Chapter 20 Tanner
Tanner
Even nearing sixty, Joseph Delgado was smoother than silk bedsheets.
He charmed the waitress who showed them to their table, steering Principal Harris—now Ottoline Delgado—in front of him with a gentle palm on the small of her back.
He drew his wife’s chair out for her from the table, smiled warmly across the room at someone he recognized, and flicked his shirt cuffs when he finally sat down with a flourish.
Avery’s prediction had been spot on, with the venue changing from the Delgados’ home to this restaurant. From the way the ex-mayor ran his eyes over the other diners, Tanner guessed Joseph enjoyed the social scene more than the pleasures of a quiet family dinner.
Ottoline’s daughter, Paige, had joined them, too.
Tanner remembered her face from school but it seemed altogether less friendly these days.
At least it did when she looked in Avery’s direction.
There was bored disinterest in her greeting and dismissal in her studied lack of eye contact, yet he was sure they’d hung out together back then.
“Lovely to see you, Paige,” said Avery. And he could tell she didn’t mean it.
The dynamics around the table were fascinating.
In an initial moment of awkwardness, Tanner’s less-than-sterling teenage reputation sat between them all like a birthday cake at a funeral, but Avery’s father was far too charming a host to let the tension build.
He asked Tanner a steady stream of questions about his career, his decision to play for the Rapids, and his return to Pine Springs.
And all the while, he ran his thumb over the back of his wife’s hand and twinkled chocolate-colored bedroom eyes at the all-female waitstaff.
He somehow managed to be both a man’s man and a ladies’ man at the same time.
What he wasn’t was a daughter’s man.
Tanner watched Avery turn into a two-dimensional cardboard cutout of herself with every minute that passed by. Her father didn’t ignore her. He’d kissed her on the top of her head when they arrived, poured her a glass of water with a smile, and let her place her food order first.
Other than that, he didn’t seem to know what to say to her.
Avery, who’d been puzzled, then outwardly surprised, when Tanner had followed up on his offer to accompany her for the evening, shone less brightly than usual, as if she’d deliberately turned down the dial on her personality to fit into this gathering.
It was Ottoline who finally brought up Avery’s workshop.
The barest hint of a frown ticked Joseph Delgado’s forehead as Avery explained what had happened—and Tanner, toying with his knife, wondered idly if he’d had Botox. Ottoline asked most of the questions, listening intently to the answers with pursed coral lips.
“But your homeowner’s insurance will cover it?” The ex-mayor topped up his wine and offered the bottle to Tanner.
“I called them today and they said they would.” Avery plucked at the napkin on her lap.
“Good.”
“Do you have somewhere to work in the meantime?” Ottoline asked.
“It would be such a shame to disappoint your customer,” added Paige, and her choice of the singular noun wasn’t in any way a careless one.
Ignoring her completely, Avery flicked him a glance. “Well, Tanner’s offered—”
“Maybe it’s time to look for a more mainstream career?” Tanner watched Avery’s shoulders tighten at her father’s interruption. “One with a bit more earning power. It would give you a chance to jack in the bar work.”
Delgado gave “bar work” the same inflection other people might have given “cannibalism,” and Tanner decided it was time to interject.
“Lots of people are either creative or practical. Being both is a hell of a talent.” He would have continued, but Avery’s father acted as if he hadn’t spoken and steamed onward.
“You could learn something from Paige. She’s done the smart thing and got herself a job with health insurance and a retirement plan.” There was a tic at the corner of Delgado’s mouth. “Unlike you, it seems she actually listens to me.”
“I could always put my feelers out and see if there’s anything available with my company,” suggested Paige, all sugar-sweetness. “I know there are no vacancies in my team but I think we’d both find it uncomfortable for you to work beneath me anyway.”
“You can save your feelers the effort, thanks. I like my job.” Avery’s smile was bright and brittle. “Both of them.”
Fuck. No wonder she didn’t look forward to these meals. Simmering from her discomfort, Tanner rolled his right shoulder and bit back the knee-jerk defense he wanted to launch on her behalf.
Joseph rolled his wine glass in his fingers, disapproval in the flare of his nostrils. “Lucky you’ve got Bel to help out with the rent then. How is she? Been made partner yet?” A rich thread of admiration decorated the humorous question.
Avery chewed her mouthful before she answered. “Too busy with world domination right now.”
“Of course she is. The girl’s on a fast track to success.” Joseph smoothed the napkin on his lap. “And she knows it, too. Not short of confidence, that one.”
“No, but it’s all warranted,” Avery agreed.
“Forging a proper career will do that to a person. Gives you belief in your own value. And makes other people want you.” He leaned forward as if he was imparting a great secret. “It’s all about making other people want you.”
From everything he’d heard, Tanner suspected Joseph Delgado had struggled to limit that maxim to his business dealings. When her father’s smoky advice set Avery’s left eye twitching and her fork paused in front of her lips, he wondered if she was thinking the same thing.
“I thought it was all about the money?” Tanner dropped the question into the mix with a deliberately lazy drawl. “Or did I miss something?”
Avery wiped her mouth on her napkin but not so fast he didn’t spot the tiny smile she was trying to hide, and satisfaction bloomed in his chest.
“Were the pre-wedding celebrations fun?” Ottoline did them all a favor by changing the subject. “Savannah is your cousin, isn’t she, Tanner?”
“She is. And the weekend was great. Avery made a cutthroat partner for the activities and she put me to shame in the crate stack challenge. She’s fearless.”
They chatted briefly about the lakeside venue but Tanner could tell from the way Joseph’s gaze began to roam the restaurant that they were losing his interest.
“It’s nice the two of you have had a chance to reconnect.” Ottoline’s head tipped in a birdlike fashion, her eyes skating from Avery to Tanner and back again. “I wasn’t aware of you spending much time together at school.”
“We barely knew each other then,” Avery said, bruising him with the simplicity of her words.
“But we’re working on changing that now,” Tanner added.
Joseph was back in the game. “You could do worse, Avery,” he twinkled. “Tanner’s career has had quite the trajectory. The boy’s done well. It would be foolish not to appreciate that.”
Even with the compliment, Delgado made Tanner feel like a commodity rather than a person.
Since his approval when Tanner was at school with his daughter would have been non-existent, it meant less than nothing to him now.
His stomach gave a queasy roll as he took a wild stab in the dark as to how far he’d slide from grace again as a washed-up has-been if he crashed out with this damn fucking injury.
Avery hauled him back from his downward spiral with a calm reply to her father’s advice.
“Oh, there’s a lot to appreciate. I like to start with Tanner’s humor, generosity, and family values, and finish with his biceps.
His bank balance is probably the least appealing thing about him.
Well, that and he plays golf, but it would be unfair if he ticked all the boxes. ”
For once Joseph Delgado had no answer. A chuckle fought its way past the unexpected tightness in Tanner’s chest and Avery’s blue eyes glittered, dew-on-a-spiderweb pretty, when she smiled back at him.
“I was never one of the girls who swooned over the jocks at school,” said Paige dismissively. “I like brains.”
“On toast or served cold?” Tanner asked, injecting a little bite into the casual question.
“With eye of newt, probably,” Avery murmured, blocking her words from her dad and Ottoline by raising her glass of water to take an unhurried sip.
“You’re both so funny.” Paige’s retort was withering.
“We think so,” said Avery, bathing Tanner in a conspiratorial smile. “Fancy splitting a dessert? The chocolate cherry cheesecake here is the best.”
“You’re on.” Tanner leaned back in his chair and shot her a wink. “But you’re the only person I’d share chocolate cherry anything with.”
Dinner didn’t get any less painful after that and they cut it as short as they could.
There was a palpable edge to Avery’s relief as they left the restaurant after exchanging stilted goodbyes.
The evening sun was low and sharp. Flicking down the sun visor, Tanner pulled out of the parking lot and headed for home.
He shot a sideways look at Avery. “So you’ve noticed my biceps, huh?”
“Oh, I’m not like Paige. I’m superficial to my core.”
Tanner huffed. “I think you’re the least superficial person I’ve ever met.”
When she just flicked him an indecipherable look and turned to gaze out of the window, Tanner found it impossible to tell what she was thinking.
“So, I’m guessing your friendship with Principal Harris’s daughter went south somewhere around graduation,” he ventured. “Paige seems to be nursing some hostility.”
Avery snorted at the understatement. He wished she came with instructions that would tell him when to push and when he should leave well alone.
But he was still playing catch-up on information when it came to the missing years between them, and now seemed as good a time as any to fill in some of the blanks.
“What’s her beef with you? I thought you were close at school.”