Perfect Bastard (Mason Creek)

She waved a finger at me. “I’m worth the wait,” she said, with the glass window separating us.

She was.

As she drove away, I wondered how long a good thing like ours would last.

I would have my answer all too soon.

TWENTY-FOUR

Avery

As I sat writing, I thought about the last few weeks with Nate, which was where my inspiration had come from. I’d been doing a lot more writing since him. I’d even submitted more resumes and articles to large and small publications in the past few weeks than I’d done over the last few months.

Nate just made me so damn happy. I smiled, remembering when he’d come over the past weekend while Dad had gone bison-hunting.

Nate had parked out front that time and teased me by looking around as if my dad was lying in wait to kill him. He was cute like that.

I’d cooked for him, and we’d watched movies. Well, two movies. I’d picked one, and he’d picked one. I surprised him when I picked the latest Spiderman movie, which had finally become available via streaming. He’d picked Nightmare Alley, which had surprised me. We’d watched and shared a bowl of popcorn that hadn’t lasted.

We hadn’t seen each other since but had spent an incredible evening on the phone a few nights ago just talking about everything from world headlines to him explaining the rules of baseball and why he, as a starting pitcher, only played every five games. Apparently, pitchers had to cool their arms after a grueling game where he threw balls faster than the speed limit and more.

Today I was picking up Haley from her mom’s and taking her to the airport.

Her eyes were red when she got in the car. “I didn’t know how hard that would be,” she said. “Six years and I’ve never been a day without her.”

“How is Zoe?”

“Fine.” She laughed to herself. “Agan promised to take her to Disney World if she was a good girl for her nan while we’re gone.”

“Wow. You two are serious.”

Haley shrugged. “I’m taking your advice and I’m not getting invested. I’m having fun and getting on a plane for the first time. A private plane.”

“Can’t say I blame you. Just be careful.”

“Haven’t we done that our entire life? We should just live in the moment.”

I kept my eyes straight ahead and debated telling her about Nate and I. What she said about not getting invested, was that what I was doing? Maybe it was time to come clean.

Between her seeing Agan, and me with Nate, our jobs and Zoe, we hadn’t been spending much time with each other.

“I submitted my article to a few places.”

“Oh, really? You didn’t let me read it.”

“You’ve been busy.” I tapped my finger on the steering wheel, gearing up to the truth.

“I’m sorry. I’ve been working extra shifts to cover Christmas. Agan has wanted to see me a lot. Then I feel bad and spend the rest of the time with just me and Zoe.”

I’d babysat a few times when she’d gone out with Agan. She’d come in so late, we would promise to catch up later. “No, it’s fine.”

Her eyes brightened when we neared the private airfield, which was a lot closer than the airport. “He’s there,” she squealed and pointed to where someone stood with a bouquet of flowers. He was still quite a ways off. “I’m so nervous. We still haven’t… you know. I was afraid. Every time I’ve hooked up with someone, he’s left. Now we’ll be on a boat or on the island and he can’t leave. If I’m not good in bed, he’ll have to give me another chance.”

“Oh, Haley. Those other guys…” I almost said they were dicks, but stopped myself. “They didn’t know what they were missing.”

“I love you. I’m glad you brought me. I knew you would calm my nerves. Agan wanted to pick me up, but this was better. I’m going to miss you.”

“It’s only a week or so.”

“I know. My cell won’t work over there, but Agan has a satellite phone.”

“Fancy,” I said.

She squealed in her seat and bounced a little until we got closer. “He’s so amazing. I hope…”

“I hope so too.”

When I pulled up, she leaned over and gave me a hug. When she pulled back, she had on her serious face. “Live, Avery. Don’t live for your dad or for me. Live for you.”

Then she was out of the car and in Agan’s arms. He waved. “Thanks for bringing her,” he said.

“No problem.”

Then I left. I’d made it home when I got a call and answered with a tentative hello, as the screen said ‘unknown caller.’

“Hello, this is Linda with The G Word. I got your article and call me intrigued.”

Silently, I cheered. “Yes?”

“I love that it’s a little Sex in the City, or should I say Mountainside, and a little not. Now I have to disclose I googled you. This wouldn’t be about a certain MLB pitcher, would it?”