Shay's smile returned. "Pumpkins mean breaking out winter sweaters and slick, tall boots and coffee with nutmeg and cloves and leaves turning color and pie and Halloween and pumpkin muffins and . . ." She stopped. "Should I go on?"
"Nope, that was a very comprehensive answer. I understand completely. Now if I could figure out the rest of the mysteries about women, I'd be rich. Wait. I am rich. Never mind. It's probably better not to understand them too well."
"Oh?" I asked. "Is there trouble in paradise with the new girlfriend?"
"No," he said too quickly. "Yes. But I think trouble is too strong of a word. It's more like a major difference of opinion. She just wants more of a commitment."
"Already?" I asked, earning a quick scowl from Shay. "It's been less than a month," I added in my defense.
"But it's been an intense month," Jack added. "She just wants a promise that I'm not seeing any other women. I've told her she needs to give me time to adjust."
"Bullshit.” Shay laughed. "Time to adjust? You're not moving to another planet. You're just dating a woman."
"She has a point," I said.
Jack laughed. "That's rich coming from you, Nash. But when Shay puts it like that, I feel like a selfish jerk." He swallowed some beer. "Change of subject. How is it going with the proposal for those scientists with the light metal bike frames? Don't forget I want to be included in testing a prototype. We could take the bikes on one of the mountain trails in Alta Dena."
"Alta Dena," Shay piped up. "That's where I think I found a place to live. It's a cute little back house, and it's close to Pasadena where I hope to find a job."
"You're going to move all the way out there?" In my head, the sentence finished with but that's so far away from me.
"Malibu is a little out of my price range. In fact, it's out of all ordinary people's price range. Besides, there are a lot more jobs inland." She obviously hadn't thought once about being far away from me. I couldn't blame her. I'd want to be far away from me too.
My phone rang. I glanced at the number. It was Dad's nurse, Mr. Pruitt. And suddenly, everything vanished around me, Jack and Shay and the pelicans diving in the blue sea. Suddenly, it was just me and the ringing phone with a message on the other end. And I knew what the message was before I said hello. I stood up and walked away from the table to answer it.
"Hello." My feet traveled absently along the paved path leading to the pool area.
"Hello, Mr. Archer?"
"Yes, Mr. Pruitt, it's me. Is there something wrong?"
His pause was the same as words. "I'm very sorry, Nash, but your father passed away about twenty minutes ago."
It shouldn't have been a shock to hear that Dad had died. I'd had months to prepare for it, yet it sounded too strange, too implausible to think that a life that was so supercharged, so powerful, so tireless had been extinguished. I could think of a hundred instances as a kid when I'd wished the man would die or disappear or turn into something more like a real father. Now he was gone.
"Thank you, Mr. Pruitt. You were truly a godsend in these last few months. Thank you for taking such great care of him. I'm new at this. What should I do? What comes next?"
"The doctor has already arranged for the transport of his body to the funeral home. Just as you father had requested."
"I'm sure my dad has everything planned right up to the last shovel of dirt at the gravesite. Thank you again."
"Good bye, Nash. And take care."
I hung up and stared down at the phone for a second before walking back to the patio where Shay and Jack seemed to be deep in a debate about the best way to eat pizza. Jack glanced up from their conversation. "We need to order a pizza so I can show this anti-crust woman how to eat from—" He stopped. "Nash? What's up? Who was that?"
I sat down and took hold of my beer. "My dad died."
"No shit." Jack sat forward. I could feel Shay's gaze on me, but I wasn't ready to meet it yet. "Hey, Nash, if there's anything you need, I'm here for you."
"Yes, me too." Shay's faint voice reached through the stunned cloud circling my head. I finally worked up the courage to look at her. Her brown eyes were glassy with emotion. I wanted nothing more than to reach for her hand.
As good friends do, Jack and Shay sat quietly waiting for me to decide just how to react. How the hell does one react when losing someone they loved as much as they hated? I credited my dad with my talent in business. At the same time, I credited him with my numerous character flaws, one being the inability to work up true sorrow about losing my dad, my only family member.