Page 82 of The Holy Grail

The next morning after Evan awoke, he got dressed, then cleaned up in the bathroom before heading into the kitchen.

Because it was barely 6:00 a.m., the house was quiet, and he was beginning to think he was the first one up when he saw a fresh pot of coffee had recently been brewed.

He poured himself a cup, and was looking out into the back yard when he noticed the barn door was open and lights were on inside.

He hesitated briefly before heading over to the barn, and when he got there, realized it was a mechanic’s haven.

He found Richard working under the hood of a 1966 Impala while a portable radio played classic rock from the sixties.

He was wearing a pair of old, dirty coveralls, and at Evan’s approach, glanced over.

“Good morning,” he greeted Evan, turning down the radio a little bit.

“Good morning,” Evan returned.

“You’re up early.”

Evan nodded. “I’m usually not, because of the late hours I work, but I woke up and decided it was better to get up, rather than sleep in too late.”

Richard cocked his head. “You afraid I’ll think you’re lazy?”

“Maybe.” Then, going for honesty, Evan added, “At the very least, I don’t want your opinion of me to slide any further.”

“Any further than what?”

“Any further than it already has.”

“You think I have a poor opinion of you?”

Evan chose his words carefully. “I think you think Jules could do better than me.”

“Can she?”

“Well, there are plenty of men out there with better pedigrees than me—”

“I don’t give a shit about pedigrees,” Richard said bluntly.

“Son, the only reason I graduated high school was because of auto shop. I’ve been a grease monkey practically my whole life, and it was only by the grace of God that Edie ever looked twice at me, and I thank Him every day for bringing her and her piece of shit car to the garage I was working at on that Tuesday afternoon, forty-seven years ago.

So when I ask you if Jules can do better than you, I want a real answer, not a bullshit one. ”

Richard’s honesty had Evan blinking for a moment. “No, she can’t do better than me, because no one will love her more than me—except for Mal.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear.” Richard picked up the cup of coffee he’d obviously brought out to the barn and took a sip.

Feeling a little better, Evan began to walk around the two-door car, which had seen better days.

The once aqua blue paint had faded, and the matching leather interior was cracked and ripped in places, but the bones were still good—all the mirrors were still intact, and the dash was decent, along with the carpeted floorboards.

“I love old cars,” he murmured, running a hand along the side, then told Richard about owning a 1965 Mustang Fastback, leaving out the part about it having gotten Evan laid several times.

Richard pointed the socket wrench he was holding at Evan. “Now, that right there, just earned you a few points.”

Knowing he was being teased, Evan relaxed a little more.

“I picked this one up at an auction several months ago,” Richard said.

“Are you restoring it for yourself?”

“No. I actually find and restore one a year, then sell it. Last year was a 1969 Pontiac GTO, and that one was actually really hard to let go, but the guy paid way more than it was worth, so … I had to part with it.”

They talked a little more about Richard’s hobby/side hustle, and then he steered the conversation to the triad.

“I’ve given this some thought since Jules told us about this—obviously not the particulars —but I find myself wondering what happens if two of you start having stronger feelings for each other, and the third person suffers for it?

No relationship is set in stone, but when you add a third person, the odds of success would seem to go down, in my opinion. ”

“That is a possibility, I suppose, but all I can tell you is that right now, I love Jules and Mal differently, but equally. I need both of them, and I’ll work to keep the three of us intact, as I hope they’ll both work to keep us intact.

I don’t know what ten years from now will look like—no one does.

But I know what I want it to look like, which is the three of us together, and that’s what I’ll be working every day for.

I’ve loved Mal for eight years, and Jules for two, and they mean everything to me. ”

Richard took a moment to consider Evan’s words, and to gauge his sincerity. Finally, Richard said, “Despite what you think, I do like you. From what I’ve seen so far, you seem like a nice, kind person, but if you hurt my daughter—”

“You’ll dis-member me?”

Richard smiled and shook his head, looking even more like Bruce Willis than ever, right before he started shooting bad guys in Nakatomi Plaza.

“No. She’ll do that because I raised her to be able to take care of herself.

What I was going to say is if you hurt my daughter, I’ll help her dispose of your body without a second thought, and not lose any sleep over it.

” He put an arm around Evan and led him to the open barn door, then pointed over at the large fire pit.

“Either in that, with a modified Viking funeral, or I’ll strip you naked and leave your carcass out there for the coyotes who roam around here at night,” he said, pointing toward the wooded landscape at the edge of the lawn. “You get my drift, son?”

Evan met Richard’s eyes, looking down a little to do so. “I absolutely get your drift. And if I ever do anything to irrevocably hurt your daughter, I’ll accept either one of those punishments as rightly deserved.”

“Good. Now, why don’t you make yourself useful and get us another cup of coffee, then help me work on this car?”

Malcom spent most of the afternoon with Edie in her kitchen.

She was very easy to talk to, and he ended up telling her about his desire to attend culinary school and open a restaurant one day, at which point she got up and brought out a box of family recipes, much to his delight.

While he was looking through them, she told him stories about each one, and what family member had come up with them.

He ended up taking so many pictures on his phone that she offered to let him take the box home and make actual photo copies of the recipes, as long as he promised to return them.

Together, they made Saturday night’s dinner—a spaghetti casserole with grilled chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, and mushrooms, covered in a creamy garlic sauce—and had a lot of fun.

After dinner, they all went out to the fire pit with glasses of wine, and at one point, Evan and Richard exchanged a glance over the flames.

Jules catching the glance, asked, “What’s that look for?”

When Richard remained silent, Evan answered, “Your dad was mentioning something about Viking funerals earlier today, and this fire reminded me of that.”

Jules looked over at Richard. “Dad.”

Once the fire died down, they went inside and decided to watch a movie .

“I vote for Die Hard ,” Jules teased.

“Do you have The Sixth Sense ?” Evan inquired. “I love that one.”

“What about Armageddon ?” Malcom asked.

Richard took Malcom golfing on Sunday morning, and when they returned, Edie asked how it went.

“It was fine, although I’m pretty sure he let me win,” Richard answered.

“Did you let my dad win?” Jules asked.

Malcom was quick to shake his head. “No, he beat me fair and square.”

“There’s no way you didn’t throw that game, son. I mean, no one ends up in the sand traps that many times, unless it’s on purpose. I don’t even spend that much time in them.” Richard went to Edie and gave her a kiss. “But a win is a win, I guess.”

Mal nodded, and when he went to change and clean up, Evan joined him.

“So, how did it really go?” Evan asked. “You look a little rough.”

“He really did beat me,” Malcom replied. “I would have thrown the game if I thought it would make him like me more, but none of my trips to the sand trap were on purpose. Golf just isn’t my game. It’s not really his, either, but he’s better than me.”

“What did you guys talk about? Body disposal?”

Malcom chuckled. “Yes. He’s kind of scary one-on-one.”

“Yes, he is, but … I really like him.”

“Me, too.”

“He’s a hell of a dad. Jules is lucky to have him.”

Malcom nodded, then asked, “Do you think he thinks Jules is lucky to have us?”

“God, I hope so.”

Edie accompanied them on the ride to the airport, with Jules, Evan, and Malcom all sitting in the back.

This time, Richard kept his glances toward the backseat to a minimum, and the conversation was much more relaxed and easy.

After quick hugs all around in the departure lane, with the car idling, Jules, Malcom, and Evan grabbed their suitcases, waved to Richard and Edie, then hurried into the terminal.

Jules had said her family was not big on long, drawn-out goodbyes at the airport and she was right.

When they were out of sight, Edie put an arm around Richard’s waist and asked, “Well, what do you think about her two men?”

“I think she could do worse.”

She gave him a reproachful glance. “Just admit you liked them.”

“I admit nothing,” he returned. “Now, why don’t we go home and have some fun?”

“Do you mean fun fun, or the kind of fun where I hand you tools while you work on a car?”

“I mean fun fun.”