Page 47 of A Quiet Man

Tomas,

I've spoken with Cody. He's agreed to be more forthright with me regarding work stresses and anything we can do to avoid another incident like that one. At first it was a blow to my self-esteem that you were the one who was able to help him, not me. But I'm grateful that you were there so he didn't walk off the job for good. Apparently, we were very close to that happening. So, thank you for that.

He's a bit more fragile than I realized. I'm inviting him over to meet the family soon, so he can perhaps get to know and trust me better.

It would seem I'm not doing my work-life balancing as well as I thought, because something completely slipped my mind, and for that I apologize. I've been meaning to tell you: your Auden is far too good a waiter to be stuck at that awful excuse for a diner. I know this because I had to stop there recently to talk with someone about a case — an older detective who worked on one of my cold cases. He insisted on that hole in the wall, and appeared to labor under the delusion that the coffee was drinkable. It isn't, and the food is horrible, too. You must be far more taken with your boyfriend than I realized to eat there so often.

The only decent thing about the place was Auden. I happened to witness him dealing extremely well with difficult customers, as well as juggling nearly all the work by himself. He was as smoothly professional as I can recall from any restaurant worker. Really, he would be better suited to working at Savory Duck.

I know the owner, and I believe it would be easy for me to get an interview for Auden as a waiter. But I know how much you would dislike it if I did that without passing it by you first. Speak with your partner and ask him if he's interested.

Perhaps this will prove to you my good intentions once and for all — that I truly mean to be your ally, not an antagonist.

Regards, Justin

Tomas blew out a loud breath and stared at the screen till the words blurred. Justin was right to ask, and even so, Tomas bristled at the idea that Justin could help Auden get into a better work situation while Tomas was helpless to intervene. Tomas certainly had no contacts at fancy restaurants, and he didn't know any owners whose ear he could bend about job interviews.

He leaned back in his chair and thought. Still staring at the screen, at Justin's words. He could take them either as smug braggadocio, or the olive branch Justin seemed to mean them as. Then he sighed again, ran his fingers back through his hair, and reached for his cell phone, already ninety-five percent certain Auden would jump at the chance.

It was worth swallowing his pride if Justin could help Auden get a better job, one that paid better, had more regular hours, and treated him better. At any rate, it was difficult to imagine that fancy restaurant could be any worse than where he was working now.

No more eating there so I can see my boyfriend. No more cautiously picking my way through the landmine of the menu. And never seeing Auden come home exhausted and discouraged because he had to do all the work alone and they doubled his shift again.

They were tempting thoughts. Even if the job was only slightly better, it would be worth it. Maybe Tomas couldn't be Auden's knight in shining armor here, but he could step back and let Justin help. If there was anyone who could pull strings and bend reality to his wishes, it was usually Justin. And he'd decided to harness that power to help Auden.

Olive branch.Not braggadocio, Tomas reminded himself.

He sent Auden a couple of texts explaining the situation and waited for his reply. But he already knew very well what it would be.

the end