"Maybe the mandarin chicken," he said. It was both sweet and spicy and that might be to his liking. "We'll order the sauce on the side. Now we need something for me."
"Their fajitas are great," Mark said then assured him about the heat level. "And they aren't spicy without the charred habanero sauce."
Bailey took his suggestion and ordered the fajitas for himself and he was not disappointed. "The view is great and the food is great," he said to reassure Matt. "This was a good recommendation."
Matt smiled and dived into his red-hot spareribs and spicy fries. It made Bailey cringe but Matt was certainly enjoying them. Joey was making faces as he ate his chicken with the sweet and spicy dipping sauce. He didn't stop though.
"Spicy is good," he insisted. His food wasn't too hot though. Bailey had tasted the sauce and it wasn't too bad, but he still didn't let him have too much.
At the end of their meal, Matt said they should get ice cream to cool things down. Joey was all for it. He ate his ice cream, which came piled with strawberries and kiwi. Bailey and Matt had their second beers and watched the dark ocean under a dark sky.
Mark told them about all the different small jobs he had done to make money. He was a really hardworking guy and Joey was impressed.
"He's ready to hire you all over again," Bailey said but he also realized it was too late to get anything done at the beach house. He told Matt what he was thinking. "It's too close to Joey's bedtime to start on sorting through my grandfather's papers tonight. How is tomorrow for you?"
"Tomorrow works for me. No problem," Matt said and Bailey didn't like how much he looked forward to seeing him again.
They went down the hill a more civilized way than the way they came up, taking a leisurely walk along the hill road. It put them pretty close to the hotel. Bailey thought Matt would go his own way, but he walked with them back toward their hotel.
"I want to drop in on Gwen and say hi," he said.
"I want to see Gwen too," Joey said, but Bailey knew he was just trying to delay his bedtime.
"We can wave to her," Bailey said.
They went through the hotel lobby and to the bar where Gwen was serving up drinks and smiling at customers. They said good night to Matt.
"Thanks for tonight. I had a great time with you guys," Matt said. "I hope I didn't talk your ears off."
"Not at all," Bailey told him. "I liked your stories. We both did."
"Me and Daddy like hanging out with you, Matt," Joey told him and Matt beamed at him.
When Matt went into the bar, he got Gwen to wave to them. Joey waved back at her while yawning and then claimed, "I'm not sleepy."
"You will be by the time you're ready for bed," Bailey predicted.
As they went up to their room, all Bailey could think about was how he felt like he and Matt had just gone on a date.
That was silly, Matt was out of his league and Joey was there to make it clear that tonight was in no way a date. But Bailey still got a bittersweet taste of what it would be like to go out with a great guy like Matt.
Chapter 5
It wasn't a sunny day and it only got worse as Bailey finished work and he and Joey headed to the beach house. The strong wind was whipping up the waves and driving dark clouds over the sky. Joey pouted at the weather.
"I don't think it will clear up today," Bailey warned Joey.
"Maybe it will," Joey said, such an optimist.
As they arrived at the beach house, they found Matt waiting for them. He was leaning on the porch railing.
"Glad you could do this. I hope I'm not keeping you from anything," Bailey said as they stepped up on the porch.
"No. I'm happy to be here," Matt said in his usual cheerful way.
He might have no complaints but Joey did. "I'm not gonna get to swim today."
"It's not the day for it," Bailey told him and pointed at a very stormy sky. "We're lucky we didn't get caught in the rain."
