Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 83699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
He hadn’t wanted to talk about it. It hurt too much. But it was long past time to share that story the way he should have years ago. “You know Adam and I worked at the restaurant from when we were pretty young.”
“Your grandmother told me how you bussed tables when you were seven years old,” she said with a smile.
“And I was working the grill by the time I was fifteen.”
“I knew restaurateuring was in your blood.”
“Yes.” After enjoying another big bite of his burger, he said, “But our parents were totally resistant to change. If I suggested a new menu item, they turned it down, saying that everyone wanted exactly what they’d been making for years. If I said we should start catering, they said they didn’t have the equipment or the manpower. If I wanted to give the menu a new look, keeping all the same choices, they said people didn’t like change and wouldn’t be able to find their favorites. But it was really my parents who were afraid of change.”
He remembered the fights, how tired he’d been of beating his head against their inertia. “So eventually I struck out on my own. But my brother, he stayed. Adam wasn’t as bothered by their ways as I was.”
“You mean he was less ambitious?” she asked.
He thought the question might be painful because it was his ambition that had eventually ruined his relationship with Ava. Maybe the thought was in her mind too. But he answered honestly. “He’s got plenty of ambition. But maybe he’s just got more patience. He waited until he could make the changes he wanted. Like I said, what he’s done with the old place is amazing. He still serves milkshakes and burgers like our parents did, but everyone comes now for all the unusual stuff he’s created. Like a pistachio milkshake or a Kahlua milkshake or a Cap’n Crunch milkshake with the cereal all crunched up. The kids love it. And he’s got a million different burger variations.”
She smiled. “That’s probably a bit of an exaggeration.”
Ransom smiled right back. “Probably. But Adam’s got stuff like a Maui burger with pineapple and teriyaki sauce. A nachos burger. He’s even got a limburger made with Limburger cheese that he advertises as the stinkiest burger on the planet. And he’ll make a burger any way you want it too. He’s doing great with all his restaurants.”
“You sound very proud of him.”
His chest seemed to swell with his pride. “I am. And I think he’s proud of me too.”
“Then you fell out with your parents because you wanted to make changes and they didn’t?”
He shook his head, dipping a couple of fries into yellow mustard rather than ketchup. “No. I still talked to my parents even though I was doing my own thing. It was when my dad died. I was twenty-four, Adam a couple of years younger, and Mom wanted us to take over the restaurant. But I refused. When I said I didn’t want to be like my dad, she thought I was saying I didn’t want to be a failure. But that was just her perception. I never thought he was a failure. I just thought he was stubborn when he couldn’t open up to new ideas. He wasn’t going to change or expand, and I believe that really hampered him. And yeah, I couldn’t see myself being a big success owning a little restaurant.” He stared at his plate, his appetite for the burger gone for the moment. “He worked himself to death.” After a beat of silence, he added, “That’s when my mother stopped talking to me. She just cut me out.” It still felt like she’d sliced his heart in two.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize.”
He laughed, even though it hurt his throat. “You probably thought it was because I was an arrogant ass, and I walked out on them.”
“Of course not.” But he saw by the shadowed look in her eyes that she had actually believed it was his fault. He should have told her years ago. But he was telling her now.
“It was only when she got cancer that she relented. And even then, it was Adam who told me she was sick.”
“That must’ve hurt a lot.” Ava’s gentle voice soothed him.
“Yeah, it did,” he admitted. “But Mom and I reconciled before the end. She died knowing that I loved her, and I believe she loved me. And I never mentioned that I didn’t want to be like my father, who worked himself to death.”
Ransom worked hard, yes, but he worked for something big. He wouldn’t die of a heart attack in a greasy spoon that hadn’t changed in fifty years. That didn’t make his father a failure, but Ransom wanted to be open to new ideas, new ways of doing things.