Battle

He doesn’t try to stop me. I close the door without saying goodbye.

Marty answers the door and I enter her apartment, grateful to see Ginger is over. I sit on the couch and tell them about Wyatt’s confession.

I’m hurt when they both agree that I should move on. I catch Ginger flipping over a magazine, and the glance she shares with Marty.

“What?” I ask, reaching for the magazine.

“Faye, you don’t want to see…”

I turn the magazine over before she finishes. All of my hope for a future with Battle crumbles. Rider’s Monthly outdid itself. Above the picture of Battle surrounded by half naked girls, the title reads, “One Time Champion on the Outs. Woman, Booze, and the Demise of Battle McCoy.” Real classy.

“This is trash,” I shout, tossing the paper on the coffee table.

“He hasn’t won since he left you,” Ginger says.

“Are you blamin’ me for that?”

“No, of course not, but he’s fucked up. I don’t know if it’s you, or his mama, but you should stay clear of him.”

“He needs me.”

“He’ll only hurt you,” Marty says, patting my knee.

“He already did.”

“Then why do you want to go back for more?” Ginger asks.

I think about the stages of grief, as I have many times since Evelyn died; shock or disbelief, denial, bargaining, guilt, anger, depression, and finally acceptance or hope. By the looks of the cover of Rider’s Monthly, he’s hit the depression stage.

I look Ginger directly in the eyes, and say. “Because I’m waiting for hope.”

Three weeks pass and hope never arrives, not even a faint glimmer.

I’ve come to terms that I’ll never be able to keep my promise to Evelyn. Knowledge that haunts me in my sleep.

I agree to a dinner date with Wyatt to celebrate his being cleared to drive again, although, I make it clear I’m not ready for anything romantic. He takes me to a nice Italian restaurant, and over dinner, I have to admit old feelings surface.

On the drive back to his house, where I left my car, I question if I want to continue my fight for Battle. Grammy said when you find the one that gives you butterflies, never let him go, but Battle was never truly mine to begin with. She also used to say life has a way of working out exactly as it’s supposed to, and maybe it has.

Maybe breaking up with Wyatt, finding Battle, Wyatt’s accident, Evelyn dying, all lead me back to where I’m meant to be.

Maybe it’s time I stop fighting.

Wyatt opens my door and I step out of his SUV. His closeness stirs emotions that have been buried since I met Battle. Warmth spreads through me as I glance up into his soft green depths. The wind blows his hair, and I take a breath as his head lowers.

“Wyatt?” a woman with long dark hair calls, approaching from the sidewalk.

“Madeline,” Wyatt says, his voice tainted with confusion. “What are you doin’ here?”

He ambles toward her, leaving me at the SUV.

“I heard about the accident, I wanted to see you. Am I interrupting something?” she asks.

“I’m just returning from dinner," he tells her, without letting her know she is interrupting something. His second chance.

She smiles, her perfect white teeth glowing under the lamppost. “I’m moving back to Kansas City. I should have never turned down your proposal. I miss you.”

The air whooshes out of my lungs as I sag against his SUV. His proposal? What is she talking about?