“Callie cried before she even got to the arch,” Benji says. “She took one look at the Gulf behind the bamboo and lost it. Her dad was holding her arm and he started crying too. I was standing off to the side crying into the schedule. Dante was behind me whispering ‘hold it together’ in Spanish, which did not help. At all.”
“Did the candles work?”
“Perfectly. LED in glass cylinders, fire safety policy, exactly what you said. The wind was blowing twenty miles an hour and those candles didn’t even flicker because they’re fake and fake doesn’t care about wind. Callie’s mother said they were the most beautiful candles she’d ever seen. I almost told her they were from the party store but Dante stepped on my foot.”
“Smart man he is.”
“The best man. He saved my ass. No doubt about it. He flew home yesterday. I drove him to the airport and he hugged me at the curb then left. I stood there like a lost child for about five minutes.”
“I bet Dante and Tex would get along.” I smile at the thought. “What do you think?”
“They would dominate the world together. Two men who believe they’re always right and are, annoyingly, usually right. My God, it would be terrifying. They should never meet. They might team up against us and then what would we do?”
The image of Tex and Dante in the same room is funny to me. I hope I get to see it one day.
“I saw Tex this morning when I picked up the food,” Benji says. “We talked for a few minutes.”
“How was it?”
“We’re good, Mickey. Me and Tex. We’re good.”
“That matters,” I say. “More than you know.”
“He took me upstairs and showed me the space they’re fixing up for you. It’s beautiful and perfect for you. Stormy has thought of everything. Tex is a good friend to you.”
“He’s the best. Like your Dante.”
Benji glances up at me. “When’s the last time you had a decent meal?”
“The last time you brought me one,” I say. “Actually, no, I shouldn’t complain. I did enough of that at the hospital. The food here is much better. Not homecooked, but it’s edible. And they use salt unlike the hospital food.”
“Have you already eaten dinner? Do you have room for Tex’s food?”
“I’m a big man. I’m never too full to turn down Tex’s food. You know that. Let’s go. My mouth is watering, just thinking about it.”
Benji stands and puts his hand on my shoulder, as if that’s his place now. He’s standing and I’m sitting. The height difference is what it’s going to be. At least for a while. It doesn’t bother me as much as I thought it would.
Benji doesn’t look down at me though. He looks at me. There’s a difference.
I put my hands on the wheel rims and push slowly. Every turn of the wheel puts me a little off balance, and my rolling is still a work in progress. Benji doesn’t seem to mind the slow pace. He walks beside me through the patio door and down the hallway toward my room. His pace matches mine, his hand on my shoulder, and we move through the building together.
Once inside, I wave an arm at the room. “Home sweet home for a month or two.”
He does a slow spin, his eyes taking in everything.
“Are you allowed to decorate it?” he asks, his eyes lighting up. “You could use a couple of throw pillows. And a plant, definitely. Real, not fake, because fake plants are an insult to actual plants. We need to make it livable for you. Liven it up a little.”
I shake my head but I’m smiling. “I’ll check if they allow it. Otherwise, you’ll show up with a car full of throw pillows and get us both in trouble.”
Benji unpacks Sheila’s food onto the tray table and the room fills with Tex’s brisket.
“Brisket, ribs, coleslaw, baked beans, cornbread,” he says, lining up the containers. “And the sweet tea with tons of sugar, in a mason jar, wrapped in a dish towel. And this time, we’re not letting Sheila’s coleslaw go bad. Got it?”
“Got it. That’ll never happen again.”
“Damn right it won’t,” he says. “Not on my watch. If she ever finds out about that, we’re both dead.”
I take the mason jar, unscrew the lid and drink. My eyes close and my shoulders drop, my whole body releasing into the taste. The amount of sugar is obscene. It’s perfect.
