He hadn’t expected that, either. Her voice was soft, filled with fond affection that he couldn’t identify with. He laid the menu down since he didn’t need to read it anyway. Dave knew what he was going to order. Same thing he always got. Steak. Potatoes.
Instead, he focused on Mia. Her eyes drew him in and he tried to figure out what exactly she’d done differently. Makeup, sure. Eyeliner and a soft brown shadow on her lids. But it was the emotion in her eyes that grabbed at him. “Where is he now?”
“He died about ten years ago.”
“Sorry,” he said and meant it because he could see what the man’s loss meant to her.
“What about you? Is your father still alive?”
He stiffened. See? He told himself. This was why he rarely took notice of someone else’s life. It inevitably turned around on him. “No idea.”
“What do you mean?”
“He walked out on my mom and me when I was ten. Never saw him again.”
Her eyes instantly went soft. “Oh, Dave, I’m sorry.”
He didn’t want sympathy. Didn’t need it. He’d long ago left behind the boy who’d missed his father. Dave had done just fine without the man who’d walked out on his responsibility. His family.
“I don’t know what to say,” Mia murmured.
“Nothing to say,” Dave assured her, and wished the waiter would bring the champagne he’d ordered ahead of time. “Long time ago. He left. We lost our ranch and my mother became a cook for the family who bought the place.”
His voice was clipped, cool, giving away nothing of the still-hot bubble of rage that these memories brought to him. Even after all these years, Dave could feel the helplessness that had gripped him as a boy.
Watching his mother work herself to the bone as an employee in what used to be her home. Hearing her cry at night and knowing there was nothing he could do. Hating his father for walking away, and yet at the same time, praying every night that he would come back.
But he didn’t. And Dave had grown up quickly. He’d made a vow to become so rich no one would ever be able to take away what was his again. He would take care of his mom and make sure she never had to work for someone else.
And he’d done it.
Made good on his promise to himself. Made himself into a man others envied. And he wouldn’t stop now.
Mia was still staring at him, and he could see hesitation in her eyes. As if she was arguing with herself internally about whether to offer sympathy or congratulations on what he’d become. He’d save her the question.
“The past doesn’t matter.”
“You really believe that?” she asked.
“I do. All that counts is now and the future you build.”
“But it’s the past that made us who we are.”
“You’re right. But you can’t change the past, so why think about it?” he asked.
“To learn from it? To remember the good things?”
Their waiter showed up at their table, ending their conversation as he carried a silver ice bucket with a chilled bottle of champagne inside. They were silent as the waiter popped the cork and poured a small amount into a wineglass for Dave to try. When he approved it, both glasses were filled and the waiter took their orders.
Dave smiled to himself as Mia ordered the same thing he had. Steak and a baked potato.
“Still hungry?” he asked, before she could return to the conversation about the past. He was done looking backward.
She shrugged. “No point in pretending not to have an appetite. This isn’t exactly a date, is it?”
He laughed a little. “So women only pretend to not be hungry when they go out?”
“Sure,” she said. “I bet every skinny woman in the world goes home after a date and dives into her fridge when no one’s looking.”
“Speaking from experience?”
“Not really,” she admitted with a shrug. “It’s been a long time since I was on a date.”
“I don’t get that.” She was gorgeous, funny and smart enough to know a good deal when it was presented to her. Why wouldn’t men be interested?
She picked up her champagne and sipped at it. A slow smile curved her mouth when she swallowed and a twist of need tightened Dave’s guts. Damn, she was a dangerous female.
“I haven’t had time for dating, really,” she was saying. “Getting my degree has taken up all my time, and then there’s taking care of Alex’s house to be able to pay for school. Not to mention the interning at Royal Junior High. So, dating? Not really a priority.”