Chapter Forty
Forty
Miguel asks Dane if he’ll meet him for lunch at an Italian restaurant in the next town over.
The place is so-so, he explains, but they have outdoor dining with big fans everywhere, so I can tag along.
I’m not in as much pain as I was before, but he bought me a humiliating if effective cooling vest and a portable water bowl, just to be on the safe side.
Admittedly, I can’t really feel insulted by his trying to take care of me—not when I can no longer pretend that I don’t need help.
I guess that’s one more thing Miguel and I have in common.
“Over here,” says Dane, waving at us from a table in the corner. He stands when he sees us, and I lick his palm by way of a greeting. “Hey, Harold.”
“Hi, Dane,” says Miguel. He starts to reach out a hand to Dane, but then he suddenly changes his mind and puts his arms around him.
“Chief, are you hugging me? On purpose?” Dane’s joking, but the catch in his voice says this is a big deal for him. “Riley really got to you, huh?”
Miguel laughs lightly as he lets Dane go. “That’s what friends do, right?”
“And you just called me a friend? I might just keel over.”
Miguel sits across from him and takes a deep breath. “Dane, you’ve been a friend to me for a while now. I’m sorry it took me so long to realize and appreciate that.”
Dane blinks hard. “It’s nothing.”
“No, it’s everything.” Miguel swallows hard, and his eyes are moist. How far he’s come, from hiding in the shower to practically crying in public!
“You’ve gone out of your way to make sure I’m okay—and when I’m not, you’ve been the first one to step in and support me.
Riley and Miriam have supported me, too, of course,” he adds quickly.
“Still, you’ve been there for me when anyone else would have thrown their hands up and run in the other direction.
And while I still wish you’d master the fine art of knocking, you have an uncanny ability to show up at the times when I really shouldn’t be alone, no matter how much I want to be. ”
Dane is practically glowing. “You’re welcome, chief.”
“Honestly, thank you. I won’t ever forget it. Even if you did behave inappropriately with my sister.”
“Nice deflection.” Dane reaches across the table and squeezes his upper arm. “I know you’ll remember. And I bet you’ll do the same thing for someone else one day.”
“I hope you’re right, Dane.”
“I always am, chief. I always am.”
A waiter appears and takes their order. The minute he disappears, Miguel asks Dane what he wanted to talk to him about.
“Soo…” he drawls.
Miguel narrows his eyes. “Is this about Miriam? Because I’m willing to take back every nice thing I just said about you.”
“Nah, but we’ll get back to that in a hot second. So, here’s the dealio: I called the bank the other day and said, hey, I want to withdraw part of my trust fund so I can give it to Riley’s Aunt Kathy, ’cause she needs to buy more caftans so she can do it up properly in her retirement.”
“What are you even saying right now?” says Miguel, leaning in over the table.
“I’m saying I bought the building.”
“I’m sorry—what building?”
“Lakeside, dude. It wasn’t complicated. In fact, I’m happy to say our little bookstore co-op will get a sweet break on rent now that a partial owner also owns the building.”
“Dude, I’m on the verge of passing out,” says Miguel, and Dane cackles with delight. “You’re serious?”
“As a heart attack.” He winces. “Sorry.”
“Amelia had an aortic dissection, Dane—not a heart attack. That was my mom, remember? Either way, it’s okay. But seriously, you live like a…” He raises his eyebrows at Dane’s T-shirt, which is fraying at the edges.
“Person who doesn’t spend his cash on stuff he doesn’t care about?
” he volunteers. “Yep, I do. I’m lucky to come from money, but that doesn’t mean I want my parents’ lifestyle.
Yacht clubs and black tie? Hard pass. My dad’s always telling me to get into real estate, though, and he’ll be stoked I finally took his advice. ”
“Is this final?”
“Will be tomorrow. Should have been final a couple days ago, but the power going out threw a wrench in my plans, and I didn’t want to tell you until it was as good as done.
Got the funds, just gotta sign on the dotted line and pass Kathy a bottle of champers.
So, that’s what I was trying to explain earlier.
We don’t need a new building. You’ve already got one for as long as you want.
That should help a lot with the short-term situation. And actually, the long game, too.”
“Dane, seriously—I don’t know how to thank you.” He pushes his lips together for a moment, then grins. “But if you tell me the answer’s you moving in with me, I’m selling my shares to Riley and escaping to Mexico.”
Now Dane blushes. “Uh, no. I’ve got other plans. And lo and behold—there she is now.”
“Miguelito!” says Miriam, striding across the patio toward us in a pair of heels that could double as ice picks.
I leap up, even though it pains me, and Miguel gasps and stands. “Miriam!”
“Soy yo,” she says, leaning in to kiss his cheek.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were on your way back?”
“I wanted to surprise you. Guess what?” she says, eyes shining.
He examines her, then breaks into a huge smile. “I’m the brother of the new dean of students at the University of Michigan, aren’t I?”
“?Ya tú sabes!” she says, and now he picks her up and spins her around. “Even a blackout couldn’t stop me from nabbing the gig.”
“I’m so proud of you that I won’t even give you a hard time for not calling me the second you got the offer. Tell me everything—including why Dane knew you’d be in town before I did,” he says as he pulls out a chair for her.
“I promise I will, but first, do you mind if I stay at Dane’s tonight?”
Miguel frowns, but he quickly recovers. “Of course not.”
“I have to return to Ann Arbor to find a place to rent, but I’ll be back in time for the reopening before I fly to Puerto Rico.”
“You told her about the reopening?” Miguel says to Dane.
“I pick up my cellphone when people call,” Miriam says pointedly.
“There’s something else we want to talk to you about, though,” says Dane, looking at Miriam.
“Please tell me this isn’t some sort of intervention.”
“Nope,” says Miriam. She turns to Dane. “You tell him.”
He swallows hard. “So, you know how I bought the building?”
“Yes…” says Miguel nervously.
“Don’t sweat—I’m still all in. But I’m gonna try to spend some time in Ann Arbor, too. Just a couple days a week.”
“With my sister, I take it,” says Miguel, but he doesn’t sound upset.
“We’d like to get to know each other better, see where this thing might go,” Miriam says shyly, and Dane nods.
“Beth’s ready to come back, so you can give her some of my hours, and my shares. ’Cause I’ll need to cut back on my workload—if it’s okay. I want to be there for you.”
Miguel blinks hard. “Like I said, you have been this whole time. It’s okay for you to take care of yourself, too.”
Dane beams. “You’re still my BFF, and I hope you know I’ve got your back for life. It’s just that I’m ready for something a little different. So, sometimes you’re gonna need to pick up the phone when you want to talk ’cause I can’t barge in on you from Ann Arbor.”
Miguel looks back and forth between them; I can tell that overactive brain of his is working hard to process all of this. And then he starts to cry.
“Oh no—are you okay?” says Miriam, reaching across the table for his hand. “We didn’t want to upset you. You’ve been through so much, and this probably seems so sudden.”
“No, that’s not it,” says Miguel, wiping his eyes.
“Even if it is sudden, Amelia always said that when you know, you know. I’m not upset at all.
” He wipes his cheeks with the back of his palm.
“I’m…really happy. It just hit me that you’re going to be here—well, not here here, but only a couple hours away, in the same state as me.
I’ll get to see you all the time.” He sniffs, then regards Dane.
“Provided this guy doesn’t keep you too occupied. ”
Dane tugs at his hair, which looks like Miguel just ran the vacuum over it. “I would never.”
Miriam’s dabbing at her eyes now, too. “The offer was good, but more than anything, I wanted us to be together, Miguelito. We can see each other on the weekends and celebrate birthdays and Thanksgiving at your house. We could even go to Puerto Rico for Christmas and teach gringo here how to make coquito,” she says, tilting her head toward Dane.
He grimaces. “Is that made of frogs?”
“Dios mío,” Miguel groans. “We’ve got our work cut out for us. So…you two are serious about each other.”
Miriam smiles at Dane. “We’ll see.”
“Yo soy loco for this beautiful borinquena!” Dane kisses her neck, and she giggles.
“It’s ‘estoy,’ querido,” she says, still grinning.
Tears are running down Miguel’s cheeks, but he’s smiling, too. “Two of my favorite people together. I don’t know what could be better than that.”
As it happens, I do—and so does Miriam. “?Y Fiona?” she questions. “You haven’t mentioned her once, and you’re not wearing that loved-up look on your face. ?Qué pasó?”
“I messed up,” he says miserably, then tells her what happened.
“So fix it,” she says simply when he’s finished.
“You say that like it’s easy.”
“There’s nothing easier than love,” she says, smiling at Dane, who leans over and kisses the tip of her nose.
“I don’t know that she feels the same.”
Miriam rolls her eyes. “Fiona? She’s wild about you. You just need to apologize.”
“And not do it again,” Dane pipes in.
“Oh, I don’t think we need to worry about that,” says Miriam, examining Miguel. “If she gives him another chance—and I think she just might—something tells me he’ll fight for love this time.”