Dirty Sweet Cowboy

“So… about two hours,” he continues uncomfortably. “They’ll have everything set up in the kitchen, and people will start coming in about two-thirty, Bea said. Ava will show up at three. Or three-thirty, knowing Ava .”

Two hours. Not sure I can endure two hours of grunts out of Bert .

I turn toward him, holding up my glass .

“Bert, I’m really glad you came,” I begin. He glances at me coldly, as though he is surprised I’m talking to him .

“I have wanted to talk to you for a while,” I continue. “I know everything that went down between my parents and you guys was… fucked up. To say the least. There’s not a lot of other ways to explain it. It was fucked up .”

Bert just grunts, again .

“But I’m not like that,” I say. He looks down. “I’m not like that at all. I’ve been very lucky, but everything I do is above board. In fact I would show you my books if you wanted to see them. I would do that. I want you to feel comfortable .”

He doesn’t say anything, just glares at the bottom of his drink .

I stand up and walk over to the desk, picking up a folder. On my way back to my seat, I hand it to him, holding it out for a couple of extra seconds. He takes it from me begrudgingly .

“What’s this?” he says, his voice barely audible .

“That’s the trust that Aden help me set up for the kids,” I explain. “No strings, just a solid future. Already taken care of. They will have a really comfortable life .”

Bert just grunts .

“I just wanted you to know .”

We sit in silence for little while. I hear Aden rubbing his heel nervously against the floorboards .

“You know, Ethan saved my restaurant,” Aden blurts out .

Bert glances up, his bristly eyebrows knitted together .

Aden swallows audibly. “It’s true. Last couple of months were pretty dire. I didn’t thin

k I was going to make it, but he bought the building. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without him. The restaurant has totally turned around. Four-star rating on Yelp now! Turned around, Dad. Couldn’t have done it without Ethan .”

Bert slowly turns his head toward me. “That true ?”

I shrug. “Everybody deserves a second chance,” I explain. “It’s a really nice restaurant. It didn’t deserve to fail .”

Little by little, Bert sets his drink on the table next to him and opens the folder. His eyes scan the paperwork, absorbing the details of the trust that I set up. I think it’s good, being transparent like this. Normally I would not let people see this deeply into my finances, but it means a lot to me .

I feel like I deserve a second chance too .

When I was a kid, my dad never talked to me about money. In fact, when they first gave me my starter money to try day-trading, all he said was, “Here it is .”

That was it. No instruction, no warnings. No sign of affection, even .

That’s one of the things that always struck me about the Harrisons. They’re really warm to each other. My earliest memories of them are gathered around the swimming pool, Evelyn in one of her flowered coverups, Bert with a beer in his hand. They were always within inches of each other, smiling and laughing. They clearly enjoyed each other’s company .

I was never sure why they were even friends with my parents, other than the convenience of being next-door neighbors. The Mercers are not really known for their warmth. Ruthless and calculating, they made their money the old-fashioned way: mostly fraudulently. Not exactly illegal, but definitely shady .

When the Harrisons turned to them for help with their sprawling but low-traffic diner when we were teenagers, my parents seized upon the opportunity. It was another way for them to funnel assets through a legitimate business. Most people call it money laundering .

The Harrisons didn’t know what they were getting into. Certainly they didn’t know it would be the end of their friendship .

Bert was apparently the one to realize what was up. Being a stiff-backed sort of guy, he was outraged. He couldn’t believe that my parents would tarnish the business he and Evelyn had built over the years. He was astounded that they would imperil what he felt was the family legacy .

My parents were equally surprised, but not for the same reasons. They just couldn’t understand why the Harrisons were so ungrateful. Sure, the extra money that flowed through the diner was technically illegal, but if they got to keep three percent, what right did they have to complain? The diner had been improved with new signage and updated kitchen equipment. Customers loved it. They were making more money than ever before .