Chapter 9 Testing Him
TESTING HIM
Watching the clock hadn’t been one of his pastimes, but he was doing it a lot more lately.
It was five and he still hadn’t gotten a text from Anya.
Trust her, she’d said.
It was what he’d do. Or try to.
He’d already showered and changed.
After picking his phone up one more time to see only four minutes had passed, the text popped through from Anya.
Sorry. I showered and changed, then my mother called. I’m all set.
He texted back: Everything okay with your parents?
His phone rang in his hand. “Hi,” he said.
“I don’t like texting long things,” she said.
“It’s fine. Are your parents okay?”
“They are. My mother wanted to say that my father had a good day. A good day is one with no fights or major confusion issues. He takes his meds, she brings him to work and it’s as close to normal as can be. He lost his license last month so she’s bringing him everywhere.”
“I hadn’t known that,” he said. No one brought it up, but he had the medical reports that Elliot was in no position to be making sound and rational decisions consistently.
“He ran into the garage door. He forgot how to open it and had a panic moment, hit the gas rather than the brakes. My mother had driven with him a few times and he ran stoplights or signs. It was too dangerous. The doctor sent his paperwork to DMV and he failed the written tests twice. It was better coming from them than my mother.”
He couldn’t imagine how hard it would be to lose his independence like that.
“I’m sure,” he said. “I know I sound like a broken record, but I’m very sorry for everything you’re going through.”
“So am I,” she said. “But it’s life. And speaking of life, I’m starving. Do you have a preference where we meet?”
“Nope,” he said. “You’ve got the game plan tonight.”
“Good,” she said. “I’ll text you a place. How about we meet at six? I’m not sure where you live and how far away it is.”
“I’m in a condo close to downtown.”
“Oh. I’m not that far from downtown. Maybe two miles, but traffic adds to that. I’m in an apartment, not a condo. This pub is outside the city, closer to me.”
“Perfect.” Then it might not be as busy. “I’ll see you at six.”
“Bye,” she said and hung up before he could say anything else.
The text came in a minute later with the restaurant. A place he’d never been before nor heard of.
He opened the website and saw it was rustic and not in an updated precise way. It reminded him of a hole in the wall that very few knew about and only regulars visited.
He wasn’t trying to be snobby more than a thought that raced into his head at first sight.
She was testing him to see if he’d have a problem with it.
He was on to her.
“You made it,” she said when he pulled into the parking lot the same time as her at ten minutes before six.
“I did. Early and so are you.”
“I would have been earlier but got stuck behind someone going really slow.”
He grinned. “The same. I’m a lot of things but late isn’t one of them.”
“Me neither,” she said. “I’m early for everything, so even if I’m running late, the worst I’ll be is on time.”
“We’ve got that in common. Do you come here often?”
“Once or twice a month,” she said. “The food is awesome and it’s not overly busy.”
There were cars in the parking lot, but it was far from filled.
“I’ll take that as you want a nice quiet place to enjoy a meal with me.”
She stopped walking to turn and look at him. More like stare. She seemed unsure of things now.
“Sure, we’ll go with that.”
He threw her off. Good. He didn’t want to be the only one off balance and guarding himself tonight.
The last thing he wanted to do was mess anything up when he had so much to make up for.
“Anya. So glad you could stop in tonight.”
“I’ve been looking forward to it, Tina. I was dying for one of Josh’s massive burgers.”
“Table or booth?” Tina asked.
Anya looked at him. “We’ll take a booth,” she said.
No way he was answering. He said it was her night for decisions.
When they were seated, he asked, “Friends of yours?”
“They were my first sale when I became a realtor,” she said. “I met them here to go over what they were looking for in a home. No one else would come to them, rather wanting Tina and Josh to go into an office.”
“That was nice of you,” he said.
“I was starting out. You’ve got to hustle in this business. It’s not me. Or meant for me.”
He was going to let her guide the conversation. “What do you want to do? I know little about you after high school graduation.”
She snorted. “Your guess is as good as mine on what I want to do. I know, not like all the women you date. I bet they all had fancy jobs like you and higher education. I didn’t even finish community college.”
“I’m more interested in the person and not their job.
I have a damn fine job and can take care of myself.
” He put his hand up. “I’m not saying that to brag.
I’m making a point. I can’t tell you the number of women I’ve dated with a fancy job who were only after my name or what will be mine one day.
I work for what I’ve got and am not taking it from someone else. ”
Her face paled. “I hope you don’t think I’d do that.”
Guess they weren’t getting off to as good of a start as he’d hoped.
“Not at all,” he said. “I’m stating a fact. I know what you do for a living. I knew before this date.”
He also knew the market was tough and if she was working part time as a bartender, then she wasn’t doing so well in her career and he sure the hell wasn’t judging that.
“True,” she said. “You know my family situation. What my parents have is for them. My mother is going to go through it easily. My father can collect social security. I think they’ve put money away for his retirement.
I’m not positive. It’s not a conversation we’ve had in-depth.
I know my mother has a decent pension, their house is paid for and their health insurance is good. ”
“The important things,” he said.
“That’s right. This will not surprise you, but the building their business is in is worth over two million. Commercial real estate isn’t my thing, but I’ve spent a few days looking into it.”
“I’m sure many of your colleagues would gladly sign on to help,” he said.
“Yep. They would. Which is why I’m not talking to any of them. I want to waive my fee to my mother, but I can’t. I can reduce some of it but not all of it. The firm I work for gets their percentage regardless.”
“I think your mother would want you to have it,” he said. The Emersons were always fair people. “You’re doing a job and should be compensated for it.”
“She does. We’ll fight about it, I’m sure. My point is, I’m going to recommend they list it low to start. The faster they sell it, the better.”
“And they might even get a bidding war,” he said.
“It’s possible. It’s not the goal. The goal is to get out from under everything. My father was in the store today with my mother and they made some calls. They are already liquidating what is in stock and not taking any more orders.”
“Moving fast,” he said.
“It’s for the best,” she mumbled. A sadness crept into her eyes and an imaginary string from his belly to his heart tugged back and forth.
Matt reached his hand over and laid it on hers. “This is a tough time for all of you. I’m going to help ease it the best I can.”
“You already are. My mother appreciated how kind you were to my father yesterday. He was a little out of it and confused.”
“I recognized that.”
He had to explain the power of attorney to Elliot three times before he understood the reason for it. Then he agreed. Anya stopped in without his knowledge this morning to sign the medical proxy so that was set.
“At least he wasn’t yelling,” she said. “He’ll do that at home. He swears at my mother and throws things. He has no idea he’s doing it. Then twenty minutes later when she’s picking up the mess he’ll ask what happened.”
“He can’t help himself,” he said.
She shook her head. “But it doesn’t make it any better.
My mom will stand by him because she loves him.
She’s giving him the care he needs, but she’ll need help when he won’t be able to eat or dress.
He’s not there yet, but we’ll be as prepared as possible.
It’s memory and mood swings more than anything now. ”
He had no words and wasn’t going to try to keep coming up with them.
“You’ll be there for her too,” he said.
“I will. It’s a good thing I’m not that busy with work. I’ve picked up an extra shift at Fierce the past few weeks. The money helps.”
“That brings us back to what you like to do? What made you want to do this? And for how long have you been?”
“I’m so sorry,” a server said, rushing over. “I hadn’t realized Tina sat you back here and I was dealing with something in the kitchen for another customer. What can I get you to drink?”
Their menus were placed down and their water glasses filled.
“I’ll have a vodka and tonic with lime,” he said.
“A glass of house white,” she said. “We’ll be ready to order when you return.”
“Wine and burger?” he asked.
“Something to soothe the nerves more than anything. What’s with your drink?”
He leaned in close. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but the beer selection isn’t that great.”
She laughed. “Nothing here your brother makes.”
“No craft beer at all,” he said. “And though I can throw back wine like the next person, the burger sounds good.”
“And you’re too bougie for wine and burgers?”
He shrugged. There was no reason to say their wine selection was just as generic as the beer. Liquor was a safer bet in his eyes.
“Back to you and your career. What do you like doing? Not what you want but what you like.”
“It’s the same thing,” she said.
“No,” he argued. “It’s not. I enjoy drinking beer, but I don’t want to make it. The same with chocolate cake, but I don’t want to be a baker.”
“You like being an attorney?” she asked.
“Of course. Not every aspect. There are days I hate my job like everyone else, but I enjoy what I do.”
She closed one eye at him. “You hate it when you don’t get your way.”
“That’s a given,” he said, laughing.
Anya smiled and reached for her wine when it was brought over, then took a healthy sip.
While she placed her order for her burger, it gave him time to admire her.
Her blonde hair was down and brushing her shoulders, a part on the side and tucked behind her ears.
There were small silver balls in her lobes. Simple and fit her personality.
She had a mint green cotton shirt on that hugged her chest and showed off her breasts more than he’d noticed before.
She wasn’t that large on top, but with the shirt tight, it appeared more than he remembered.
Her top was tucked into the waist of baggy light-colored jeans. Outside he noticed she had white leather sneakers on her feet.
Nothing to walk miles in, but more for fashion.
She didn’t put a ton of effort into her appearance for this date. Not like other women who might have spent hours getting ready. Another thing to test him.
He’d pass with flying colors because she was beautiful to him regardless of her attire.
“Matt.”
“What?” he asked.
“You’re too busy staring at me and she asked for your order.”
“Oh,” he said. “I had a vision in front of me. Hard to tear my eyes away.” He heard Anya snort. “I’ll have the same, but my burger medium rare.”
“Fries or onion rings with that?”
“Fries,” he said. When the server walked away, he added, “Don’t need to have onion breath later.”
“Why?” she asked. “It’s not as if you’re getting that close for me to smell it.”
Shoved back in place quickly.