Friday afternoon traffic was heavy as Amy reached Denver. She parked near the Civic Center about a mile from the coffee shop, then walked a block to the 16th Street Mall and caught the free shuttle. The bus ride was part of her plan to conceal her identity, to the extent possible. It was conceivable that Ryan’s father had sent the money to her without telling anyone, taking the name and address of Amy Parkens with him to the grave. She didn’t want Ryan to find out who she was simply by checking her license plate.
She was getting nervous about meeting Ryan face to face. She wished she had a friend in law enforcement who could run a criminal background check on the Duffys, make sure the money was clean. She didn’t. Snooping around was no way to get answers anyway. She had learned that from her marriage. Weeks of discreet, behind-the-scenes inquiries had brought only aggravation. The answer had come only after she’d invoked the direct approach and asked him point-blank, “Have you been screwing another woman?” No soft-pedaling it with the usual euphemisms — “seeing someone,” “having an affair,” or “cheating on me.” It had hurt to hear the truth. But at least she knew.
The direct approach. In a pinch, there was no substitute.
The shuttle bus dropped her at Larimer Square, a historic street that boasted authentic Western Victorian architecture. But for the determination of preservationists, it would have been bulldozed for yet another glass and steel skyscraper, like so many others that had sprouted in the days when Denver meant oil and the TV hit Dynasty. It had become Denver’s most charming shopping district, home to specialty shops, cafes, and summer concerts in brick courtyards.
On the corner was the Green Parrot, a coffee house with a bird sanctuary motif, having been converted from a century-old drugstore. A big brass chandelier hung from a thirty-foot coffered ceiling. The soda fountain was now a busy espresso bar. The floor was old Chicago brick. Flowering orchids adorned each of the decorative wrought-iron tables. Bubbling fountains and an abundance of green plants made coffee klatches feel like a day at the park. Huge wire cages towered above the tables, some fifteen feet high, each displaying colorful exotic birds.
Amy checked her reflection in the plate-glass window before entering. She had chosen her outfit carefully. Nothing too sexy. She didn’t want Ryan to infer that his old man had left a box full of money for his twenty-eight-year-old mistress. She wore a navy blue suit with a peach blouse, shoes with only a two-inch heel. No flashy jewelry, just faux pearls and
matching earrings. Sincere, but serious. She entered the double doors and stopped at the sign that said, “WAIT HERE TO BE SEATED.”
“Can I help you?” asked the hostess.
“Yes. I’m supposed to meet someone here at four. His name is Dr. Duffy.”
She checked her clipboard. “Yes, he’s here. He said he was expecting someone. Follow me, please.”
Amy gulped. He had actually come.
Most of the tables were filled, and the after-work crowd was beginning to file in for wine and locally brewed beers as well as coffee. The hostess directed her to the booth by the window. The man rose to greet her. He looked younger than she’d expected. More handsome, too. A good-looking doctor. Gram would be doing cartwheels.
“Dr. Duffy?” she said as she approached.
They shook hands. “Right. And you must be…”
She hesitated. No last name. “Call me Amy.”
“Okay, Amy.” He didn’t push for a surname.
“Have a seat.”
The waitress appeared as they slid into opposite sides of the booth. “Can I bring you something?” she asked.
“How about a decaf cappuccino?” said Amy.
“And for you, sir?”
Ryan paused. “I’ll just have coffee.”
“We have two hundred kinds.”
“Pick any you like. Surprise me.”
She rolled her eyes, jotted something on her pad, and left.
Amy took another look at Ryan. He really was handsome.
“Something wrong?” he asked.
She blushed, embarrassed that he’d caught her staring. “I’m sorry. I guess you just don’t look anything like the small-town country doctor I was expecting.”
“Well, I make it a point never to smoke my corncob pipe outside of Piedmont Springs.”
She nodded and smiled, as if she’d deserved that. “Anyway, thanks for coming, Doctor.”
“Call me Ryan. And you don’t have to thank me. I’m pretty eager to find out what this gift is you’re talking about.”
“Then I’ll just get right down to it. Like I said, I got a package a couple of weeks ago. When I tore away the brown paper wrapping, I found a box for a Crock-Pot. No return address, no card inside. I checked the serial number with the manufacturer and found out the warranty was registered in the name of Jeanette Duffy.”
“That’s my mom’s name.”
“Does she own a Crock-Pot?”
Ryan chuckled, thinking of the mounds of corned beef at the gathering at their house after the funeral. “You bet she does.”
“A Gemco Crock-Pot, by any chance?”
“As a matter of fact, it is. I was with my dad when he bought it for her.”
It was the added confirmation she needed. “Good. Anyway, I opened the box.”
“I assume there wasn’t a Crock-Pot inside.”
“No.” Her expression turned more serious.
“There was money it. A thousand dollars.” Amy watched his face carefully. She felt duplicitous, but it wasn’t entirely a lie. It did contain a thousand dollars. She just didn’t tell him that it also contained 199,000 more. Not yet, anyway.
“A thousand dollars, huh?”
“I don’t know if it was your mom or your dad who sent it. Either way, with your dad just passing away, I didn’t want to bother or upset your mom. That’s why I called you. Honestly, I’m not sure what to do.”
“Keep it.”
She was taken aback by the quick response. “No questions asked?”
Ryan shrugged. “I can’t see my mother doing something like this. So I assume it was my dad. He obviously wanted you to have it. You may not have known him, but somewhere along the line you must have shown him some kindness, or maybe he felt sorry for you for some reason. My dad was that way. It doesn’t surprise me he’d send money to someone like you. You seem nice enough. Hell, it wouldn’t surprise me if he sent lots of people money after he found out he was sick.”
The waitress interrupted. “One decaf cappuccino,” she said, serving Amy. “And a cup of black sludge for the gentleman.” She smirked. “Just kidding. It’s Brazilian blend. Anything else?”
“No, thank you,” said Ryan. She turned and left.
Amy emptied a pack of Equal into her decaf.
“Are you sure I should just keep it?”
“Hey, it’s a thousand dollars. We’re not talking Fort Knox here. Just don’t tell my wife I let you keep it. She’d probably sue me.”
Amy sensed an opening to the kind of personal details she wanted. “She’s fond of money, is she?”
“That’s an understatement. It’s the reason we’re getting divorced.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, me too. Fortunately, we don’t have any children. Just money problems.”
“Too much? Or not enough?”
Ryan raised an eyebrow. “Kind of personal.”
“Sorry. It’s just a familiar story, I guess.” Amy hesitated. She didn’t want him to know too much about her, but if she told him something about herself, perhaps he’d give her the insights she wanted into the Duffy family. “You might say I’m a bit of an expert on the subject of money and marriage.”
“Is that so?”
“My ex-husband was an investment banker. Loaded. It only made him meaner, greedier, if you ask me.”
“You’re divorced now?”
“Yeah. And I’ll be honest with you. We may not be talking about Fort Knox here, as you say. But I appreciate your generosity. I can definitely use the money.”
“Your rich ex-husband doesn’t pay enough alimony, I take it.”
“Doesn’t pay any. Not a cent.”
Ryan kidded, “Do you have the name of his lawyer?”
She smiled, then turned serious. “Ted didn’t need a lawyer. After I filed for divorce, he threatened to hide a bag of cocaine in my truck and get me arrested, then use the drug conviction to keep me from getting custody of our daughter. I wasn’t sure if he meant it, but I couldn’t take the risk. We settled. I got what was important to me — my daughter. Ted got what was important to him: he pays no alimony and hardly enough child support to cover the monthly food bill.”
“Sounds pretty tough.”
“Actually, I’ve never been happier in my life.” She smiled, though it was another half-truth. Taylor was a total joy, but going to law school solely for the money made her feel like a hypocrite.
She raised her coffee mug. “A toast to your new life as a redneck.”
“A redneck?”
“It’s an acronym. Sounds like redneck, but it’s R-D-N-K. Recently Divorced, No Kids.”
Ryan smiled. “Never heard that one before.”
“I made it up. Cheers.”
“Cheers.”
She caught him watching her over the rim of his cup. The sudden silence could have been uncomfortable, but his eyes put her at ease. She blinked, reminding herself to stay on the subject. “Getting back to this money thing.”
“Of course. The money.”
“I was pretty nervous about it at first. Now that I’ve met you, it’s almost embarrassing to say what I was thinking. I was just afraid to keep it until I had some assurance that your dad was on the level.”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, I was having all kinds of crazy thoughts. Maybe your dad was a notorious bank robber or something.”
Ryan smiled. “We’re talking about Piedmont Springs. The last time we had a bank robbery, I think Bonnie and Clyde were the prime suspects.”
She laughed lightly. “You’re a hard one to figure out, you know that?”
“How’s that?”
“A doctor who doesn’t worship money and hasn’t lost his sense of humor.”
“I guess I get that from my dad.”
“Were the two of you a lot alike?”
Ryan thought for a second. A week ago he would have given an unqualified yes. Now he hedged. “I think so. It’s funny. I was looking through some family albums after the funeral. Some old pictures of my dad really struck me. He looked almost exactly the way I look now. Put him in some modern clothes, change the hair a little, he probably could have passed for me.”
“That’s eerie, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. We’re all like our parents in some ways. But when you see such a strong physical resemblance, it really makes you wonder how much of what you are is predetermined.”
Amy got quiet. She’d often wondered that as well, the spitting image of her mother. “I know what you mean.”
“Now that he’s gone, I’m almost mad at myself for not getting to know him better. I’m not saying we weren’t close. But I never asked him the kind of questions that might help me better understand myself.”
“Sometimes we just don’t have the opportunity,” she said, thinking more of her own situation.
Ryan sipped his coffee. “Wow, this is getting kind of deep, isn’t it? You probably think I need a shrink or something.”
“Not at all.”
They talked casually for another fifteen minutes. Conversation came easily, considering the awkward circumstances. It was feeling more like a date than a meeting about money.
“Refills?” asked the waitress, sneaking up on them.
They exchanged a look. The meeting could easily have been over, but neither seemed to want to end it.
“I don’t have to be anywhere,” said Ryan.
Amy checked her watch, then made a face. “Yikes. Unfortunately, I do. I have to pick up my daughter.”
He looked disappointed. “Too bad.”
“I guess I didn’t think this would take very long.”
The waitress laid the bill on the table. Ryan grabbed it. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry I have to run off like this.”
“No problem.” He took a business card from his wallet, then jotted a number on the back. “Let me give you my home number, just in case any other questions come to mind. About the money, I mean.”
She took the card, rising. “Thanks.”
There was humor in his eyes. “I would tell you to look me up if ever you’re in Piedmont Springs, but I’m sure you know dozens of people there already, and I’d be way down on your list of people to call.”
“Of course. Paris. London. Piedmont Springs. I have that problem wherever I go.”
“I figured. Maybe I can send you another thousand dollars and see you again sometime.”
She smiled, but her gut wrenched. Little did he know he had already prepaid for another 199 visits. She was suddenly flustered, not sure what to say. “You never know.”
He shrugged, as if the response were a brush-off. “Well, it was very nice meeting you.”
She stood and waited for a second, wishing it had ended on a different note. But it was hard to come back from a remark like You never know. She wasn’t sure why she’d said it, wasn’t sure how to fix it. “Nice meeting you, too, Ryan.”
They exchanged one last smile, sadder than the others. She had an empty feeling of missed opportunity as she turned away and headed for the door.