"I remember that. It did turn out OK for you guys, but I don't think I'll be that lucky. I just can't crawl over there," Rico told him.
"Don't crawl. Kick down the door and demand an explanation," Sam urged him.
"Listen to you getting all aggressive. Oh man, I wish I could. But I don't have the right," Rico said and started to head inside. "I better get back to work and try not to break any dishes."
At the end of his shift, his grandmother came over. She had printed up some orders for plants and wanted him to take them over to Mitch when he went to the house. Until then Rico wasn't sure if he was going. Now he wondered if he could get out of it, maybe offer to put in another shift at the café.
Noticing his indecision, his grandmother said to him, "Come on now. What's with this face? Be a good grandson and tell me what's bothering you."
"Don't worry about me. I'll go over and do some work. I'll be fine," he told her. He couldn't afford to keep wallowing in his misery. He just had to face reality and get it through his head that Mitch never saw him as anything more than a way to pass the time.
All the more reason to give him up now. Maybe he should send a thank you basket to Lara's sister for making him see the light. Maybe not.
After almost turning back several times, Rico dragged himself over to the Dunbar house. To his surprise, he found Wyatt's car parked in front and all the kids loaded into the back seat along with the dogs. Mitch was there, seeing them off, and Rico felt a stab of pain as soon as he saw him.
While Mitch and Wyatt talked, Rico went over to say hi to Sammy and the boys. Talking over each other, they told him they were going on a dog picnic.
"Have fun guys," Rico told them.
After a quick nod at Rico, Mitch went around to the other side to give Sammy a kiss. That's when Wyatt stepped over to Rico and told him, "This was your grandmother's idea. Now get in there, have it out and clear the air."
As Wyatt's car pulled out of the driveway, Rico's stomach twisted into knots even worse than before. He didn't want to have it out with Mitch. What good would it do?
"I wasn't sure you were coming over today," Mitch told him and the sound of his deep voice cut him up inside. For a while he just stood there until Mitch had to prompt him. "Are you coming in?"
Going inside, Rico stayed silent like he had to conserve his strength merely for breathing. He told himself that maybe nothing happened between Mitch and Stella. Maybe he had no reason to be suffering like this.
But that night at the barbeque, Mitch made it clear that he didn't want anyone to know what they had been doing, and the next morning Stella was making herself at home in this house.
Thinking of it, Rico wanted to bolt. Then he remembered the printouts his grandmother had given him. He looked at the papers in his hand and wondered if it was just busywork. When she sent him here, she also arranged for Wyatt to get Sammy out of the way at the same time.
He handed the papers to Mitch anyway. "My grandmother said to give you these."
Taking the printouts, Mitch looked them over and nodded, so maybe they weren't useless. "We can get the yard ready to plant these as soon as they arrive. We need to pull up a few things and we can dig some holes too."
"Whatever," Rico said. Listening to Mitch being so calm and businesslike was pissing him off and making him feel sick inside. Mitch didn't feel anything for him. Rico was in agony and he only cared about digging up the yard.
"Enrico, if you..."
"Let's just get to work," Rico snapped. Right now the last thing he wanted was to talk to him.
The kind of work they were doing was just right for how he was feeling. They were tearing out bushes and digging. Grabbing a pickaxe, Rico was ready to go to it. Before he could swing it, Mitch grabbed his arm.
"Put on some gloves," Mitch ordered him. Rico was about to tell him where he could stick it, when Mitch shoved a pair of work gloves in his hand and added a threat. "Put them on or I'll do it for you."
Rico almost told him to go right ahead but then realized that would be a terrible idea. If Mitch actually did something like that, Rico was bound to get turned on. That thought made him even more furious. Mitch could get to him so easily, but Rico was nothing to him.
Pulling on the work gloves, Rico took up the pickaxe again and started swinging it. He pulled up the roots then grabbed the base of the plant and yanked it out of the ground. Maybe he could do that to his feelings for Mitch, just rip them out by the roots till there was nothing left.
He kept working with that idea driving him. The destruction felt good, and he didn't spare himself. But once again Mitch interfered. This time he grabbed his shoulder. As soon as he felt his touch, Rico jerked away from him.
"You need to slow down. You're going to hurt yourself," Mitch told him in a stern voice, but Rico had no intention of slowing down.
"And you would care?" Rico challenged him.
"I'm responsible for you," Mitch said like he was trying to piss him off.
"That's real touching. Now leave me the hell alone," Rico told him and got ready to get back to ripping up the yard.
