Page 15 of The Charming Checklist
“Thanks for making the drive. I think this will be worthwhile.”
“I thought you were still mad at me.”
“Nah, don’t be silly. I didn’t need that gap year.”
When Ava had confided that she was planning on a gap year between high school and college, Mercedes personally went to Ava’s parents and made the case for why this was such a bad idea. Not that she had to do much convincing with the Longs. More like alerting. Ava’s plans had been dead in the water before she even approached her parents with her plan.
Ava had attended private school with Mercedes, but she hadn’t attended Princeton. She’d been toYaleand graduated summa cum laude. They didn’t come brighter and shinier than Mercedes, who, while not beautiful, was cute with short auburn hair that she kept perfectly coiffed. She had a law degree from Harvard and, as her mother never failed to mention, now worked in Houston as one of a cluster of attorneys who defended a major high-tech company’s rights to a virtual monopoly wheneverthatcame into question.
Mercedes believed in planning, hard work and little else, from what Ava had been able to discern in all the years she’d known her.
“I’m looking forward to this. There are so few good men out there. I haven’t had a date in two years. Most men are afraid of me. Even my boss.” She frowned.
“From what I know of you and Max, I think you’ll be a perfect fit.”
“Is he good-looking?” Her eyes flitted to Cole behind the bar, mixing it up, both cocktail-wise and with customers. “Like him. I’ve never seen a better-looking bartender, in a plebian sort of way.”
And that was the thing about Mercedes. She used words likeplebianandgauchein daily conversation.
“Max is extremely good-looking, and I know how important that is to you.”
“He doesn’t have to be perfect, as long as he’s fastidious about his appearance.”
“I’ve never seen him sloppy or unkempt.”
“You’ve definitely done a wonderful job of selling him. But I don’t understand why he can’t get a date.”
“He could probably ask any woman in here and they’d fall at his feet. The point is, he doesn’t want just anyone. He wants someone special. That’s why I thought of you.”
She was also using Mercedes as a yardstick. And maybe it was time for Max to learn a lesson. If he looked in a mirror, he might not like what he saw, metaphorically speaking. It was a puzzle, because from everything she’d heard from Cole about Max’s family, they couldn’t be more different than him. Happy people who sucked the marrow out of life with their Latin food, dance and music. It was almost as if Max had been born into the family Ava should have.
Just then Max walked inside the bar, scanned the room and immediately fixated on them. He weaved his way through some of the regulars, shaking hands as he was stopped, and moving with his ultimate confidence, assuredness and ease.
“Oh. My. God,” Mercedes said. “Is that him?”
Oh boy. Max did look especially handsome tonight, dressing down this time in dark jeans and a white button-up rolled up to his forearms. No tie, but he’d shaved.
“That’s Max. He went casual tonight. Too bad, because he can really rock a suit.”
“I’m sorry I doubted you. I honestly thought you might still be angry with me after all these years.”
“Are you serious? I wouldn’t do that to you!”
But she would do it to Max.Thisanger was new and fresh. What was it that Nanny Lucia always used to say?
La vengansa es un plato que se sirve frio.
Revenge is a plate best served cold.
Max required a wake-up call, and Ava would be the one to deliver it. She rose slightly to wave him over, even if he’d already seen them, and was casually making his way in their direction.
“Hey,” Max said with all the smooth finesse of a dark woodsy espresso. “I’m Max Del Toro.”
Ava stood to let Max take her place on the bench seat and Valerie returned a moment later.
“Can I refresh that cosmo for you?” Valerie asked.
“No, thank you, I’m fine.” Mercedes’s eyes were riveted to Max.
