18. Lockwood
Lockwood
WYATT
Selena was wiping down the lunch menu chalkboard when I walked in.
"What's good today, Selena?"
"I just pulled a fresh batch of empanadas out of the oven. Sit down."
Barb needed groceries and offered to get Birdie from school on the way. So when Knox asked me to help him pick up his motorcycle from the shop in the afternoon, I agreed.
Gus poured my coffee before I reached the stool.
Same mug, same spot at the counter, same conversation that started the second I sat down: what Birdie was reading this week, whether the crew was coming on Friday, his son's latest promotion he'd already told me about twice, pictures his daughters sent of the grandkids.
"Are your kids coming in for Thanksgiving?"
"Flying in next Friday. All three. The house is going to be a mess and I can't wait." Gus smiled. "What about you? Still doing the camping trip?"
"If Birdie has her way, we're leaving the second school lets out."
"That girl." Gus shook his head. "She's got you wrapped around her finger."
"Always has."
Gus picked up a glass and started drying it. "Is Officer Walsh coming with you?"
I looked at him. "On the camping trip?"
"No, to the moon." He gave me a look. "Yes, on the camping trip."
"I haven't asked her."
"Why not?" Gus said it like the answer was obvious and I was the only one who hadn't figured it out. "You walk in together. You walk out together. You sit together at my bar and every time she looks away, you're looking at her like you think nobody notices."
He picked up another glass. "I can spot it from across the room."
I pressed my thumb into the side of the mug.
I didn't have an answer. I liked Andy. That had been clear for a while.
I'd been trying to work up the nerve to ask her out for weeks.
Every time I got close, I talked myself out of it.
I had no idea if that was something she'd want, and I wasn't ready for her answer to be no.
"I don't know what we are," I said.
"But you'd like to find out."
I took a sip of coffee. "Yeah."
Gus leaned on the counter. "I watched you sit at this bar for years, Wyatt. I haven't seen you look at a woman like that since Lillian."
The bar noise kept going. I didn't hear any of it. Lillian's name in this room hit different. Her photo was still behind the register. Birdie's was next to it. Talking about Andy while looking at them made my throat tighten.
"She's good people," Gus said, quieter now. "I knew that the first night she walked in here." He set the glass down and left it. "And she looks at you like that too, when she thinks nobody's watching."
I sat with that for a second. I'd been so busy convincing myself she might say no that it hadn't occurred to me she might be waiting for me to ask.
I was about to say something, but the front door opened and Gus looked toward the newcomers.
Two men. Both in tailored, expensive suits that looked out of place in a bar at lunchtime. The one in front had his hand extended before he reached the counter. The one behind him hung back, quiet, letting the first man lead.
"Mr. Lockwood. Mr. Stasio." Gus came around the bar. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
Preston Lockwood. His name was on the signs going up on the corner lot.
"Gus." Lockwood shook his hand. "Always good to see you. The place is looking wonderful."
"Thank you. I try."
"I'm sure you know why we're here." Lockwood folded his hands in front of him. "We've put together a new proposal. More generous than the last. I think you'll find it's a very fair number."
"I appreciate you coming by in person," Gus said. "But my answer hasn't changed."
"We understand. We just want you to know the offer is on the table." Lockwood's voice was easy, practiced. "We're hoping to break ground around March, April. So there's no rush."
"Can I get you a drink while you're here? Tacos? Selena just put the lunch menu up."
Stasio spoke for the first time. "We appreciate that, Gus, but we've got another meeting." He said it with a smile that didn't reach past his mouth.
"Of course."
Lockwood extended his hand again. "We hope you'll reconsider. We'd hate for you to miss out on what's coming."
"I'll keep it in mind."
They nodded at me on their way past and walked out. The door closed behind them and the noise in the bar filled back in.
Gus came back behind the counter. He stood there for a second before he picked up his towel.
"They're getting more aggressive."
"Are you worried?"
"I've been here thirty years." He picked the glass back up. "They'll get this place when I'm in the ground."