He held out his elbow to me and I wrapped my hand through it, fingers gripping his arm lightly. He smiled at me, slightly strained but he was trying.
“We don’t have to do this,” I murmured, the words just for him. “We could say fuck him and leave right now.”
“What about the bar?” he asked.
I shrugged. “We’ll figure it out. We always do. It’s not as important as—”
He shook his head. “We’re here. We might as well.”
“Can I tell him I didn’t vote for him?”
And there was the smile I wanted to see. “Always causing trouble.”
“It’s what I live for.”
He led me into the club, the automated doors sliding open, artificial air rolling over me, my heels clacking against expensive tile. The club itself was expansive, multiple buildings stretched over acres. We were at the restaurant, wide windows stretched along either side, bright sunlight filtering in, the grass of the surrounding golf course a luscious green. The hostess smiled at us as we approached. Before we reached her, I whispered in Darren’s ear, “I make no promises that if I see someone famous, I won’t freak out and demand they sign my fake tits.”
He stumbled a little bit, coughing harshly. I smiled at the hostess as she frowned in concern. “Is everything okay?” she asked.
“It’s fine,” I said. “Sometimes he has trouble walking and talking at the same time. You know how men can be. Always thinking with one head and not the other. Isn’t that right, bae.”
The hostess giggled as Darren glared at me. “Yes,
dear
.”
“Do you have reservations?” she asked.
“Andrew Taylor is expecting us,” Darren said.
“That sounds ominous,” I said. “Don’t scare the girl, bae.” I looked back at the hostess. “We’re here to have lunch with the mayor. He’s thinking about investing in my company. We sell mayonnaise. Old Slovak recipe from my
baba
. Very top secret hush-hush. You won’t tell a soul, will you, pretty?”
Her eyes were wide and she shook her head as Darren groaned next to me. “I’ll keep it to myself,” she said. “And if I may, you have to be the tallest woman I’ve ever seen. It’s quite confounding.”
“It’s the mayonnaise,” I said. “We put it on everything. Corn. Pancakes. Apples. Everything.”
“This day will end in tears,” Darren said with a sigh. “Most likely my own.”
“Of course not. Helena’s going to take good care of you.” I leaned in and brushed my lips against his cheek. I felt him shudder.
Helena liked that very much and wanted to lick him.
“Isn’t he just precious,” I asked our new friend as I pulled away.
“You make a very striking couple,” the hostess said.
“Imagine what our children will look like,” I said, just to fuck with Darren. “I think I’d take to pregnancy very well, don’t you?”
“Oh dear god,” he muttered. Then, louder, “Why don’t we just focus on the moment at hand before we knock you up?”
“Such a gentleman,” I told the hostess. “Wants to wine and dine me before impregnation.”
The hostess nodded. “Such a sweet thing to do. If you’ll follow me, Mayor Taylor is already here. I’ll show you to your table.”
I’d hoped we would have arrived before him. When going into battle, it’s always better to have the lay of the land memorized before meeting an enemy face to face. It would have given us the upper hand and made it feel like Taylor was encroaching into
our
territory. Instead, we’d arrived after him, letting him choose where to sit and how to act.
That was okay, though. The opening salvo had been fired, but it was just a glancing blow. I would come in with a sneak attack rather than guns blazing. He wouldn’t even see me coming.
The hostess led us toward the bank of windows on the far side of the restaurant. The tables on this side were empty, and I thought it was probably done on purpose, to give us (specifically the mayor) some privacy for this luncheon. I didn’t know if it was good or bad that there wouldn’t be any witnesses. This, of course, led me down the line of thinking that what if Taylor despised me and decided to have me bumped off? I didn’t quite have a grasp on the inner workings of the city government, but I assumed that a mayor would be in the position to dispatch hitmen if needed to spill the blood of his enemies.
I might have had an overactive imagination fueled by way too many thrillers on Lifetime (
thrillers
being the operative word, of course).
Andrew Taylor stood as we approached. Even though he was in his midsixties, he was still unfairly gorgeous and fit. It was easy to see where Vince and Darren had gotten their coloring and good looks from. And if Taylor was any consideration, then Darren was going to be hot even as an old man, which should not have given me the tiniest of thrills it did. (And I also can admit to having the horrifying thought of
At least I made the right choice with this one if that’s what he’ll look like when we’re older
before I remembered what this truly was and vowed to never think such things again.)
He wore a dark tailored suit that looked like this year’s Marc Jacobs. His tie was silk and his shoes Italian and there was nary a hair out of place. His eyes were on me, cool and assessing, and I felt my hackles rise. He was judging me at first sight, like he had any place to say whether or not I was good enough for his son. I don’t know what he found at the end of his assessment, what determination was made about me in all of three seconds, but he smiled that wide, toothy politician’s smile.
“Darren,” he said. “It’s good to see you.” He held out his hand.
“Dad,” Darren said stiffly before shaking his hand. It was a perfunctory action, holding no warmth from either one of them. One would have thought they were business associates rather than father and son. Maybe it was because I had been adopted into a family that loved me no matter what that I didn’t quite understand how a father could act toward his son in such a way. Sure, Darren was a product of an affair and it was all kept hush-hush secret, but Taylor’s actions had brought life into the world. Why in God’s name did he never act like that wasn’t the greatest gift he’d been given?
“And who is this enchanting young lady?” Taylor asked, turning his eyes to me. I held out my hand to him. He gripped my fingers lightly and brought the back of my hand to his lips, scraping a kiss against my skin. It made my skin crawl, but I smiled at him. I knew there really wasn’t any chance of him recognizing me from the funeral as I hadn’t even been on his radar, but it was still a relief to know I could fool him so completely.
“This is my girlfriend,” Darren said. “Helena.”
“Mayor Taylor,” I said as I pulled my hand away. “How lovely it is to meet you. Darren’s told me so much about you.”
“Has he?” Taylor said, eyes darting toward his son before coming back to me. “All of it good, I hope.”
That was certainly laughable. Even without Darren and Vince, I’d heard nothing about him that indicated he was even remotely close to being a decent human being. And from the news and my very own limited interaction, there appeared to be nothing to endear him to anyone who wasn’t a douchebag.
But he didn’t know I knew that. For all he knew, I was a bright-eyed young lady enamored of a boy and meeting his father for the first time. That’s all this was to him.
“Mostly good,” I said, my voice slightly teasing. “But I don’t suppose anyone could be all good, could they? Why, that would just be boring.”
Taylor chuckled. “You’re speaking to someone in public office, Helena. My reputation is sterling, boring though it may be.”
Bullshit.
“Shall we?” Taylor said, waving a hand toward the table.
I murmured my thanks as Darren pulled out my chair for me. His big hands squeezed my shoulders once before he sat down next to me. I set my purse on the floor between us and smiled at Darren, who looked like he wished he could be anywhere but where he was. I reached under the table and folded my hand in his. He looked surprised but didn’t pull away. In fact, he seemed almost grateful for the contact.
“It’s been a while since I’ve spoken to you,” Taylor said to Darren.
Darren shrugged. “I’ve been busy. You know how it is. Work takes up a lot of my time.”
He nodded. “Unfortunately I do. It seems I never leave the office these days. But surely you haven’t been
that
busy. After all, you’ve found time to meet this young lady.” He glanced over at me with a small smile. “I must admit to being a little surprised to hear it.”
“Really?” I said. “And why is that?”
“I’ve never heard of Darren being serious about anyone before,” Taylor said, folding his hands on the table in front of him. “Never really heard him talk about a specific girl. Figured he was busy sowing his oats and living the bachelor life.”
I laughed. “Oh, I’m sure he was. All those coeds, am I right?” I winked at Taylor. “Maybe we just found each other at the right time. When we needed each other the most.” Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Darren watching me, a strange look on his face that I couldn’t quite place.
“Well,” Taylor said. “That’s wonderful. Tell me about yourself, Helena. Where are you from?”
“Tucson born and raised,” I said, nodding toward the waitress as glasses of cucumber ice water were placed before us. “Lived here all my life. Parents did too.”
“That so?” Taylor said. “Long history, then. Probably voted in many elections. Helped Tucson become what it is. They’re registered, right?”
“Independents,” I said sweetly.
Taylor didn’t even hide the face he made at that. “Independents. Well, give them five minutes alone with me and I’m sure I could change their minds.” And that politician’s smile came back as Darren frowned. Taylor could be charming, I’m sure, but he really was barking up the wrong tree. Especially since this tree had a cock and was wearing a skirt.
“Probably not,” I said, taking a sip of my water. “They’re dead.”
Taylor blanched. “My condolences.”
I waved it away. “Happened when I was a teenager. But thank you.”
“She was taken in by her best friend’s family,” Darren said, sounding irritated. I didn’t think it was toward me. “They took good care of her in the last couple years of high school.”
“That they did,” I said, trying to keep my voice even. I wondered why I kept being surprised when Darren showed he paid attention more than I thought he did. “He’s like my brother and his parents are my parents. I was very lucky. To have people there for me when I needed them the most.”
The dig went right over Taylor’s head. “Family is good to have,” he said. “Lord only knows. I lost my wife last year, so I can appreciate the toll it takes on a person.”
“I’m very sorry for your loss,” I said. And I was. She might not have been the best mother possible, but she’d redeemed herself toward the end. Paul had told me what she’d said about Vince in the hospital when he’d gone to visit her. I just wished Vince had gotten to know that much, much sooner. “But you still have family, right? Darren here. And Darren told me you have another son?”
Taylor nodded. “Yes. Vincent.” I almost missed the barely there glance he gave Darren at the words
other son
.
“That’s right,” I said. “At least you have him too.”
“Of course. They’ve both been instrumental in the healing process.” How easily I could point out that they didn’t have the same mothers or that Vince hadn’t seen his father in months. But I wasn’t here to cause trouble. I wasn’t here to berate Taylor. I was here to make sure he didn’t do anything to Darren. If he did, then all bets were off.
Oh. And I was also here to do something about the bar.
Right. The bar. Couldn’t forget about the bar. That was the
real
reason I was here, after all.
“Well, I’m glad to hear that,” I said. “But let’s move on to lighter things. No need to speak of sad things on such a beautiful day.”
“Indeed,” Taylor said. “What about you two? How did you meet?”
“Through friends,” Darren said, jaw tensed, taking over like he knew I was thinking of saying something ridiculous like how Darren saved me from a horde of rampaging rabid beavers in Los Cabos. Not that I would have said anything like that, of course. Everyone knows there are no beavers in Los Cabos. That would just be preposterous.
“Oh? And when was that?”
“In June,” Darren said. Simple and to the point.
And boring.
“How lovely. And you’ve been together all this time?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, Dare,” I said with a laugh. “No need to be all monosyllabic. It really is a very interesting story how we met.”
“One I’m sure my father doesn’t have time to hear,” Darren said pointedly.
“I’ve got plenty of time,” Taylor said.
“He’s got plenty of time,” I said as I cocked my head at Darren.
“If this is going to be like the story you told our friends, I don’t think he’ll be able to appreciate your more… subtle nuances.”
“Subtle?” I asked. “Darling, there is nothing subtle about me.”
“An outspoken woman,” Taylor said. “She reminds me of Nancy Reagan. Good stock.”
That… was not the look I was going for. I didn’t know whether or not I should be offended.
“Dad,” Darren warned. “Don’t even start.”
Taylor ignored him. “What is your surname?” he asked. “You seem well educated.”
For a woman
was left unsaid and I wanted to punch him on behalf of my fellow sisters. And then I remembered I was a man. I still wanted to punch him, because I was a mister sister and that was just
rude
. I didn’t know if it was intentional or if he was just oblivious.
“Van Der Beek,” I said, because even if Taylor was an idiot, he wasn’t stupid, and Handbasket would probably be too on the nose.
“Helena Van Der Beek,” Darren said, sounding like he was in pain.
Okay, maybe that was a little over the top. It wasn’t my fault that James Van Der Beek made me want to Dawson his creek when I was a teenager. For some reason, I was a fan of his forehead. Don’t ask.
“I must admit to not being familiar with the Van Der Beeks,” Taylor said.
“Oh, that’s unfortunate. We’re a fun bunch. Noisy and boisterous.” I hoped he was believing all of this.