Andrew placed the call to Vincent at 8:00 p.m. He was shocked at his own nervousness. He couldn’t remember the last time he was nervous about getting together with another man for romantic or sexual purposes. For some reason, this time it felt like significantly more was at stake. Andrew gave it some quick thought, but then he decided it was best just to push forward and place the call.

Vincent answered saying, “Hi,” and then more words rolled out of his mouth as he asked, “Did you really ask about a date?”

The sound of Vincent in a bewildered state made Andrew smile, and it dissipated much of the nervousness. He said, “Yes, we’re going on a date. It’s just you and me. Just the two of us. Do you think you can handle that?”

“I don’t know, but I would like to give it a try,” said Vincent.

“Does the evening work?” asked Andrew. “I know Mandy is your highest priority. I guess it could be kind of hard being away. I want to be sensitive about that.”

“Thank you. Yes, I think the evening will be fine. When we settle on a night, I’ll contact Cathy, and I’ll see if she’s available for Mandy.”

“Cathy?” asked Andrew.

“Yes, she was a friend of my wife’s. She has been a huge help since Dana passed, and Mandy loves her. They spend the evening playing games and sharing woman talk. I’m pleased that Mandy still has a supportive adult woman in her life.”

“Woman talk?” asked Andrew.

“Do you really want to know?”

Andrew laughed and said, “I probably don’t. So how would Monday night work?”

Vincent paused briefly, and then he said, “Yes, I think that can work. I have to pick Mandy up from her play practice and take her to Cathy’s if that works. Then I’ll head home quickly, shower, and change clothes. What time were you thinking?”

“7:30?” asked Andrew.

“Can we make it 6:30? Then I can pick Mandy up in time to get her to bed for a school night.”

Andrew wondered what he might be facing. Taking care of a budding teenager and figuring out how to balance her schedule with your own was completely foreign territory. One time he had a niece visit for a long weekend, and that was intense and confusing enough. Then Andrew thought about Vincent’s smile and his kiss. He said, “6:30 would be perfect. I’ll make a reservation, and then I’ll let you know the results of that. Is there any particular food you prefer?”

“I eat almost anything,” said Vincent. “I pride myself on sampling a wide cross-section of the food I sell.”

“Then I know the perfect place. I’ll check to make sure they still have tables available for reservations.”

---

Aster Creek was a restaurant operated by friends Andrew first met ten years earlier when he hired them to cater an event for ADJ Associates. It was a small, upscale cafe with a chef’s menu that changed on a daily basis. The cuisine was contemporary American, and Andrew arranged for the chef to plan a unique menu for the date when he made the reservation.

Andrew stood at the counter speaking with the evening’s host when Vincent arrived. Their eyes met, and Andrew couldn’t help but smile broadly. Vincent looked smart and sharp in a deep blue blazer. Andrew offered a warm hug and introduced Vincent to the host, the wife of the chef.

Vincent whispered, “I’m so happy to see you. I’ll try hard not to be nervous.”

With his arm wrapped around Vincent’s waist, Andrew led the way to their table. A single candle flame flickered in the center of the table, and a bottle of white wine rested in an ice bucket nearby. Andrew said, “I hope you don’t mind, but I spoke with the chef and arranged our menu with him.”

“Not at all,” said Vincent. “Wow, you’re such a gentleman.”

Andrew grinned and said, “I’m glad you think that now. I’ll do my best to maintain the reputation.”

The conversation was lighthearted while they shared shrimp and grits as an appetizer and toasted each other with glasses of Riesling. Vincent asked, “When did you know that you wanted to be an interior designer?”

“Since I questioned my dad’s taste in wallpaper when I was seven years old.”

Vincent laughed and said, “You’ve got to be kidding.”

Andrew shook his head no. He said, “My parents bought an older home, and they gutted it before redecorating the entire thing. They even removed and then rebuilt walls. My dad was choosing a floral wallpaper design with tiny little roses. I suggested a flat color or a subtle stripe. The man at the store agreed with me.”

Vincent said, “That’s a great story. I love it.”

“And how did you get started selling apples and spinach?” asked Andrew.

“I worked as a grocery store bagger in high school. I became good friends with the produce manager, and I listened to him complain about almost everything that we sold. He said that selling the tomatoes we had in the winter was a crime. He complained that he could only find suppliers for four kinds of apples while one of our local orchards sold eight varieties. He complained that the leaf lettuce was ready to wilt the moment that it landed in our store.”

Andrew speared the last shrimp and held it out for Vincent to take a bite. He said, “And you decided never to let people purchase bad produce again?”

Vincent savored the garlicky shrimp slowly chewing before swallowing. He said, “Something like that.”

“I love feeding you. If you don’t like it, you need to say something now, or it’s going to continue.”

Vincent said, “I’m not going to complain. What’s wrong with being spoiled? I just might do the same with you.”

“And how did you end up owning the store?” asked Andrew. “I guess I should say stores plural.”

“Dana’s grandparents gathered substantial wealth. Her grandfather owned and operated a hardware store. It was just a small corner shop in a little town when he started. He built it into a thriving business, and then when housing developments expanded out into the suburbs from the city, he sold the property for a rather large sum. When Dana’s grandparents passed away, her parents offered a portion of their inheritance for me to buy the first store. They are still key investors in my business.”

“Wow,” said Andrew. He looked up to see the server taking away their plates.

She spoke directly to Andrew saying, “Chef wants to know whether or not you still want both steaks medium rare.”

Andrew asked Vincent, “Medium rare?”

“That’s perfect.”

As the server retreated from the table, Vincent asked, “Are you, Jeffrey, and Doug all equal partners in ADJ? Or should I be asking? Feel free not to answer if you wish.”

Andrew said, “I sank my life’s savings up to that point into ADJ. Neither Jeffrey nor Doug had much to invest, but I had a strong gut instinct that they would be outstanding business partners with great instincts. They have been slowly paying me back and sharing the business assets ever since. I’m not sure what I would have done if it didn’t take off.”

Vincent lifted his glass. “Well, here’s to successful businesses.”

Andrew clinked his glass and said, “And successful relationships to come.”

“I think we’re off to a good start,” said Vincent.

The server delivered perfectly seared and cooked strip steaks. Roasted asparagus and a savory sweet potato mash accompanied the meat. Andrew watched as Vincent sliced into the steak and took his first bite. Vincent caught Andrew’s gaze and then chewed more slowly. “Is it good?” asked Andrew.

Vincent swallowed and smiled saying, “It’s great. Thank you so much for arranging all of this. I’m surprised that I didn’t know about this place ahead of time, but the city is full of hundreds of restaurants. We can’t make it to all of them.”

When he finished off his plate, Andrew placed his fork tines-down on the plate, wiped his lips with his napkin, and said, “So, we have expertise with decorating and expertise with food, I guess we just need to hire Doug as a gardener.”

“Are you sure he would want to work for you instead of just with you?” asked Vincent.

Andrew laughed. “Probably not. He’s an independent type. Jeffrey was doing carpentry work for a large contractor before ADJ. On one of their building projects, he ran into this guy dressed like part of the planting crew. They were the ones who put in those huge long rows of shrubs and thousands of impatiens flowers when a new corporate building goes up. Jeffrey said this guy dressed like the others, but he didn’t act like them.”

“In what way?” asked Vincent. “How was he different?”

“He was giving orders,” said Andrew. “Jeffrey said that he was so intrigued, he decided to move closer to see if he could hear the man’s words. Personally, I think Doug was cute, and Jeffrey wanted to check him out.”

“Was he cute?” asked Vincent.

“When I first met him, he was. I guess he’s gotten a little long in the tooth now.” Andrew watched Vincent’s mouth drop open, and then he held his hand up to his mouth and chuckled. “I’m just kidding. Doug is a sweetheart.”

“Well, we are getting older,” said Vincent.

Andrew reached a hand across the table to grip Vincent’s hand. He said, “Better. We’re only getting better.”

Vincent said, “I hope that’s the case. You were saying about Doug?”

“It just turned out that Doug has this well-developed sense of and curiosity about plants. He didn’t have any particular training other than his own gardening and his work with planting. Jeffrey talked to him briefly and then asked if they could meet in a coffee shop. Jeffrey tracked me down and told me about this guy that was just amazing with plants. He read books about them and hung out in nurseries to talk to the owners.”

“And you hired him?” asked Vincent.

“ADJ was still just a vague idea at that point. Jeffrey and I were tossing it around. It was Doug that made us think of the three-person firm. Before that, we assumed we would have to hire outside landscapers. When we launched ADJ, we used part of our start-up funds to send Doug to school. He has all of the appropriate educational background and certifications now, and that has just made him even more crazy smart about plants.”

“It sounds like you’ve been intelligent about the business,” said Vincent.

The next words that came out of Andrew’s mouth surprised him. He knew that it was something his friends might say, but often he fought against the observations. Andrew said, “I just need to be smarter about the rest of life.”

Vincent tilted his head to the right and asked, “Are you saying you’re a mess? Am I getting myself into trouble?”

Andrew laughed and said, “I hope not. It’s just been a question of focus. Are you happy with the rest of your life outside of the grocery stores?”

Vincent sighed and said, “The last eighteen months since Dana died have been tough. I’m not going to sugar coat that, but I think Mandy and I are on the right paths now.”

Andrew knew that he couldn’t imagine what it was like to lose a life partner. He didn’t have a lot of experience with death in general. He was fortunate to have both of his parents alive and healthy. He knew that it was hard for his family to lose his grandparents, but Andrew did not feel close to them. He squeezed Vincent’s hand and decided the best response was to stay relatively quiet and listen. “Then let’s keep it moving forward,” said Andrew.

The server arrived with dessert. It was a slice of multi-layered chocolate cake drizzled with a raspberry coulis. “Are you going to feed this to me?” asked Vincent.

“I don’t think it’s polite conversation to tell you in public what I’d like to do with you and all of this chocolate,” said Andrew.

Vincent blushed. His mouth dropped open for a moment, and he didn’t say anything in response.

“Did I say that out loud?” asked Andrew.

“I think you did,” said Vincent.

Andrew held out a forkful of the cake and said, “Have a taste. Let me know if it’s good.”

Andrew watched as Vincent took the bite of chocolate cake. He thought he could hear a small moan of pleasure escape from Vincent’s mouth. Andrew grinned when he imagined that he heard it in the bedroom.