Turning unexpectedly to his daughter as we reached their car, he said, “You know, sweetheart, the ice cream shop’s only a few blocks away. Why don’t you drive on over and grab us a booth? Jim and I will walk. I need the exercise, and it’ll give us a chance to talk.”
Electra looked nervously from her father to me and then back again. “Uh, I don’t know, Dad. Maybe we should just skip–”
“No, Amp,” he stressed, shaking his head. “My baby wants ice cream, so we’re getting ice cream. Plus, I’m sure Jim doesn’t mind, do you, Jim?”
He looked at me as he asked his question, plainly putting me on the spot. With my brain screaming at me to say that I absolutely, positively, categorically, and unconditionally did mind, my mouth said something else.
“No, I don’t mind at all,” I uttered woodenly.
“See?” Vir intoned. “We’re all good.”
“Okay,” Electra mumbled, sounding unsure. “I guess I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
With a look of concern on her face, she leaned forward and gave her father a hug. Then she stepped in my direction and shocked me by giving me a kiss.
It only lasted a second or two, and then she suddenly pulled back. I realized then that she was as shocked by her actions as I was. Reading her emotions, it was clear that she had never intended to kiss me, but – apparently distracted by what her father had said – she had unwittingly reverted to what had been customary for us when parting ways.
Shaking her head in disgust at her own actions, she got into the car and drove away without another word.
At that juncture, Vir turned to me, asking, “You ready?”
Chapter 19
We walked in silence for about a minute, both of us wrapped in our own thoughts, it seemed.
“Thanks for dinner,” I finally said. “I really enjoyed it.”
“It’s Esper you should be thanking,” Vir replied flatly. “It was her credit card I used. I’m kind of a kept man at the moment.”
“Oh,” I muttered softly, not sure what else to say.
Vir laughed. “You don’t approve, I take it?”
I shrugged. “It’s not my place to comment.”
“But you do have an opinion.”
“In my opinion, Esper and Electra are overjoyed to have you home. That’s what’s important.”
“Well,” he droned with a smile, “you’re a lot more tactful than I was at your age. Given what I just told you, I would have called myself a bum.”
I snickered at that, enjoying his ability to poke fun at himself.
“But it’s not quite what it seems,” he went on. “Basically, when I went away, I signed all of my assets away to be held in trust for Amp. I didn’t know if I’d ever get out, but I wanted her to be taken care of.”
I simply nodded at first, not saying anything. I was well aware of the fact that Electra had a trust fund, but had no idea what was in it or how much it was worth – wasn’t sure that I wanted to know.
“So you’re broke because you gave everything to your daughter,” I summed up after a few moments. “Not because you’re careless or irresponsible.”
“That’s how I hope people see it – especially Amp,” he said. “Plus, I’ve got some things in the works so that hopefully I’ll start pulling my weight in the area of family finances.”
“That’s great,” I said matter-of-factly, then looked at him askance. “Anything you can talk about?”
“Yeah,” he declared with a laugh. “Trust me, this isn’t like in the movies, where an ex-con fresh out of prison lines up the score of a lifetime. This is completely legit. In fact, your mentor Mouse is helping me with it.”
“Really?” I blurted out, not bothering to hide my surprise.
Vir nodded. “I wasn’t completely idle during those years I was locked up. I always had ideas about things, and since I got out, I’ve been putting them down on paper. Your buddy Mouse has some friends in corporate America who he feels may be interested in some stuff I’ve come up with, and if we can work out the details…”
He trailed off, but I understood where he was going. “You’ll sell your ideas for a mint.”
“Not sell,” he corrected, smiling. “License – ownership is everything. But there will be a hefty licensing fee.”
“That’s impressive,” I said sincerely. If Mouse was involved – and I hadn’t gotten the impression that Vir was lying – then this was all completely aboveboard.
“Anyway,” Vir droned, changing the subject, “I’m sure you’re wondering why I wanted to meet you.”
“I suppose because of my relationship with your daughter,” I guessed, “among other things.”
“Not per se. You’ll understand better when you have kids of your own, but the first thing you think when your teenage daughter says she likes some guy is, ‘I need to meet him.’ That’s per the Dad Handbook.”
I laughed. “So there’s a guide for all this stuff that dads do?”
“In all honesty, you mostly play it by ear, but wanting to meet any guy she likes is pretty standard.”
“Well, I don’t feel so bad now, if that’s the only reason you wanted us to have dinner.”
“And if I’m being completely honest, there is another reason that piqued my interest.”
He didn’t say anything else, but I suddenly felt the wind going out of my sails. I had thought we were getting along well, but I should have known this was coming.
Letting out a sigh, I softly said her name. “Myshtal. The princess.”
Vir shook his head. “Jim, I like you, but I have to say I’m disappointed. You just cost me ten bucks.”
I looked at him in confusion. “Huh?”
“I bet Amp a sawbuck that you wouldn’t bring up the subject of your fiancée if I didn’t ask you about it directly. I expected you to dance around the subject until I shoved it in your face.”
“Sorry to disappoint,” I muttered,
