Royce felt strange when he woke up on Sunday morning, mostly because he realized he had been dreaming about Maria. They had been very interesting dreams, and it had been a long time since he’d had anything like them.

The woman was starting to get under his skin, and the kiss the night before had proved it. It seemed likely that there would be more – much more – where that came from, and he wasn’t sure how to handle it.

It had been a long time since he’d had feelings like that for a woman – not since the early days of his marriage with Maxine, for that matter. Twenty years, give or take, and that was far too long. Now, this showed all the signs of getting serious, and he wasn’t ready for it, not in the slightest. But it looked like it was happening anyway, and he wasn’t complaining.

As he headed toward the bathroom, it struck him that it would probably be a wise idea to have Paul Meyerson run a quick background check on her, just to be on the safe side. There probably wasn’t anything he could do about it today, but he made a mental note to call the detective the first thing in the morning.

Since it was Sunday and Josie’s was closed he couldn’t do his normal morning workout session. Besides, this was going to be a busy day, since it was going to be the official opening of Sandy’s Super Subs and the Hot Dog Hut. The formal “grand opening” was still a week off so the crews would have a few days to get used to operating the stores.

They were intentionally opening on a Sunday, which was expected to be a slow day, for the same reason. Both he and Jeremy figured there would be some first-day bugs and jitters, so they planned on being around in case they were needed. In addition, they were going to go a little further on promotion for the Hot Dog Hut. The concession manager at the ball park who had done the staff training for the store had arranged for a formal autograph signing with a former big-name baseball star who was on his way up through the coaching ranks. It was a way to set the Hot Dog Hut off from the Sandy’s stores.

It was still early when Royce got to the Pafco offices where Jeremy was waiting. He seemed a little nervous, and with good reason; while it had been largely Royce’s idea and motivation, and his money used to start the operations, it had been Jeremy who had done most of the work and he had his pride on the line as a result. “So how are you today?” Royce asked.

“Ask me tonight and then I’ll tell you.”

“Have you had breakfast yet?”

“No, I just haven’t felt like eating much.”

“Let’s head across the street and get something. That’ll settle your stomach. Don’t worry, Jeremy. This is going to be a success. I’m not sure how big a success yet, but it will be all right.”

An actual breakfast and coffee made things seem better for Jeremy, and Royce enjoyed it as well. “So how did your daughter’s wedding go yesterday?” Jeremy asked.

“It didn’t,” Royce replied soberly. “The groom brushed her off and never showed up for the wedding. Apparently he was some kind of a young punk anyway, so maybe it’s just as well.”

“How’s she taking it?”

“I really don’t know since I only got to talk to her for a moment, but she was trying to keep up appearances. But I’ll bet that inside she had to be feeling pretty crappy.”

“Well I would be if something like that happened to me. I’ve had girls blow me off, and most of the time I’ve been glad to see them go once I realized I was better off for it, but it still stinks when it happens.”

“Speaking from the perspective of a man who got burned pretty badly in a divorce, I have to say it’s better it happened before the wedding than after the wedding,” Royce replied, realizing that Petra probably had to be feeling pretty bad about it. Even though she had ignored him for years, she was still his daughter. He had tried to protect her from what clearly was going to be a bad marriage, and he had succeeded. But still, there was less than the total satisfaction that he thought he ought to be feeling.

Petra did indeed feel bad. In fact, she felt downright terrible. That much bourbon, knocked down that quickly, had really hit her hard. What’s more, she hadn’t eaten since breakfast the day before, so the booze hit her on an empty stomach. The room was spinning when she woke up, and she felt like she had to hang onto the edge of the bed to stay in it. She realized that someone – it had to have been Milt – had left a bucket next to the bed, and she was glad he’d done so since she needed it.

But in a sense, she felt better. Milt had been right; things did look a little different on the far side of a hangover. Mostly they looked bleary and out of sorts, but the embarrassment and humiliation of having been left at the altar – actually in the church basement – were somehow muted. Maybe she could survive that after all.

She thought about getting up, then thought better of it. If she could just keep hanging onto the bed to keep from falling out, things might be better in a few hours.

Royce and Jeremy started their tour of the stores at the River Street location, mostly because it was the nearest one. It was still well before opening, but they seemed set to go; there were banners on the building, flags flying, and signs on the street saying things like “Introductory Special – Huge Savings!” Though traffic on the streets was not heavy at this hour on a Sunday morning, they hoped to pull in some trade from the after-church crowd, and people heading out for a day in the park or something.

“We’ve already had some interest,” the new manager told Jeremy as Royce looked on. “We’ve had people stopping and asking about us as soon as the signs went up on Friday, and the ads in the paper and stuff haven’t exactly hurt anything. I don’t know that we’re going to have a real big day today, but it might not be a bad one.”

“Take your time and do it right,” Jeremy advised. “There’s no need to rush and goof things up. Get things right the first time and speed will come with practice.”

It took time to get around to all six stores, especially with having to stop at each one, give things a final checkout, and give a pep talk to the staff. Things looked pretty good, and it seemed like Jeremy had done a very good job of getting things going. Since it took time, the stores were opening before they got all the way around the circuit, and they appeared to be getting a few customers who were universally happy with the low prices – and they seemed impressed with the subs, too.

Just the way the route worked out the Hot Dog Hut was the last place they stopped, and this was different. The place was busy already! It wasn’t exactly lines-out-the-door busy, but there were plenty of people around. The Hot Dog Hut didn’t have much interior seating – it was a small building – but there were people crowded around where the autographs were being signed, and hot dogs were being sold steadily over the counter and at the drive-up. “You know,” Royce grinned as he and Jeremy stood back and watched the action, “for something we started on a pure what-the-hell-why-not basis, it looks pretty darn good for opening day.”

“Yeah, I can’t help but think we might have something here.”

“Let’s give it a few weeks and see if it takes hold,” Royce suggested. “But I’m thinking we might want to think about looking for some other locations.”

“I’m way ahead of you on that. I mean, I haven’t signed any papers or anything, but there are a few spots I’ve got my eye on.”

“Keep your eye on them,” Royce said, glancing across the alleyway to the Wilson’s Subs shop next door. There were just two cars in the parking lot, both in back; it wouldn’t have surprised him if both belonged to employees. The place sure didn’t look busy. This part of his plan seemed to be working well indeed. “We might need them sooner than we thought,” he added.

“Boy, they sure are busy over there,” Mary Ann Hartley said to Sylvia Longford, the only other Wilson’s worker in the building – the only other person in the building, for that matter. Mary Ann had just been promoted to managing the Peavine Street store after the former manager had left for a new job – she didn’t know what it was. They had done the normal amount of setup for a Sunday morning, but now it looked like most of it wasn’t going to get used.

“People are always interested in something new,” Sylvia replied. “Heck, I wouldn’t mind having a good hot dog myself. I don’t know why, but it’s hard to make them at home as good as you find them in a ball park or something.”

“Yeah, I might have to give them a try myself,” the manager replied. “I didn’t know that was what they were going to be doing until Friday. The last I knew, Milt thought it was going to be drive-through espresso and bagels.”

“The right bagel sounds all right, although I find them a little tasteless,” Sylvia shrugged. “As far as I’m concerned, you can take every cup of espresso ever made and dump it down the sink. That stuff is terrible!”

“I can’t argue with you on that,” Mary Ann laughed. “I keep thinking I ought to call Milt and let him know what’s going on over there, but after what happened yesterday, I’m not sure I have the guts.” Mary Ann, like many off-duty Wilson’s employees, had been present at the non-wedding, and there had been some schedule shifting to allow employees who would normally have been on duty to attend.

“Yeah, I’m not sure I’d like to do it myself. I’ll tell you what, any guy who would let things get that far and then run off like that sure is a guy I sure wouldn’t want to be involved with. How did she take it?”

“She seemed pretty OK on the outside, but I think she was covering up how she really felt. Boy, if something like that happened to me I’m not sure how I would take it. Milt, well, you could tell he wasn’t a happy camper, and they hauled Milt’s wife off in an ambulance.”

“Sounds like it must have been a real mess.”

“Oh, it wasn’t too bad at the church, but I decided to go over to the reception to get into the free food. People were hitting the punch real hard and half the people there were looped. They were giving away food and I took some home with me. I’ll be eating on it out of the refrigerator for a week. There was a huge pile of wedding presents, and it’s going to be a hell of a mess to have to return everything.”

“I’ll tell you what, that’s one job I wouldn’t like to have,” Sylvia shook her head.

“I probably ought to call Milt,” Mary Ann replied thoughtfully, “but things are probably in enough of a mess around there that I don’t think I should make them worse for him.”

Milt was up by now, although he was suffering from the effects of the night before, so he groped feebly at the cup of instant coffee he had before him. He didn’t have the time or the inclination to make the real thing.

Eventually Petra came out of her room. She was a mess. She did not look a thing like the beautiful hopeful bride she had been the day before. Her hair was all over the place, and her makeup, which she still had on from the day before, was tear-streaked and ragged. “How are you today?” he asked out of courtesy.

“Like shit,” she replied.

It was about all she needed to say, and Milt understood her perfectly. “Look like it or feel like it?”

“Both.”

“If it’s any help, I don’t feel much better. I’ve just been thinking I probably ought to go over to the hospital and see what’s up with your mother.”

She was silent for a long minute before speaking. “Go ahead and go, then,” she replied with an obvious sneer in her voice. “I’m not going to be going with you.”

“She is your mother, Petra.”

“She’s also the one who got me into this mess, and I don’t know if I can talk to her without wanting to strangle her.”

“I can understand that. What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. Take your time getting back. I may be gone when you get here. In fact, I hope I’m gone. I don’t want to hear her bullshit, no matter what she’s got to say. If she had just listened to me or listened to you, things wouldn’t have been as bad.”

“Don’t think I’m not upset too,” Milt said, still trying to sound as if he was sympathetic. “But I’m the one who’s out over thirty thousand dollars, and there isn’t a cent of it that I can get back. If this had been even a couple of days before the wedding I could have cancelled and only gotten hit with part of the bill, but I’m going to get nailed with the whole thing. It doesn’t matter if the wedding happened or not.”

“Yeah,” Petra replied softly. “I have to remember that it hurt you, too.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do about it,” he said. “I’ve just been sitting here thinking about it. I know I’ve got to do something, but I think it would be a good idea to lay back for a few days before I do anything. The emotions might not be quite so raw that I do more than I ought to do. So what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know, Milt. I honestly don’t know. Everything I had planned this time yesterday just got flushed down the toilet, so I’ve got to figure out what comes next. I don’t even know where to start. Whatever it is, I don’t think it should be something Mom can somehow push her way into like she did with the wedding.”

“I can’t say as I blame you for that. I’m afraid I don’t have any ideas for you, though.”

“That’s all right, Milt. I’ll think of something.”

Actually, Petra did have one idea, whether it was a good one or not: she needed to talk to her father. Her real father, not Milt. She even remembered him asking her to come see him after the non-wedding the day before. She didn’t know if it would solve anything or make anything better, but at least he was on the outside of this mess. Besides, she had some fences to mend with him, and right now she didn’t care if her mother was offended or not. That didn’t matter anymore.

It was getting close to noon before Royce and Jeremy finished with their tour of the new stores. In the process of driving around they got close to a couple of Wilson’s Sub shops, and they didn’t look very busy. Royce wondered a little about what Milt thought about that, and for that matter, wondered if he knew about it at all. His life was probably in turmoil after the failed wedding the day before, and Maxine wouldn’t be doing anything to make life easier – he was sure of that.

“Jeremy,” he asked as they got back to the main office, “are you going to need me any more today?”

“I don’t think so. Things seem to be going pretty well, but I still want to keep my eye on things.”

“I can’t blame you, but I think I’ll let you do it on your own. I’ve been pushing pretty hard and I need to think about a few things, so I’m going to take the rest of the day off.”

“Go ahead. You deserve it. I suppose I could take off as well, but I think I’ll take another swing around the stores, just in case.”

“Have fun. I’ll be on my cell phone if you need me for anything.”

Royce really didn’t have much he needed to do, but he wanted to keep his thoughts to himself. The new stores were his major assault against Maxine and Milt; torpedoing the wedding had been an afterthought, although apparently an effective one.

He really didn’t want to think about that, either. It was a done deal and there was little more he could do. He hadn’t been thinking much about it this morning, but his thoughts had kept going back to that serious kiss that Maria had laid on him the night before. He had sworn that once he had his revenge he was going to try to get his life back to something like normal, and now she seemed like a gateway to that goal. He sure would like to see her again, he thought.

Well, why not?

It was no trick to pull out his cell phone and key in her number. After she answered the phone and they exchanged greetings, he asked, “Have you and Ramona had lunch yet?”

“No, we were just thinking about it.”

“How about if I pick you up and take you out for hot dogs?”

“Hot dogs? You mean that new place of yours you’ve been talking about? That sounds like fun!”

“All right, it’ll take me about half an hour to get there.”

It was close to an hour before they got back to the Hot Dog Hut, and it was much busier now than when he and Jeremy had been there earlier. Now there really was a line out the door, and the workers were busy to the point of frantic – although not making many mistakes. Even the concession manager who had been their consultant had pitched in to keep things flowing. If Royce hadn’t had Maria and Ramona with him he would have been tempted to pitch in himself. He knew he shouldn’t, mostly because he didn’t have a food handler’s card, but it was nice to see the idea catching on.

He couldn’t help but give a glance to the Wilson’s next door, and notice that they still only had a couple of customers – apparently there were actually some people out there who didn’t like hot dogs. Too bad for them, he thought.

Royce ordered hot dogs, chips, and soft drinks for everybody and they were served almost in a flash. Since it was crowded in the building, they went to picnic tables outside to eat them. “Mr. Palmer,” Ramona said, “this is a real good hot dog. But you know what I like on hot dogs?”

“What?”

“I really like them with refried beans. They taste real good that way.”

“Hmmm, that’s one we hadn’t thought of,” he smiled. “But you’re right, a hot dog would taste good that way. Maybe with onions and cheese, too. I’ll see if we can’t have refried beans as a topping the next time we come here.”

“Do you mean we can come here again?”

“Sure we can. Once we get done, what would you like to do?”

“How about if we go to the zoo? I like to look at the animals.”

Royce turned to Maria. “I haven’t been to the zoo since Petra was her age,” he smiled. “I think I’d like it. How about you?”

“It sounds like a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon to me.”

Milt wasn’t surprised in the slightest that Petra was nowhere to be found when he got back from the hospital with Maxine. He had no idea where the girl could have gone, but figured that she was right that “somewhere else” was a good idea and pretty well covered it.

Maxine was better than she had been yesterday; she’d been catatonic when she was carried out of the church. She was no longer on whatever drugs that had her flying high as a spaceship the night before, although she still wasn’t totally back to normal, whatever normal was for her. But, and not surprisingly, she was madder than hell at Barry for screwing up Petra’s perfect wedding.

A lot of problems could be solved at once, he thought cynically, if he knew where Barry was and if he could point Maxine at him with a dull butter knife in her hand.

Also not surprising was that she was angry that Petra wasn’t there when they got home. “Where is she?” she ranted. “I need to console her over all our plans being messed up. We need to think about what to do to fix this mess.”

“It’s over and done with,” Milt told her. “I don’t think there’s going to be any fixing it. Barry is gone. I talked to his parents before I went over to the hospital, and they don’t know where he is. They say he’d been to their home but had left already. He left behind a note that said, ‘Sorry, I didn’t have any choice. I’ll be gone somewhere for a while.’ That was all. They have no idea where he went or when he’ll be back.”

“Petra must be so disappointed. I need to make sure she’s all right.”

“I think she’ll be all right, but she’s pretty touchy right now and I don’t blame her much. That was a pretty rotten thing for him to do to her.”

“The poor girl deserves to have a wedding that’s done right, and we’ll be sure it gets done right the next time.”

“I don’t think there’s going to be a next time,” Milt told his wife. “She said she’ll just live with some guy before she goes through an experience like that again.”

“Oh, nonsense. A girl deserves to have a wedding she can be proud of, and that would have been one if he hadn’t run off on her. We had everything, and it was done the best I could. The church looked wonderful, the food and the band at the reception were the best we could get, and her dress was magnificent. At least she’ll have it the next time.”

“No, she won’t. I’m pretty sure she threw it in a dumpster. Besides, even if she were to have another big wedding, that dress would really be a bad omen for her.”

“Yes, but it was so perfect for her. We can get another one like it, or maybe even something nicer.”

“Don’t hold your breath on that one. I will admit she was a little mad at the time, but she said that if she ever gets married, the only people she wants at her wedding are her, her husband, and the Elvis impersonator who marries them. I don’t blame her for it a bit.”

“Oh, nonsense. She deserves a big wedding and I’m going to make sure she gets one.”

Things went on like that for a while, and Milt could see that she hadn’t changed her focus on a big wedding in the slightest. It was clear that she was off her rocker, and that he had no idea of what he could do about it. About all he could do was to keep her on her meds and hope she got off the subject, although he had no hope of it happening anytime soon.

Right now he couldn’t fault Petra for not wanting to be around her. He wouldn’t mind being somewhere else himself, although she was his wife so he felt some responsibility toward her.

It looked like another good night for drinking, and that’s what he decided to do in the end. He started early and stayed at it, if for no more reason than to dull Maxine’s rants. Once again, he didn’t look at the paper or the television, and his managers had all been too scared of upsetting him in this situation to let him know of what was happening in his stores.

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