Chapter Eight
When the manicures were done, Ransom stood to give both ladies a kiss on the cheek. “Be sure to wait ten minutes for your nails to dry completely.”
They both solemnly promised, “We will.”
As they waved good-bye and exited the lounge, he said to Ava, “So Cammie’s uncle lived here.” She nodded. And Ransom added, “I’m glad your brother and Cammie finally figured out they were meant for each other.”
She leaned slightly into him as she laughed. “It took forever. We all knew they were in love.”
Then curiosity made him ask, “You said you helped Lochlan stay here?”
As Ava waved a hand for him to precede her into the dining room and the kitchen beyond, she said, “As I mentioned, I have a fund, a subsidy if you will, to help people stay in my facilities when they can’t always afford them. Though Lochlan had sold his home, he lived far longer than the money lasted. I wasn’t about to kick him out,” she added quickly. “And the fund helped make it possible for him to stay.”
He noted the servers clearing tables, removing the buffet pans and returning them to the kitchen. But it was Ava who held his attention. “Then you really did mean that your care homes aren’t just for the rich.”
“I help wherever I can.” She moved past him quickly, heading for the kitchen, almost as if she was embarrassed by his praise.
When he caught up with her, just before the swinging doors to the kitchen, she turned to him, changing the subject. “So where did you learn to do nails?”
He didn’t want anything from the past dipping into the present right now. He wanted Ava to see who he was, in this moment, not who he’d been. And not the way he’d failed her.
But still he smiled as he answered, “My niece is eleven now, and she’s a sweetheart. But even when she was a little girl, she wanted me to do her nails. You remember I have a younger brother? Adam?”
“I remember. Your grandmother talked about him.” It seemed as if she might touch his hand, but then she stopped the movement. “I still miss her a lot.”
His grandmother had passed while he and Ava were together. “I miss her too.”
After Grandma died, he traveled even more. And he still harbored some resentment that his mother had never come out to see the old lady. It was just another reminder that his dad had never left the restaurant. After he’d passed, his mother had done the same thing, forcing his brother into the identical situation.
Perhaps all of those emotions roiling inside him had something to do with why he’d made that offer to Ava. He hadn’t wanted to leave her behind so much. But he hadn’t considered the fairness of it, thinking only that he wanted to keep her close, that he hated the time they were apart.
And now he wanted to know so much more about her life. To know the real Ava all over again. “So how did you get so good at doing nails?” It was incredible that she, head of the company, found the time. But that was Ava.
“I used to do the old ladies’ nails at the convalescent home. They might have gnarled, arthritic fingers, but they feel so much better with pretty nails.” Which was what Edith had said. Then she added, “Your grandmother always had the prettiest nails. That’s actually what gave me the idea. I don’t know who did them for her.”
He felt a flush rise to his cheeks. “I did.”
She gaped at him again, just as she had in the lounge. “You’re joking.”
“No. She loved that. But then you took over from me, and you could do them more often. So I let you.”
His grandmother had loved the attention Ava lavished on her. Her compassion was one of the first qualities Ransom had noticed. “She always said that of all the aides at the home, you treated her the best.”
A slight frown turned down her lips. “Not many of the aides even talked to the patients. They were so busy getting work done, thinking that was more important. And it was important, but the old people who lived there were even more in need of companionship. I guess a lot of the staff thought everyone was senile and talking to them wouldn’t make any difference. But I loved hearing their stories and seeing them smile.”
“And that’s why you went into this line of work.”
She nodded. “Absolutely.”
“That’s why you know all their names, why you greet each one of them, why you take the time to talk to them and do their nails.”
It was her turn to blush. “Of course I can’t do it for all of them, but there’s a special few who really love it. It doesn’t take much of my time to be kind.”
It probably took a lot more time than she’d admit, but because she loved it, she had to do it.
“I’m curious. Some you call Mr. and Mrs. Others you use their first names.”
She shrugged. “They’re from a bygone age where formality was valued. I listen to the way they introduce themselves to me, and that’s what I use. Mrs. Greeley prefers the formal address, but Edith and Myrtle never even mentioned their last names.”
She was observant, and details were important to her.
He thought back to all the times he’d seen her with his grandmother, before they got together, before he fell for her, before he’d even kissed her.
And now she was the amazing, beautiful, competent woman he’d always known she was. Everything about her facilities demonstrated her compassion as well as her proficiency.
She straightened her suit jacket and pointed to the kitchen door. “I should get on with your tour since we’ve spent so much time already. I’ll let you lead, since this will be your domain.”
The kitchen wasn’t the worst, but it was cramped. He was sure he could improve the flow. “It’s a big help to see the space my team members will have to work with. But ideally, I need to bring the kitchens up to my standards. Is that a problem?”
She shook her head. “Do what you need to do and send me the bill.”
“It won’t hold up getting my people in here. We’ll work with what we’ve got for now.”
And renovations would guarantee more time with her.
* * *
Speaking of more time, a massive traffic jam snarled the route home. The car moved one length every five minutes.
Ransom checked the cause on his phone. “Looks like it’s a possible hazardous materials spill. The freeway is completely closed.”
Gripping the wheel a little too tightly, Ava asked, “Can you see if there’s a way around it?”
He opened his maps app, but slow-moving traffic crammed every alternative. “Everyone else has the same idea. All the side roads are blocked. Even picking the best one, it’s going to take us more than four hours to get back.”
Rush hour wasn’t that far off, when things would only get worse.
But Ransom had a brilliant idea. “Let’s pull off at the next exit and get something to eat. Maybe it will clear by the time we’re done.”
“We were too late for lunch in the dining room.” Ava dropped her hand to her stomach. “And I am getting hungry.”
They crept along another fifteen minutes to the next exit, where he spied the sign for a burger joint. “How about there?”
“At least it’s close.”
Other than visiting one of his brother’s restaurants, Ransom hadn’t been to a real burger joint in years. His mouth actually watered for the taste of a juicy burger. It took another fifteen minutes to be seated, since they weren’t the only ones pulling off the freeway.
Though Ransom wasn’t used to waiting at a restaurant, mostly because he went to his own, he enjoyed the extra time with Ava. The traffic jam might not be such a bad thing.
The place had the feel of an old mom-and-pop restaurant like his parents’, with a checkerboard floor and red vinyl booths, a long countertop with swivel chairs, and an old-fashioned soda fountain. Pictures of vintage cars crowded the walls next to autographed photos of ballplayers.
Once they were seated and had ordered burgers and fries, Ava asked, “So tell me, is this anything like your parents’ restaurant?”
“A bit. But my brother has made some great improvements, as well as opening several other locations in Milwaukee. Adam is doing really well.”
When their food arrived, his first taste of the burger made him want to roll his eyes in pleasure. “This is a great reminder that you don’t always have to dine at five-star restaurants to really enjoy a meal. This burger is tasty.”
Ava dipped a fry in ketchup, held it up. “And this is an excellent French fry.”
As they ate, she said, “I’m really glad to know that you’ve patched things up with your brother.” She looked down, swallowing a bite of burger before adding, “I never did understand what happened.”
He hadn’t wanted to talk about it. It hurt too much. But it was long past time to share that story the way he should have years ago. “You know Adam and I worked at the restaurant from when we were pretty young.”
“Your grandmother told me how you bussed tables when you were seven years old,” she said with a smile.
“And I was working the grill by the time I was fifteen.”
“I knew restaurateuring was in your blood.”
“Yes.” After enjoying another big bite of his burger, he said, “But our parents were totally resistant to change. If I suggested a new menu item, they turned it down, saying that everyone wanted exactly what they’d been making for years. If I said we should start catering, they said they didn’t have the equipment or the manpower. If I wanted to give the menu a new look, keeping all the same choices, they said people didn’t like change and wouldn’t be able to find their favorites. But it was really my parents who were afraid of change.”
He remembered the fights, how tired he’d been of beating his head against their inertia. “So eventually I struck out on my own. But my brother, he stayed. Adam wasn’t as bothered by their ways as I was.”
“You mean he was less ambitious?” she asked.
He thought the question might be painful because it was his ambition that had eventually ruined his relationship with Ava. Maybe the thought was in her mind too. But he answered honestly. “He’s got plenty of ambition. But maybe he’s just got more patience. He waited until he could make the changes he wanted. Like I said, what he’s done with the old place is amazing. He still serves milkshakes and burgers like our parents did, but everyone comes now for all the unusual stuff he’s created. Like a pistachio milkshake or a Kahlua milkshake or a Cap’n Crunch milkshake with the cereal all crunched up. The kids love it. And he’s got a million different burger variations.”
She smiled. “That’s probably a bit of an exaggeration.”
Ransom smiled right back. “Probably. But Adam’s got stuff like a Maui burger with pineapple and teriyaki sauce. A nachos burger. He’s even got a limburger made with Limburger cheese that he advertises as the stinkiest burger on the planet. And he’ll make a burger any way you want it too. He’s doing great with all his restaurants.”
“You sound very proud of him.”
His chest seemed to swell with his pride. “I am. And I think he’s proud of me too.”
“Then you fell out with your parents because you wanted to make changes and they didn’t?”
He shook his head, dipping a couple of fries into yellow mustard rather than ketchup. “No. I still talked to my parents even though I was doing my own thing. It was when my dad died. I was twenty-four, Adam a couple of years younger, and Mom wanted us to take over the restaurant. But I refused. When I said I didn’t want to be like my dad, she thought I was saying I didn’t want to be a failure. But that was just her perception. I never thought he was a failure. I just thought he was stubborn when he couldn’t open up to new ideas. He wasn’t going to change or expand, and I believe that really hampered him. And yeah, I couldn’t see myself being a big success owning a little restaurant.” He stared at his plate, his appetite for the burger gone for the moment. “He worked himself to death.” After a beat of silence, he added, “That’s when my mother stopped talking to me. She just cut me out.” It still felt like she’d sliced his heart in two.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize.”
He laughed, even though it hurt his throat. “You probably thought it was because I was an arrogant ass, and I walked out on them.”
“Of course not.” But he saw by the shadowed look in her eyes that she had actually believed it was his fault. He should have told her years ago. But he was telling her now.
“It was only when she got cancer that she relented. And even then, it was Adam who told me she was sick.”
“That must’ve hurt a lot.” Ava’s gentle voice soothed him.
“Yeah, it did,” he admitted. “But Mom and I reconciled before the end. She died knowing that I loved her, and I believe she loved me. And I never mentioned that I didn’t want to be like my father, who worked himself to death.”
Ransom worked hard, yes, but he worked for something big. He wouldn’t die of a heart attack in a greasy spoon that hadn’t changed in fifty years. That didn’t make his father a failure, but Ransom wanted to be open to new ideas, new ways of doing things.
That was why he needed to cater for Ava. Because it could be good for both of them.
* * *
Though it hurt Ava that he’d never shared the details of what had happened in his family, what he told her now helped her understand him better. She’d always viewed his attitude as meaning that success was more important than family—more important than her. But knowing it was his mother who had cut him off gave her a different perspective. He hadn’t been trying to leave his family behind. He’d just wanted to pursue his own path.
She understood more about why success was so important to him. He wanted to change things, but his parents hadn’t let him. He wanted to expand, and his parents had held him back. He had dreams, but they hadn’t supported him—not out of malice, but out of a fear of change. How many times over the millennia had children wanted to blaze their own trail while parents wanted them to follow the path they’d chosen for them? It was a story as old as time.
A story different from hers, but maybe the emotions were the same. Always needing to be the best.
She was glad to know Ransom hadn’t caused the rift, that he’d reconciled with his mother before it was too late, and that he was part of his brother’s family. Because she valued family. Though he might still be following in his father’s footsteps, overworking the way his father had. But then, she understood hard work.
Ransom licked French fry salt off his fingers. “This place is actually pretty damn good. I need to tell Adam about it.” His eyes twinkled. “He might get some good ideas.”
With a bite of burger, she felt secret sauce dripping down her fingers and grabbed a napkin to clean it off. “What do you think is in the secret sauce? Since you’re the chef and you know all your flavors.”
He lifted a bit of bun. “It’s definitely got relish and mayo in it. And maybe some gochujang sauce. Or sriracha. It’s sweet but spicy.”
She furrowed her brow. “Does that stuff go together?”
He looked at her, aghast. “Of course it does. Nothing conflicts in my recipes.” Then he pointed. “You missed a little bit of sauce right there.”
She touched the side of her mouth. “Here?”
He shook his head. “No. Over there.” He wiggled his finger, but she still couldn’t tell exactly where he pointed.
She tried the other side of her mouth. “Here?”
He just laughed. “You’re miles off.” Then he leaned over the table to swipe away the sauce with a fingertip.
Ava gasped at the electricity suddenly pumping through her body. The first touch in fifteen years. They hadn’t even shaken hands. And now her entire body sizzled. She tried shoveling a few more fries in her mouth just to bring down her temperature. But the way he watched her eat only heated her even more. She couldn’t talk straight. She certainly couldn’t think straight. She downed half a glass of water, trying to quench the fire inside her.
She was not supposed to feel this way about Ransom Yates. Not now. Not ever again.
And yet, that fire burning inside her just wouldn’t be quenched.
She needed to get out of here. “How’s the traffic doing?”
Ransom looked at the map on his phone. “It’s still showing four hours to go on all the alternate routes.”
“But it was four hours an hour ago.”
He simply shrugged.
Outside, the traffic continued its excruciating car-length movements. They wouldn’t even make it back onto the freeway. She looked at him. Though still handsome as ever, his gaze was a little bleary. After working all night on her plans, he was running on one hour of sofa sleep.
Obviously thinking the same thing, he asked, “Should we find a hotel?” His eyes crinkled with a smile. “Separate rooms, of course.”
“I’m certainly not looking forward to pumping the clutch for another four hours.” Then she added quickly, before she could think better of it, “Let’s do it.”
But a night with Ransom? Even if they were in separate rooms?
Her blood heated once more in her veins. It would be way too easy to knock on his door.
“Even if there’s a Ritz-Carlton nearby,” Ransom said, crumpling his napkin, “we’d never make it there on these roads.” He looked pointedly at the Motel Y next door, with a pass-through from the burger joint so they wouldn’t have to get on the road to pull into its parking lot.
Back straight, Ava said indignantly, “I don’t need a Ritz. I’m perfectly fine with Motel Y.” But she couldn’t help adding, “As long as it’s clean.”
She wasn’t a snob. At least, she didn’t think so. If it was clean, she’d be fine.
As long as she didn’t rush down the hall to Ransom’s room.