Chapter 8
Drew
“Welcome to The Anchorage. Are we celebrating tonight?”
“We are. Drew here agreed to go on a third date with me,” Henry said with a broad smile to the server.
She returned it with equal enthusiasm.
I wanted to melt into the ground.
“Sir, you’ve got great taste because,” she said, turning to wink at me, “he’s cute as hell.”
“Thank you?”
“Truth is the truth,” Henry chimed in.
“Here’s the menu for you to look over. Our wine, beer, and cocktail list is on the back.”
She handed me the leather-bound menu, opening it to the drinks before doing the same for Henry. Then she slipped away to help another table.
Henry hadn’t taken his eyes off me during the entire exchange.
Mine dropped to the menu.
Not even the drinks had prices next to them.
Everybody knew what that meant.
I couldn’t afford it.
A moment later, the server returned carrying a carafe of ice water.
“Gentlemen, I’ll let the ma?tre d’ know so we can celebrate the occasion properly. What can I get you to drink?”
She set the water between us before looking at me first.
“Water is fine, thanks.”
“Can you give us a moment, please?” Henry asked.
“Of course. I’ll be back shortly. In the meantime, I’ll have some bread brought over for you.”
Henry watched her walk away before turning back to me once she was out of earshot.
“What happened to ‘water is ew?’” he asked before adding, “Although you definitely should drink it.”
“Turning over a new leaf.”
“Within five minutes?” He smiled. “Try again, and this time, be honest, please.”
His voice had taken on that patient tone, which I already knew meant he’d dug in and wouldn’t be letting go.
“Because there aren’t any prices on the menu.”
“And that means…?”
“It’s expensive. They don’t even tell you how much a Coke costs, so you know it’s a lot.”
“And you think I can’t afford it?”
“No.” I looked down at the table. “I remembered I can’t.”
“I invited you, so I pay. When you invite me, you pay. That’s how this works.”
“But you’re already paying for me, and that ought to be enough.”
Why couldn’t he see this?
I’d been kept for twenty years, and now, even though Phoenix ran Halo House, Henry was paying for my upkeep there too. There had to be a limit to what I should expect from him.
“Fair point. In a perfect world, though, just so I know for the future, if you were paying for dinner yourself, would it be tea, a mocktail, or a real cocktail?”
“Probably a fruity mocktail.”
“Makes sense. Since you’re not ordering tonight, there’s no harm in talking about it. Ribeye or sirloin?”
“Definitely ribeye. Medium rare before you ask.”
I glanced toward our server, who was making her way back. “Should we tell her we changed our minds? I’m sure she’d like the table back as soon as possible.”
“Let’s not rush her. Their baked potatoes are made tableside, and the roasted corn is too good to miss.”
“I’m sorry… I should’ve said something when you first mentioned this, but I have enough for a movie if you still want to do that.”
“We can. But the potato?”
I couldn’t help smiling.
“Yeah…the potato does sound good.”
How on earth did he sound so relaxed when I knew it would be embarrassing for him to have to stand up and leave? After this mess, invitations from Henry probably weren’t happening again.
Our server appeared beside the table.
“Gentlemen, have we decided?”
“Yes. Two fruity mocktails, please.” Henry looked at me before continuing, “We’ll both have the ribeye, medium rare, with baked potatoes and the roasted corn.”
“Would you like the house salad as well? The dressing’s homemade.”
“Yes, please.”
She collected our menus and disappeared again.
I stared at Henry.
Henry stared back at me.
“What was that about?”
“I already told you.”
“But I’m already costing you too much.”
Jonathan had kept me. The one before him had too. So had the one before that.
Henry reached across the table and took my hand and said, “It’s a good thing you’re worth it.”
Oh, for Pete’s sake, what am I supposed to do with that?
“And here’s your dessert!”
Our server returned carrying a lava cake and placed it directly in front of me instead of in the center of the table.
Chocolate and caramel oozed down the sides, with squiggly lines decorating the plate and a scoop of vanilla ice cream flecked with real vanilla bean.
She looked at me expectantly before nodding toward the plate.
I looked down.
Oh my gosh.
“Henry, you are insane. I just want you to know that,” I said with a muffled laugh.
Written in chocolate across the rim of the plate were the words:
Please say yes to a fourth?
Henry burst out laughing, and I couldn’t help joining him. The people at the surrounding tables glanced over with amused smiles, but neither of us cared. Even our server chuckled before slipping away.
“I can’t help but notice you still haven’t answered,” Henry said once he’d finally gotten himself under control. He leaned back in his chair with an easy smile on his face. He looked less like a powerful lawyer lounging in a suit and more like an eager boy with his crooked grin.
“Do you really want a fourth?”
“If you mean a fourth date, absolutely. If you mean a fourth person, not so much. I like to focus on one thing at a time, and that includes people because I’m not a great multitasker.”
“I’m not gonna lie. That kind of surprises me.”
“The not wanting a party in my bed or the multitasking?”
“The multitasking. I would’ve thought you’d be really good at it.”
“You know, I would’ve thought so too, but unfortunately, I know my limits, and that’s a hard one.” He smiled. “Again…still haven’t gotten an answer.”
“I’d love to go on a fourth date with you.”
“Outstanding. Excellent choice. You’ve got great taste,” Henry assured me.
“This isn’t how I thought our evening would go.” I smiled before the memory of my earlier mini-meltdown made it fade. “I’m sorry for being a baby earlier.”
“Don’t apologize for that. After the last six months you’ve had, I think it’s perfectly reasonable to be worried. My preference would be to let me take that on.” He reached across the table and squeezed my hand. “You let me worry about it, okay?”
“I just…” I sighed. “I don’t know. I feel useless.”
“Why?”
“When I was with Jonathan, or whoever came before him, I kept myself busy shopping and going to spas and making sure my hair looked perfect and my body looked good. I haven’t even been to the gym in months.
” I shrugged helplessly. “I did all those things so I’d have something to do.
Something to talk about over dinner. Those things are fine.
I mean… They’re fun, right? But when that’s all you have, it doesn’t feel very fulfilling. ”
“Did you ever want to do something outside the house?”
“Sometimes. I’d mention that I’d like to find something to do… Heck, even volunteer somewhere regularly. Maybe it wouldn’t be a job, but I’d have somewhere to go and be useful.”
“What did they say?”
“That keeping them company was my job, and they needed me at home. Except they didn’t really because I didn’t do anything there either. I should’ve realized what was really happening, but it just… I don’t know… I thought they liked having their boyfriend around. Ugh, I was so dumb.”
I looked down at the melting scoop of vanilla ice cream beside the cake.
Crap.
I was ruining this.
“And now I don’t know what to do with myself.”
“That isn’t a problem you’re going to solve in one day,” Henry said quietly. “But even without knowing everything about you, I already know you’re kind. You’re compassionate. And there’s so much more to you than you give yourself credit for.”
He said it so simply that I didn’t have a response. It was a solid minute before I found the words.
“I don’t think I want to go to the movies after all. Would that be okay?”
“Whatever you want. Do you want to do something else? Go somewhere else? Do you want me to take you back to Halo House?”
“There is somewhere I’d like to go.”
“Name it.”
“Your house?”
A slow smile spread across Henry’s face.
“I was hoping you’d say that.” He picked up his fork again. “Let’s finish dessert and get out of here.”