wiping his hands on a pristine dish towel. Wanda was hopeful she would survive Pirate’s Puzzle unscathed.
“I hear your folks used to come to Gasparilla’s,” he said, without introduction.
“I heard all about you,” Wanda said, and this, at least, wasn’t a lie. “And what a treat it was to have a bowl of Pirate’s Puzzle.”
“Did you like it?”
“Ummm…” Wanda smiled. Something about Ralph was familiar, although she couldn’t say what. Maybe she’d just waited on too many old men at the Dancing Shrimp. “I loved having crab legs in it like that.”
“How come you’re not having any?” he asked Janya.
“I don’t eat meat.”
His nostrils flared. “You like the zucchini sticks?”
Janya looked at Wanda. Clearly she didn’t, since she had eaten very few, but she didn’t want to lie after lecturing Wanda. “They are wonderfully filling,” she said.
Wanda tried not to smile.
“So who were your parents?” he asked Wanda.
“The Grants. Were you even alive in those days?”
“I was. Too young for the war and too old to escape the stories.”
“I had another friend, too, who used to talk about this place. Man name of Herb Krause. Did you know Herb?”
“Can’t say I did. Do you want some more of my Puzzle?”
“You absolutely stuffed me to the gills,” Wanda said.
“Wanda, didn’t you tell me that you knew somebody else who recommended Gasparilla’s?” Janya asked.
Wanda was glad Janya had pitched in. “Who’s that?”
“Clyde…somebody or other. Or do I have that wrong?”
Wanda snapped her fingers. “That’s right. Clyde…what was his name?” She paused dramatically. “Franklin. That’s it. A neat old guy.”
She was watching Ralph’s face, and it changed. She’d been living with Ken long enough to read even the slightest nuances on a man’s features. The teeniest lift of an eyebrow, the tightening of lips.
He shrugged. “Not familiar.”
Except for his reaction, Wanda might have thought they’d chosen the wrong man to ask. Now she was sure he knew something. “Really? I’m sure he used to hang out there. I guess those were the days.”
“Well, I’ve got to get back to my cooking.” Ralph turned, and without a word, he headed back toward the kitchen door.
“What is it you say here? Strike two?”
“Strike three,” Wanda said. “You know, we’re going to have to bring you up to speed on baseball, you planning to be an American and all.” She worried her lip with her tongue. “He knows something. You notice the way his face changed when I said Clyde’s name?”
“Why don’t you just tell him the truth?”
“Because then he won’t tell us for sure.”
Janya didn’t argue. “He did seem in a hurry to leave.”
“What is it about old farts that they protect each other right to the grave?”
“What was it about Clyde that was worth protecting?”
Wanda wondered, but she wondered about something else, too. She had recognized Ralph from somewhere. Did he come into the Dancing Shrimp? Had she run into him in Miami at one of the restaurants where she worked? Or had he shopped at her grocery store? She worried her lip some more.
“What is it?” Janya asked.
“I know him. Ralph, I mean, but he looks pretty much like a hundred other old guys I’ve—” Wanda slapped the table. “Damn…if that don’t beat all.”
“What beats what?”
Wanda got to her feet. “You stay here. Eat another mozzarella stick if you can stand it. They weren’t cooked in lard, you’re safe.”
“I think they were cooked in motor oil.”
“Get used to it.” Wanda stalked toward the kitchen. To get there, she had to go around the bar. The bartender started toward her, but she waved him away. “Ralph’s expecting me.”
He looked suspicious, but he turned back to the counter. She pushed through the swinging door. Ralph looked up from what looked like a witch’s steaming cauldron. “Hey…”
“Studley,” she said. “I thought I recognized you, only it was the voice, not the face. It just took me a minute.” She moved a little closer and lowered her voice. “You’ve been seduced…”
The man was standing over a stove. His face should have been rose-red, but suddenly he was snow-white. “I don’t— I have no idea… Are you crazy?”
“About you, sugar. We’ve had some lovely conversations, haven’t we?”
He looked around. There was a young man on the other side of the kitchen chopping vegetables. Ralph left the soup and pulled her into the corner closest to the door. “How did you find me?”
“Well, I wasn’t looking for you, if that makes you feel any better.”