck as the man stood, dislodging Merlin from his seat, which earned him a hiss that Henley ignored. “Because you would have let him in? I highly doubt that. You’re so goddamn scared to talk to him you would have slammed the door in his face. So don’t sit there and try to be indignant, because we both know it’s a load of shit.”

  Ricky stared at Henley. The man had seemed so mild-mannered, and to hear him speak like that could only be called shocking. But he wasn’t about to let anyone use that tone with him.

  “Fuck you,” he growled, jumping up and pointing a finger at Henley. “The man lied to me. He pretended to be something he wasn’t. Then when he tells me who he is, he invites me to his house for dinner and shows up in his limousine. I find out that he lives in a mansion, has servants, and everything I think I know about him turns out to be, as you say, a load of shit.”