The Longest Line

My father-in-law, Arthur, was the rightful heir to the Mosby family fortune. When he insisted on marrying, Judith, my mother-in-law, who ran a small neighborhood restaurant, everyone said he had lost his mind. One morning over breakfast, Arthur suggested that we stop by Judith's restaurant. "Judith came home yesterday with a burn on her hand." Concern flashed in his eyes. "She refused to tell me what happened." The tenderness between them warmed my heart, so I immediately agreed to take him there. But while we were waiting in line, a broad-shouldered man suddenly shoved Arthur hard. "Move it, old man! You're blocking the way!" I caught Arthur before he fell and shook with anger. "What gives you the right to insult him or cut the line?" The man sneered and tossed a foul-smelling used napkin at our feet. "Because my wife owns this place! I can do whatever I want. Keep talking and I'll have her throw both of you out!" The air went still. All the color drained from Arthur's face, and the luxury bag he had just bought for Judith slipped from his hand. I froze. Could the woman Arthur had adored all his life really be having an affair? Chapter 1 I accompanied my father-in-law to the neighborhood restaurant and was surprised to find a long line outside. Twenty minutes later, it was finally our turn to go in. Lily, one of the servers, waved at me. "Danny, come on in." I nodded and reached for Arthur's arm to guide him inside. The next second, someone slammed into him and knocked him to the ground, scraping the skin from his knee and forearm. "Move it, old man! You're blocking the way!" Lily hurried over to intervene. "Sir, please wait your turn." The man glanced at her. "Are you blind? Can't you see I'm in a hurry? It's boiling out here. Ever heard of respecting your elders?" His words made Lily's face turn red, and tears gathered in her eyes. I couldn't stand it and was about to confront him, but Arthur caught my arm. "Let it go. He can go first." The man gave us a smug look, swaggered inside, and took the last four-person booth. Arthur and I had to squeeze into a tiny table against the wall. Our beef stew arrived soon after. Arthur took a small bite, and his eyes lit up. "Judith made this batch herself. I'd know her cooking anywhere." The tenderness in his expression left me feeling both warm and strangely sad. Just then, the man at the next table shouted, "Hey! Server! Bring me a trash can!" Lily quickly carried a small bin over. The man promptly propped his feet on the table, smearing mud from his soles across the surface. "Sir, could you please respect the cleanliness of the dining area?" Lily couldn't help speaking up, but he acted as though he hadn't heard her. Then he did something even worse. When he finished eating, he swept the bones and scraps from his plate toward us. They landed squarely on our table, splattering broth everywhere. Arthur's hand jerked, and his spoon dropped into his bowl, splashing soup all over his suit. "Sir!" I finally lost my temper and shouted. "Could you show some basic decency?" "Decency?" The man sneered. "You people refuse to be understanding, and now you want to lecture me about decency?" The argument made customers at several nearby tables frown. "That's enough. Maybe he's having a difficult day. Everyone should calm down." Arthur pressed a hand to my arm. Seeing that, the man grew even more smug. "Get out of here. Stop ruining my meal!" My head buzzed with rage. Arthur had grown up surrounded by privilege and had always treated others with courtesy, but he didn't understand that patience only made bullies like this more arrogant. I wasn't going to back down. "Leave? You ruined my father-in-law's suit and think that's the end of it?" I pointed at the large stain across Arthur's jacket and faced the man. It was a fully bespoke suit. It had taken months to make and had cost a fortune. Arthur had given me one from the same tailor when I married Grace. It was worth nearly $150,000. Chapter 2 The man looked Arthur up and down as if he had just heard the funniest thing in the world. "It's one lousy suit. Who are you trying to impress? If you were actually rich, would you be eating in a place like this?" Still unsatisfied, he turned toward the other customers and began slandering Arthur. "Everyone, take a look at this old creep. Dressing like that at his age, putting on a show for who? Disgusting!" Whispers immediately spread through the restaurant. Arthur shook with anger, but his lifelong self-control kept him from exploding in public. I couldn't take it anymore. I shot to my feet and pointed straight at the man's face. "Shut your mouth!" His vicious words cut like knives. "I'll say whatever I want! Are you some old blowhard wearing such clothes and showing off around here?" Arthur's face turned deathly pale, and his fingers clamped around the edge of the table. "Apologize!" My voice shook. "Apologize right now!" "Apologize, my ass!" The man spat directly onto Arthur's jacket. After one provocation after another, several customers finally stepped in. "What is wrong with you? Being in a hurry doesn't give you the right to treat people like this." "Mind your own damn business!" the man snapped back. "Nobody asked you!" The restaurant descended into chaos. Lily tried to calm everyone down, but the man shoved her aside. "Get lost! Who do you think you are?" Then he reached for the hot-water carafe and knocked over a full mug of scalding coffee with his rough movements. The coffee splashed across the table and soaked into the luxury bag Arthur had placed beside him, leaving dark, uneven stains across the leather. I sucked in a sharp breath. Arthur's brows drew together. It was the first time I had ever felt genuine fury coming from him. The man glanced at the bag and scoffed. "It's a fake purse. Why are you making such a fuss? Aren't you embarrassed, carrying a knockoff at your age and pretending to be wealthy?" But Arthur had spent months securing that bag from overseas as a fiftieth-birthday gift for Judith. "It's real!" I practically roared. "That cost a fortune. Can you afford to replace it?" Instead of feeling guilty, the man became even more mocking. "So what if it's real? "Bringing a real designer bag into a place like this is nothing but showing off. You deserved it." I completely lost control and grabbed a glass, ready to throw the water in his face. Arthur locked both hands around my wrist. "Danny, don't." His voice was low. "Don't make more trouble for Judith." My hand trembled, but I couldn't bear to upset him, so I lowered the glass. Arthur insisted on paying our bill and led me out of Judy's Home Kitchen. We sat on a bench in the small park across the street. He said nothing and repeatedly dabbed at the bag with a napkin. Every movement was careful and full of pain. The liquid had already seeped into the leather, leaving ugly stains that would require serious professional restoration. "Arthur, we can take it to a specialist." I looked at him helplessly, trying to comfort him. He shook his head and spoke softly. "It's all right. I'm only sad because Judith never lets me buy her gifts. I finally had an excuse for her fiftieth birthday, and I wanted this bag to make her happy." "That man isn't worth being upset over." I clenched my fists. "I'm not upset because of him." Arthur raised his head and looked toward the restaurant. "I'm upset for Judith. She must deal with people like that every day, and she never tells me." "That's why," Arthur continued, his voice suddenly firm, "I should come here more often. I can't let her face all of this alone." Chapter 3 My heart tightened even more. When Grace and I first started dating, I learned that her father was the rightful heir to the Mosby family fortune, and I worried that our families would never get along. After the wedding, however, Arthur and Judith Mosby treated me like their own cherished children. Thinking of that, I immediately called my wife. The phone rang again and again, but she didn't answer. I had no choice but to leave her a message. We waited another half hour. I assumed the man must have left by then, so I took Arthur back toward the restaurant. To my surprise, he was still there. The moment we stepped inside, we heard him berating Lily. "Get the owner out here! What is this garbage? You expect people to eat it?" Lily's eyes were red from his abuse, and she kept apologizing. "I'm sorry, sir. I'm very sorry. I'll replace your bowl." "Replace it? Who takes responsibility if this food makes me sick?" The man slammed the table. "If something happens to me, can this dump afford the lawsuit?" The shouting made customers all around the room turn and stare. As the crowd grew, the man showed no intention of stopping. "Get the manager! If I don't get a satisfactory answer today, none of you are getting away with this!" Lily stood helplessly as tears streamed down her cheeks. At that moment, Walter, the manager, hurried out from the kitchen. "Hello, sir. I'm the manager. Could you tell me what was wrong with your meal or our service?" "This is what you call service?" The man pointed at the empty bowl on his table. "Look at it yourself. You expect anyone to eat this?" Walter froze, then immediately forced a polite smile. "I'm very sorry, sir. We'll replace it and waive the entire bill. Would that be acceptable?" "Waive the bill?" The man scoffed. "Do I look like I can't afford one bowl of stew? I'm telling you, this isn't over." Walter kept apologizing. "Then please tell us what would make this right. We'll do our best." The man's eyes shifted. He stood and deliberately raised his voice. "Listen up. The woman who owns this restaurant is my wife. If I don't get a proper explanation, I'll have her fire every last one of you!" His declaration exploded through the restaurant like a bomb. I froze and stared at the arrogant stranger in disbelief. Arthur swayed, and I quickly caught him. "Arthur..." All the color drained from his face as he stared at the man. "Impossible. How could the owner of this restaurant be your wife?" The man answered Arthur's disbelief with open contempt. "What, you don't believe me? Want me to call her out here right now so she can see how this lousy place treated me?" The other customers began whispering. Someone recognized Arthur. "Isn't that Judy Mosby's husband? I've seen him here a few times." "Then who is that man? He says the owner is his wife." "Could Judy be keeping a younger man on the side?" "I heard this restaurant has made her good money over the years. She's still attractive. Maybe she really is supporting a boyfriend." The gossip stabbed at Arthur from every direction, and his expression turned grim. At that moment, the curtain to the kitchen finally moved. Judith stepped out in an apron, flour still dusting her hands. She saw us by the entrance and stopped short. "Arthur? Danny? What are you doing here?" Walter called out quickly, "Mrs. Mosby, this man..." Before he could finish, the stranger cut him off. "Honey!" The man rushed toward Judith. "Finally! Look at how your employees have been treating me!" Judith instinctively stepped backward to avoid him. "What is going on?" "What do you mean, what's going on?" His face instantly shifted into wounded innocence. "Your food was filthy, I said a few words, and this waitress gave me an attitude. And these two men," he said, pointing to Arthur and me, "bullied me too. Tell everyone right now that this restaurant will never serve them again!" Chapter 4 Judith's frown deepened. "These two men are my family. This is my husband, and this is my son-in-law." "Husband?" The man shrieked with laughter as though she had told the greatest joke in the world. "Then what does that make me?" The restaurant fell silent. Every pair of eyes fixed on Judith and the stranger. Her expression changed from surprise to shock and then to fury. She stared at him, her lips beginning to tremble. "What... what are you talking about?" "I'm lying?" The man pulled a photograph from his bag and slapped it onto the nearest table. "Look at this yourself." The photograph clearly showed Judith standing beside him at a hotel reception desk. She wore the gray dress I recognized, and her arm appeared to be wrapped intimately around his. "This was taken last month!" the man said smugly. "Are you going to claim that isn't you?" Judith picked up the photograph with shaking hands. She studied it closely, her face going pale, then livid, then flushed with anger. "I did stay at that hotel last month, but I was there for a class reunion. This picture has to be fake." At her explanation, a little color returned to Arthur's face. The next second, the man snatched the photograph back and turned toward the entire restaurant. "She says it's fake, so that makes it fake? Everyone judge for yourselves. There is an intimate picture right here, and now she refuses to admit it. Have you ever seen anything so shameless?" The customers began whispering again. Some looked at Arthur with pity, while others stared at Judith with disgust. The man pushed things further and reached out to shove Arthur. "Stop pretending. You're an old man trying to steal someone else's wife. Have you no shame?" "What are you doing?" I stepped in front of Arthur, but the man was strong and threw me aside with one hand. I stumbled backward into another table, sending bottles of vinegar and hot sauce crashing to the floor. My white shirt was drenched in vinegar and red sauce, and a shard of glass sliced my forearm, drawing blood. "Danny!" Arthur cried. The man didn't even look at me. He kept pointing at Arthur and screaming. "I'm younger than you and better-looking than you. An old wreck like you wants to compete with me for a woman? Look in a mirror!" Arthur's face went from pale to ashen. He staggered backward and gripped the edge of a table to stay upright. "Judy..." His voice was barely audible. "Is any of this true?" "Arthur, I..." Judith tried to explain, but the man interrupted her. "Of course it's true!" He stepped closer to Arthur, his eyes full of ridicule. "Just look at you. That suit? That bag? They're probably both fake. "Once she divorces you, this restaurant will be mine to run." That was the final twist of the knife in Arthur's heart. The man turned toward Walter and the other employees. "All of you listen carefully. If you don't do your jobs properly, I'll have my wife fire every one of you!" Arthur stayed silent for a long time, his lips pressed tightly together. Finally, he rasped, "Thirty years... I trusted you for thirty years..." He turned his back on everyone so they wouldn't see his reddened eyes. "Arthur, it isn't what you think..." Judith tried to approach him, but Arthur raised a hand to stop her. The arrogant stranger became even more pleased with himself. At that moment, my wife rushed out from the back. "I'd like to see anyone try!"