31. Jack
“ BURGER NIGHT?” JACK STEERED INTO DOT’S PARKING LOT.
“I guess so, since we’re here.” Teddy turned to the back seat. “I almost said, ‘What about Pickles?’”
He patted Teddy’s knee. “I’m gonna miss her.”
Teddy dropped her head against the window.
“I wish I could do something.” Jack reached for her. “Hug?”
“Not in this truck. You’re like three feet way.”
“I’ll climb over the console.”
“That’d be a sight to see. Let’s go eat.”
Dot had a grill set up on the deck, and Pete flipped burgers. The “nights”—shrimp, burger, fajita, even Italian—had turned out to be a big success. Lines were long. Tables were crowded.
“Medium-rare, Jack? Or you do you want the meat still bleeding?” Pete asked, waving a spatula.
“Gross,” Teddy said. “Make mine well done.”
“Cheese on both?”
“Of course, a burger without cheese is like barbecue without pickles and onions.” He nudged Teddy.
Teddy giggled.
“You’re mighty happy tonight,” he said to Pete.
“Stick around. Things are about to get very interesting.” Pete turned up one corner of his mouth in a half smile.
Jack glanced at Teddy. “What does that mean?”
“You’ll find out.” Pete whistled as he flipped a row of burgers and patted them down with his spatula.
At nine o’clock, Dot collapsed in a chair at a table with Jack and Teddy. She had to be exhausted. Though ever since Pete’s return, Dot had a perpetual smile on her face.
“Where’s Pete?” Dot asked.
“I have no idea.” Jack shrugged.
“Pete cooked over a hundred burgers tonight. He may be conked out.”
“I’ve never seen him so happy,” Teddy said. “Does that mean things are going well?”
Dot took a big gulp of ice water. “He’s been Mr. Romance. It’s like an alien from the Love Planet landed and inhabited his body.” She checked the mirror in her compact and reapplied lipstick.
“He finally realized what’s important in life,” Teddy said.
“I heard you took Pickles to his home.” Dot patted Teddy’s hand. “I’m sorry.”
Teddy gave a weak smile. “She’s got a big happy family. We made tamales. I have two dozen.”
“Save some for me,” Dot said.
“The grandmother read our palms. Strange.” Teddy flipped her palms up and traced a line on her hand.
“I’ve done that before in New Orleans. You’d be surprised how accurate they can be.”
Jack put an arm around Teddy and kissed her cheek. “You hear that?”
The lights dimmed. Only the glitter of the disco ball remained.
“What’s going on?” Teddy asked.
Jack put a finger to his lips.
“You Look Wonderful Tonight” played over the speakers. Pete and Brooke walked in carrying flowers and lit candles. Brooke handed a single candle to her mother and stepped aside.
With his candle shining on his face, Pete knelt before Dot. The music stopped. The restaurant quieted. A crowd of customers gathered around.
“I’m way too late and too unworthy, but I love you.” He took her hand. “Will you marry me?”
Customers responded with a collective aah. Joy filled Dot’s face. Her eyes welled with tears.
She nodded.
“I want to hear you say yes ,” Pete raised his voice so that all could hear.
“Yes.”
“Louder!” Pete shouted.
“Yes!”
“You Look Wonderful Tonight” started up again. Pete pulled Dot to her feet and kissed her. Everyone clapped. Pete held her, and they swayed to the slow rhythms of the song.
Pete managed to pull his life together. Now Jack wanted a turn. What’re you waiting for? Pops would say. Jack had no idea.
He squeezed Teddy. She had a sad and happy expression on her face. Sad about Pickles, he imagined, but happy for Dot.
“It’s been a magical day, I’d say.” He took Teddy’s face in his hands and combed her tangled hair with his fingers, catching the fresh almond scent of her shampoo. Slowly, he moved his lips closer.
Something bumped his chair. Brooke slid in beside them. “Oh, sorry. Were you about to make out?”
“No, nothing like that,” he said.
“Good, because this is not the place, and it’s just gross when old people get all marshy-marshy.”
“We wouldn’t want to gross anyone out.” He puckered his lips. “How’s my second-best girl?”
“I’m your second-best girl?” Brooke’s face lit up with a bright smile. “Cool.”
“I see you forgave your mother.”
“It’s like this. Anger is a destructive emotion. It’s like bad for your heart and all that.”
“You’re a very smart girl.” He high-fived her.
Brooke ran off to another table.
“You want to dance, or you want to go home?”
“It’s been a very long day.”
“We’ll go home.” He placed his hands on Teddy’s waist and lifted her from the chair.
“I can walk.”
“It’s more fun this way.”
They passed Dot and Pete on the dance floor and said their goodbyes. Dot’s eyes were still stained with tears. Her smeared lipstick covered Pete’s face in red.
“Maybe you all should head out as well.” He handed his handkerchief to Dot.
“I don’t want this night to end.” Dot cleaned Pete’s face with Jack’s handkerchief.
He drove Teddy home. When they reached the house, Jack waited for the sound of Pickles’s barking. “It’s awfully quiet.”
“I don’t know what life will be like without Pickles.”
“I’ll miss her, too.”
“Oscar loves her so much. But I loved her, too.”
“I could sleep over.”
“What would the neighbors think?”
“You don’t have any neighbors.” She had a worn sofa, and an Adirondack chair. He plopped onto the couch and bounced on the cushion. “This will do.”
“Don’t get too comfy.”
“Come here.” He patted the pillow beside him. “Let’s start off where we were before Brooke interrupted us.”
Teddy settled beside him and dropped her head on his chest. A memory of cuddling with Angela popped into his head. He shook the thought away. Instead, he squeezed Teddy’s arm. When times grew tough, he wanted a soft arm to cradle him. Teddy could be that arm. Maybe Angela could creep into his thoughts now and then. Nobody could replace her. A warm rush of reassurance passed through him.
Jack kissed Teddy’s forehead, and then worked his way to her soft lips. This is what he’d been missing all these years. Pulling her next to him seemed like the most natural thing in the world. He wanted to stay in her bed, not on the couch.
“I guess I better stop while I can.” He pulled away.
Teddy smiled at him. “I think we were on the verge of being too comfy.”
“Too something.” Jack squeezed her. “Shall I put you to bed?”
She waved a scolding finger at him. “I think I can manage.”
“Great night all around.” Only one itsy-bitsy thing remained between them now, this crazy arrangement with Pops. Whenever he manned-up enough, he’d tell her the whole story. But not tonight.