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His chuckle was less than enthusiastic. “That’s me. Philanthropist entrepreneur.” He hit the lock button and headed for the porch.
“So, what’s really going on?” Ben said, joining him.
“Nothing.”
“Not nothing.”
“Nothing I want to talk about.”
Ben clapped his shoulder. “If you change your mind, I’m a phone call away.”
He turned to his friend. “Thanks. I appreciate that.”
Inside, they could already hear Mateo and Brody laughing. The sound lightened his mood, and by the time he and Ben joined them, he already felt better.
“There’s the prodigal son now,” Mateo said, clucking his tongue. “First—only—guy who’s dodged our sacred card game in, what’s it been, five years?”
“Last month couldn’t be helped. I needed to finish a big bid.”
Mateo laughed hard. “You have never let work disturb these weekends. For any of us.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Gerard leaned on the table and braced on fisted hands. Sometimes Mateo didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut. “You think I would have canceled on some whim?”
“Nooooo,” Mateo dragged out. He frowned. “You okay?”
Already, it starts. “I’m fine,” Gerard grit out. He shouldn’t have come. Heading for the bar, he downed the Glenfiddich Ben poured him, then tipped the glass toward Ben for a refill. The man had much more sense than Mateo. He raised his eyebrows, but poured a healthy dollop, then walked away. Gerard leaned on the bar and stared at the amber liquid until Brody clapped him on the back.
“I hope that issue we talked about has gotten better. If you want to catch up on it, we can chat tomorrow. Tonight, we can forget about everything and try the new cigars I just got in. I think you’re going to love them.”
Brody was right. Tonight wasn’t for wallowing, and Gerard had done a lot of that lately. It was time to let it go, at least for tonight. No job worries, no thinking about how going to the cabin, always his refuge, would never be the same again.
“You going to brood all evening?” Mateo asked as Brody shuffled the cards.
Taking a deep breath to keep from clobbering his friend, Gerard walked past the man to his usual chair, satisfying himself with a slap to the back of Mateo’s head as he went.
“Hey—” Mateo said.
“Leave him alone,” Xander said. “Man’s got a right to be down once in a while.”
That wiped the smile from Mateo’s face as he turned to Xander. “How you doin’, man?”
Gerard looked closely at his friend, who looked worse than he did.
“Not great,” Xander said.
“No word from Danni?”
“Not a peep. I’ve done everything short of hiring a PI, and I can’t find her.”
Mateo, showing real thought for the first time that night, squeezed Xander’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, man.”
“Yeah, me too.” Xander squared his shoulders, glanced at Gerard, then pasted a smile on his face. “What’s this I hear we have new cigars?”
They all chuckled as Brody handed out the vices. Gerard only smoked at the monthly poker game, like most of them. He knew Brody liked a good cigar more often and always had the best of the best. They all lit up, then Brody shuffled the cards one more time, and the game began.
Several hours—and drinks—later, Mateo opened his big, fat mouth again.
“So we know what Xander’s upside down smile is all about. What’s up with you?” His discard flew straight at Gerard.
