The Pepper in the Gumbo (Men of Cane River #1)(43)

“No, I’m sure you meant every word of it. And I’m sure you plan on following through.” Andy blew out a breath. “This isn’t how it works, Paul. You don’t just start handing out money. The company should really set up a charity arm, and then you make sure the taxes are straight, and then you―”

“I know. It’s going to be a long process. And I didn’t just hand her a check.” He stared out at the tables of tourists and locals, watched the faces, sure for the first time in a long while that he was doing the right thing.

A waitress appeared and greeted them, her blond ponytail swinging from side to side as she led them to a tiny table near the back. Her pink-check dress was a little too big, as if she’d borrowed someone else’s uniform. She handed them menus. “I’m Jenny and I’ll be your waitress today. I’ll get you some water while you take a peek at the menus.”

“I think we already know what we want,” Paul said, smiling. He was going to die of starvation if he had to wait much longer. “We’ll both have whatever special comes with hash browns, bacon and eggs.”

She frowned, her pretty face scrunched up in confusion. “Sure, we can get you somethin’ like that. There’s the California special that starts with a braised romaine salad with fresh figs, or there’s the Mediterranean smoked ribs with Texas caviar.”

Paul took a moment to process those options. That didn’t sound like the diner food he remembered from his childhood. “Anything with grits, bacon, hash browns, eggs?” he tried again.

She smiled brightly. “I’ll just have the chef fix you some plates up, ‘kay?”

“Thanks a lot.” As she walked away, Paul shook his head. “Braised romaine with figs? Weird.”

“Sounds good to me. And no weirder than you promising to build a few computer labs, complete with teachers,” Andy said.

“About that… I had an epiphany,” Paul said.

Andy’s brows went up.

“See, I went into By The Book this morning and―”

“Oh, boy.” Andy interrupted. “I knew it had to do with her. I saw the way you were looking at her yesterday. Isn’t there a rule about getting involved with the landlady?”

“No, it really isn’t about her. Just let me explain.” Paul held up a hand. “I was looking for directions and then her ex-boyfriend came in and we got into a fight―”

“You what? Why?” Andy looked a little panicked.

“He insinuated something about Alice and my fist decided it didn’t like his face.” Paul held up one hand, looking at his swollen knuckles.

Andy closed his eyes for a second. “And this was your problem, how?”

He didn’t have any answer to that question.

“I’ll call the lawyers when we get back to the apartment. They’ll need to know about this in case there’s a lawsuit,” Andy said almost to himself.

“So, after that, I was walking down here and this kid stopped me and talked about how Commander Lorfan was obsessed with revenge. I realized it sounded a lot like myself,” Paul said.

“What? Wait, did you know Alice before you met her yesterday? Like back in high school or something?”

“No. She’s the bookseller who wrote to the Browning Wordsworth Keats site yesterday, the one I was emailing on the plane. But that’s unrelated.”

Andy’s eyes went wide. He said nothing now, just waited for the rest of the story.

“About Alice, I didn’t know how everything would go. Really. And the realtor had just said the apartment was in the historic district so I had no idea that we’d be living upstairs with her.” He paused as Jenny came by with ice water. She shot him a glance as she heard the last few words of his sentence.

As soon as she was gone, Andy spoke. “If I didn’t know you better, I’d say this whole thing was a set up. It’s too coincidental. What are the odds? Either you’re the luckiest guy on the planet, or the unluckiest. I’m afraid to find out which it is.” He shook his head. “Okay, your secret identity has been exchanging love letters with our landlady who hates you in real life.”

“Not love letters,” Paul protested. “Just book talk.” And he wasn’t convinced Alice hated him. Maybe intensely disliked him.

“I still don’t know what this has to do with your sudden crisis,” Andy said.

“Epiphany,” Paul said. “This kid understood that the story was central to a good game. You know a lot of people think it’s only the graphics that make a game successful, but you and I and every serious gamer knows the story is crucial,” Paul said. He had Andy’s attention now. Moving to Natchitoches for two months was a crazy idea and dragging Andy along was even crazier, but Paul knew who was the heart of ScreenStop. Andy believed that technology had to be as beautiful and distinct as possible, with the attention to detail only a consummate craftsman gave. And when they created a game, above all else, Andy believed in the story.

“Go on,” Andy said.

“He was talking about how Reena took down Commander Lorfan with the trap that promised revenge, knowing he would take the bait.” Paul shifted the water glass in his hands, watching the rings of condensation on the table overlap. “I realized that I am the Commander.”