“I do not see you as a replacement for Ian,” Theo said. “I was drunk. I was half-asleep. I didn’t know what I was saying, and you know that. What you’re doing now, it’s a shitty way to hurt me, and you’re better than that. Don’t say it again.”
They drove a mile of monochrome countryside; then Auggie mumbled, “I’m sorry.”
“Frozen King is right there,” Theo said, pointing to a low, white building that was almost indistinguishable from the increasingly heavy snowfall.
Auggie swore, braked, and turned into the lot. He parked near the door; it didn’t make much of a difference, because there were only two other vehicles in the lot: an ancient Ram at the back, near the dumpster, and a beat-up yellow Bug. He killed the engine and held out the keys.
“Hey,” Theo said.
Auggie dropped the keys in Theo’s lap and stared straight ahead.
“Hey, will you please look at me?”
“No, let’s handle this first problem.”
“For the love of God,” Theo said. His hand found the side of Auggie’s face and turned him so they were looking at each other. The engine ticked once; on the highway, the slush of tires rose and fell. Heat prickled under Auggie’s arms, across his chest, between his legs, a weird mixture of shame and arousal. Theo still hadn’t said anything. Those blue eyes, wildflower blue, just held him. Saw him. The real Auggie, not the cardboard shit.
After a moment, Auggie blinked. Then he had to blink again, and he turned into Theo’s hand.
“I’m sorry,” Auggie said again.
“I don’t know what to tell you that will make you feel better,” Theo said. “I care about you. Do you believe that?”
“Yes.”
“Can it just be that for right now?”
“I guess.”
“I’m not saying this to be an asshole, but do you understand why this is hard for me?”
And Auggie realized he hadn’t thought about that. Not really. Not in any depth, not for any length of time. A dead husband. A dead daughter. Ten years separating them. Theo was smart and hot and strong and brave. And Auggie was—he could see himself now from the other side—a kid not even all the way out of puberty. The trampoline went out from under him again.
He nodded. And he threw open the door and got out of the car before he could start crying.
6
Theo let Auggie get a head start. When a minute had passed, he grabbed the keys from his lap and headed into Frozen King. Originally a burger stand that also offered frozen custard, Frozen King had grown and evolved over the years into its current form. Like any other fast-food restaurant, it had easy-clean tables, tile flooring, red plastic trays and baskets. The only difference was that the employees wore paper hats that vaguely resembled crowns. On the far wall, a sun-bleached poster of the Frozen King himself, who looked kind of like Henry VIII and Jack Frost mashed together, pointed an icicle finger at the viewer and said, BY ROYAL COMMAND, YOU NEED TO COOL DOWN! The air smelled like seared meat, raw onions, and hot oil.
Auggie was standing at the counter, talking to a dark-haired girl who might have been Latina or, maybe, Native American. She was short, and she kept looking up at Auggie and smiling and pulling her braid across her shoulder. She was missing an eyetooth.
When the door chimed, Auggie and the girl both glanced at Theo, and Auggie gave a distracted wave. His attention was on his phone, which he was showing to the girl. She was nodding enthusiastically, and then she got out her own phone, and they each took a picture of them standing together.
“I’m going to post it right now,” Auggie said.
The girl squealed with excitement and started tapping madly on her phone.
From behind a metal warming stand, which blocked the kitchen from view, a big guy with very hairy arms stepped out, obviously wanting to see what was going on. He wore a hairnet, and he wiped his hands on his apron, working the cotton around each digit individually. After a moment, his gaze moved to Theo, and he held Theo’s gaze just long enough to tell Theo that he considered himself one tough fucker of a fast-food cook. Then he went back to the kitchen.
“Seriously,” Auggie was saying, and both he and the girl were laughing so hard he could barely talk. “I am being totally serious.”
The girl was wiping her eyes, she was laughing so hard.
“Theo, this is Lindsey. Lindsey, Theo. He’s my lawyer. He’s also kind of the ideas guy, you know. Anyway, this is going to sound super weird, but we need to find somebody who knew Robert McDonald.”
“Like the clown?”
Auggie smiled. “No, Robert’s a guy who lives around here. Well, actually, I guess he passed away recently. But he sent me some content that was fantastic, and I can’t use it until I can negotiate with whoever inherited his estate.”
“Like his family or something?”
“I guess. Unless he was married, then it might be his wife.”
“You flew all the way out here for this?”
“No, I’m at Wroxall now. That’s how I met Robert.”
Lindsey shrugged, but her eyes were fixed on Auggie’s phone.
“We’d definitely be willing to pay a finder’s fee to anyone who could help us track down Robert’s family, or maybe just where he lived, or anyone that knew him. This is great stuff, you know, and I really want it for my platform.”
“I don’t know Robert,” Lindsey said.
“Really? Because he said this was one of his favorite places to go.”
“Yeah, but I mean, lots of people come here.”
“Ok, sure. What about your friend in the back?”
“Oh, no, Sal
