fuck you like weaponizing a confidant who switched teams.
His dad slapped Arnie on the knee. “Come on. Let’s go scare the shit out of somebody. If we’re lucky, some of your cousins will cross our path. I wouldn’t mind giving one or two of them a few gray hairs.”
“Bwah!” Arnie boomed. “Let’s!”
They headed to the door, telling jokes when all of a sudden, his dad stopped and turned.
“I’m glad you got out, son.”
“What do you mean?”
“You took your own road, Arnie. What you do is a little unorthodox, but it’s authentic. Your mom would be damn proud. She wasn’t at all about the cachet of the Wanamaker name. The money had nothing to do with how I managed to land a girl far too good for me.”
He smiled. “You landed her,” he said with air quotes, “because you put her on her butt with a beach ball and a pitcher’s arm.”
“God, that’s a great memory. She was hella pissed and almost neutered me in front of my friends. Called me a moron.” He chuckled. “I knew she was the one for me when the contact phone number I wheedled out of her turned out to be the local mental hospital. Lianne never failed to make me laugh. Thankfully,” he drawled, “we had friends in common, or I would have been shit out of luck.”
“Dad,” Arnie murmured—his voice lowering in tone but increasing with intensity. “I never asked you this before, but I’ve been wondering. About Mom. Do you think she’s where I got it from?”
He didn’t have to elaborate. His dad was aware of everything and good thing too because Arnie knew without a doubt that he would have lost his way a long time ago without his father’s anchoring influence.
Ned Wanamaker smiled. “Your mom had more going for her than an entire contingent of Disney princesses. She carried on conversations with plants, animals, and inanimate objects. Her giggle had a backing track of laughing angels. She had a recipe for hot chocolate made with magic, and the effect she had on people was extraordinary. Did you learn to tune in from her? I’ve always assumed so.”
Hearing his dad unguardedly describe the love of his life made Arnie think of Summer. She had a magic giggle and loved people too.
Without thinking or hesitation, he offered his father a hug. “Thanks, Dad.”
When they separated, he found his father studying him closely, but the moment passed.
He watched her at the counter, ordering the most complicated beverage of all time. Instead of aggravating the barista, she was effortlessly charming the guy out of his shorts.
“Triple shot of chocolate,” she cutely admonished with a finger point. “Very important that it’s three.”
“Three it is,” the apron-wearing man said with a nod. With a pen in his hand posed with anticipation above a large drink cup, he asked, “Name?”
Summer giggled, and Arnie smiled.
“Rapunzel,” she replied.
The barista laughed. “Second one today!”
“It’s a California thing,” Summer chirped with adorable delight.
When it was his turn to order, she stepped to the right but stuck close. Arnie liked the way she affected him. He thought clearer and wasn’t so open to the barrage of energy battering him in crowds of people he didn’t know.
He paid for their drinks and added two big muffins to the order when he saw her inspecting the display of treats.
“How do you stay so slim with the amount you eat?” he teased as they claimed a table and waited for their names to be called.
“Beats the hell out of me,” she replied in a mocking voice. “My engine normally runs hot. I need the extra fuel.”
The temptation to riff off her statement about running hot was hard to tamp down, but he did.
“Hey.” She leaned across the table and touched his hand. “What do you want to do after this?”
Being casual and playing it by ear worked at first, but this didn’t mean he hadn’t been thinking long and hard about what came next. She had the next two days off, and even though the Wanamaker Retreat was in full swing, Arnie was more than ready to take the escape route and do whatever the pretty lady wanted.
Whatever he could convince her to want.
“Have you ever been to the Four Seasons?”
“No.” She snorted. “The Ramada Inn is more my speed.”
“Would you like to have dinner there?”
“Where? The Ramada or the Four Seasons?”
He laughed.
“Now come on! Be nice. The complimentary continental breakfast at the Ramada is pretty amazing,” Summer assured him.