He, Quincy and Darius were watching the National Football League’s Cleveland Browns and Chicago Bears face each other in a Sunday-afternoon competition. He washed down the bite of spicy buffalo wing with a swig of weak beer.
“They’ve asked me back for an interview.” Quincy didn’t seem enthusiastic.
“When were you going to tell us?” Darius froze as he plunged a celery stalk into Quincy’s blue cheese dressing.
Quincy shrugged. “I’m telling you now.”
Ean read Quincy’s conflict beneath his studied nonchalance. “What’s bothering you?”
Quincy exhaled an irritated breath. “Why do you think something’s bothering me?”
Ean gestured with a hot wing. “First, I can hear it in your voice. Second, you’re letting Darius eat your celery and blue cheese.”
Quincy’s jaw tightened. He moved the blue cheese away from Darius. “Would it kill you to buy your own food?”
Darius dropped the remains of a buffalo wing in an empty bowl and reached for a leg this time. “Ean’s right. You seem even weirder tonight. Talk.”
“Nothing’s bothering me.” Quincy grabbed a potato chip, avoiding their eyes. “You two are like nagging old women.”
“It’s Ramona, isn’t it?” Ean watched closely for Quincy’s reaction.
The professor tensed. “What’s Ramona?”
“It must be Ramona.” Darius stretched across the table to scoop a celery stalk once more into Quincy’s dressing.
Ean drank some of his watered-down house beer. “Are you thinking about staying in Trinity Falls now?”
“I don’t know.” Quincy’s smile was bittersweet. “It figures I’d get this opportunity when one of my best friends returns and the woman I care about realizes I exist.”
Ean’s lingering concern over their strained relationship disappeared when Quincy referred to him as one of his best friends. “You don’t have to take Penn’s offer, if you think you’d be making a mistake.”
Darius gestured with his mug of beer. “No one would think any worse of you than they do now.”
Quincy cut the reporter a look before addressing Ean. “It’s a smart move for my career. No one’s heard of Trinity Falls University, but everyone knows the University of Pennsylvania. More prestige, more money, better location—”
Darius interrupted. “Since when did you want to move to the big city?”
“Since I realized you were staying here.” Quincy’s response was long-suffering. He moved his celery and blue cheese farther from Darius’s reach. “I love Trinity Falls. But there’s a lot of history in Philadelphia, a lot of visiting exhibitions. I’d have better access to those things if I were at Penn.”
The fact that he’d come home just as his childhood friend was leaving bothered Ean as well. “It’s a tough decision. I don’t envy you. But luckily, it doesn’t have to be a permanent one.”
Darius nodded. “Ean’s right. You can always change your mind.”
“Just don’t wait as long as I did.” Ean thought back to New York. “It took seven years to realize I may have made a good career decision, but it was at the cost of things and people who were a lot more important than my career.”
The three friends were silent as they watched the Browns run several plays against the Bears. The Browns struggled against the Bears’ defense, though, and had to punt. Ean was only partially aware of the on-screen action. His mind still processed his regrets—the lost time with his parents, the near loss of a lifelong friendship. How different would his life be today if he’d put those relationships above his ambition and stayed in Trinity Falls?
Darius clamped a hand on Ean’s shoulder. “Who would’ve thought all those years ago when you were planning to become a hot-shot corporate lawyer in the Big Apple, you’d return to hang a shingle in the Trinity Falls Town Center?” Darius’s jovial smile didn’t mask the concern in his eyes.
Ean slapped the reporter’s back. “Here I have my friends and family, as well as my career.”
Darius gestured for their server to bring another round of beer. “How long do you think your shingle will remain up?”
That was a sore subject with Ean. “I don’t know. It depends on what happens with the center.”
Quincy selected a buffalo wing from his basket. “The election isn’t for another year. And even if your mother wins, she won’t take office for another two months. That’s a long time.”
Darius grunted. “In the meantime, Ramona could sell the center out from under the business owners, and some other evil overlord could jack up the rent again.”