The Emerald Horseshoes

by Jane Josephs

  Nick groaned and shook his head. “I wouldn’t want to be on the Porter or the Iowa when that mess hit the fan. I’m surprised the Iowa didn’t fire on the Porter, given that the President was on board.”

  Alison’s jaw dropped. “It says here the crew was ordered to train her main guns on the Porter out of concern for an assassination plot.” Alison stared at him. “How’d you know that?”

  “I didn’t, but it just makes sense that the Iowa would be suspicious. You can’t be too careful with the Commander in Chief on board. It’s a big deal. Then and now.” In one smooth move, he stood and gathered his trash. “I can’t sit too long or I get stiff. But thanks for the history lesson. And the apple.” He glanced at her lap and smiled. “You should finish your sandwich. I’ll catch you later.” Grabbing his water bottle, he walked away.

  “Well, that went well . . . Not!” Alison mumbled, watching Nick walk away. She put her iPad away, got up and took her sandwich to the ship railing. Her thoughts on Nick, she nibbled a few small bites and threw the rest over the side to the fish. Might as well catch a quick tour of the museum. Even if she did have to see it alone.

  ~ ~ ~

  The finals began with the best of the women’s teams competing first. Standing beside Joe, Alison pointed toward Olivia and Becca. “Olivia’s kicking it today. She’s amazing.” Joe nodded without taking his eyes off his girlfriend. In minutes the buzzer sounded, and each team started a set of fifty synchronized squats. Needing the restroom again, Alison watched Olivia for a while, then left Joe beside CJ. She found Nick staring across the water, stretching his hamstrings.

  “Hi, Nick.”

  He glanced up. “What’s up? How are the women doing?”

  “They’re almost finished with the first set of fifty squats. Olivia’s doing great. Am I interrupting?”

  “Nope. Did I see you go into the museum after lunch?”

  “You caught me. It was cool. I love history and I wanted to see the bathtub.”

  He switched to stretch his left leg. “Well, did you?”

  “See the bathtub? You think I wouldn’t?”

  He chuckled. “I don’t know you well enough to say.” He stood and began arm stretches.

  “Ever hear of a gal named Lola?”

  Nick laughed. “She was popular in the 1950’s. That describe you?”

  “Pretty much.”

  Hands on his hips, he twisted side to side. “I think I’m in trouble.”

  “You think?”

  “My grandmother used to play that song on an old stereo system she had.”

  Alison’s chin shot up. “Mine, too.” The memory of her grandmother singing the seductive lyrics washed over her, bringing tears. She brushed them away and sniffed. “Sorry. She died a year ago. I still miss her like crazy.”

  Nick stopped twisting and turned to her. He scrutinized her face, his eyes compassionate. “I’m sorry for your loss. It looks like you two were close.”

  “Yeah, she was the best.” Alison pulled the sleeves of her hoody over her hands, as if she could hide them. Her face heated at his intense stare. She looked away. “I used to spend every . . .”

  “Hey you two!” Kayla’s voice interrupted Alison. “I’m glad I caught you. I wanted to ask you, Nick, if you could give Alison a ride to Tony’s place for the party after the competition. That is, if that’s okay with you, Alison.”

  “Well, I . . .” Alison began.

  “Did you come with them?” Nick asked, nodding at Kayla.

  “Yeah, we brought her,” Kayla said. “But she barely had room in the back seat beside all of Tony’s gear. His trunk is packed full of some stuff he was supposed to drop off at Goodwill. I’m sure Alison doesn’t want to get stuck holding all the groceries we need to get for the party, so you would be doing us a huge favor. What do you say? Do you have room?”

  Alison’s stomach jumped. “I don’t mind holding the groceries, really.” Was Kayla setting her up? Not that she minded spending two hours alone in a car with Nick. But a quick look at his expression told her he thought he was being manipulated.

  “I thought we were getting pizza,” Nick said, without bothering to answer her request.

  Kayla shook her head. “You know everyone’s doing paleo. And today’s not a cheat day for most of us, so pizza’s out. We’re getting salmon to throw on the grill. Some salad and tons of veggies. Everyone’s pitching in a few bucks.”

  “Well, okay. Whatever. Let me get my wallet.” He glanced at Alison. “You want to ride with me?”

  He didn’t look very happy about being put on the spot. After their easy conversation a minute ago, she couldn’t figure out his mood. Maybe he never got pizza. Or maybe he just didn’t want to be with her. Alison worked her bottom lip with her teeth, embarrassed and trying not to show it.

  “I’m sure I could get a ride with someone else, if it’s a problem,” she said, lifting her chin.

  He shrugged. “It’s okay with me, if it’s okay with you. But let’s talk about it later. I’ve still got to get through this competition. I’m going to see how the women are doing.”

  As he walked away, Alison turned to Kayla, barely holding back her frustration. “What’s with him? Did I do something wrong?”

  Kayla laughed. “No, no, Nick’s a great guy. Really. But, he’s one of those people who sometimes sees things as either black or white. And it’s just a guess, but the way I’m reading it, you’re just a little too gray for him to handle.”

  Kayla’s words sent a jolt to Alison’s stomach. “I think I like that,” she said. And smiled.

  Chapter 3

  By four o’clock, the competition was over, and teams began to disperse. The boat guys had done well, but not as well as they had hoped. Alison hung back, wishing she could help when they all pitched in to move the CrossFit equipment off the deck onto a waiting truck. But one attempt to lift a fifty-pound kettlebell told her she’d only be in the way. Instead, she put her borrowed lawn chair back in its bag, gathered her trash, and moved to stand nearby.

  Nick tucked his third-place prize in his bag and stood. He fist-pumped Tony and shook his head. “We gave it a good shot, but that ribbon only motivates me to do better next time.”

  CJ grunted. “You could have been fourth, like Dustin and me. Or seventh like Joe and Spitz.” He finished packing up his gear and stood. “We didn’t get to be up on those fancy boxes. We didn’t even get our names mentioned.”

  Katie shifted Timmy to rest on her hip and rubbed CJ’s back. “You all did great, and at least you had fun, didn’t you?”

  CJ draped his arm around Katie. “Yeah, but we came to win. That’s who we are. I’m going to need a lot of consoling.” He turned to Katie and gave her a very thorough kiss. The baby flapped his arm, brushing his hand against CJ’s cheek. “From you, too, little man.” He took the baby from Katie and held him in the air before bringing him to his nose and tickling him.

  Alison’s stomach clenched. She scraped her teeth against her bottom lip, jealous. Would she ever find someone to love her like CJ loved Katie and their son? She looked away. Her family had never exhibited much affection with each other. And now, with her mom and dad divorced, they never would. Picking up her backpack, she started for the gangplank.

  “Hey, you forgot your chair,” Nick called. He came up beside her. Alison stuck out her hand to take it from him. “I’ll carry it for you. You’re still riding with me, right?”

  “I guess. If it’s okay.” She fell in beside him.

  “Yeah, it’s fine.” A grin tugged at his lips. “As long as you like country.”

  Alison stopped mid-stride. “As in . . . country music?”

  He stopped, too, his eyes twinkling. “Yeah, of course. Is that a problem?”

  She rolled her eyes. “It’s not my
call now, is it? It’s your car.” They turned to go down the gangplank to the parking lot.

  “Truck. I drive a truck.”

  “Now, why doesn’t that surprise me? Goes with the music.”

  “Yep, a perfect match. But do I hear a note of censure in your voice?” He laughed. “Not that I haven’t heard a few complaints before. What is it about country? You either love it or hate it. There’s no in-between, it seems. This is me.” He stopped beside the passenger-side door of a tan Ford F150 truck. “Do you want to keep your backpack with you? Or I can put it in the back seat with the chair?”

  Alison studied her pack, her forehead creasing in a frown as she mentally sorted through its contents. “I guess you can put it in the back. I don’t need anything in it until we get to Tony’s.”

  He dropped his own gear so he could take her pack, then opened the door for her.

  She scanned the truck interior as she plopped in her seat. She turned to Nick. “Country music and not a speck of trash anywhere in this truck cab. That’s an oxymoron, isn’t it?”

  Nick laughed, his eyes sparkling. “Not in my world,” he said, and closed her door.

  Alison’s heart did a flip-flop. Her eyes glued on him as he went around the hood of the truck to the driver’s side and got in.

  Nick started the truck and pulled out of the parking lot into traffic. Once on the freeway, he put his music on. “Are you okay with this? Or we could talk.”

  “I actually like country music. Some of it, at least. But I like talking better.”

  Nick shook his head and turned the music low. “Me and my big mouth. I’m not much good at small-talk, just so you know.”

  “Yeah, small-talk can be painful. But no pressure, okay? It’s just you and me trying to get acquainted. Nothing like some situations I’ve walked into.” The memory of her evening in the Gas Lamp District the week before caused her stomach to clench. “Imagine a room full of people, everyone looking like they’re having a great time, and you’re all alone standing at the doorway searching for one familiar face. Now, that’s pressure. Best thing to do, I’ve found, is to go to the bar. The bartender is your friend. He has to talk to you; it’s his job.”

  Nick glanced at her. “Somehow I can’t quite imagine that scenario for you. You seem pretty outgoing.”

  “Truth be told, I’m borderline introvert-extravert. I know how to work a room, if I want to. Or need to. But I know a lot of bartenders, too.”

  “So, what’s your opening line? What’s the drink you order?”

  “Hmmm. My opening line.” Alison decided to have some fun at her own expense. “Well, I thought the bathtub one was pretty good.”

  Nick barked a laugh. “Yeah, that was classic. Nothing I’ve ever heard before, for sure.”

  “But it worked, didn’t it?”

  He took his eyes off the road long enough to pin her with his gaze. “Yeah, it did.”

  Alison felt the chemistry down to her toes and sucked in a deep breath, trying to slow her heart rate. “But, when it comes to what to drink, it depends on the party. If I’m in a dress, it’s wine. I like red best, but a nice white can be good, too. If I’m in jeans? It’s beer. But sometimes I just hang with the bartender and have a Diet Coke with lime.” She laughed. “What about you? What do you say? And what do you drink?”

  Nick shrugged. “Well, in the first place, I limit the party scene to ones with people I know, if I can be persuaded to go at all. So, I don’t have a standard pick-up line. Really don’t have any pick-up lines, for that matter. If I can’t get out of going to something, like tonight, I drink beer. I’ll drink about any kind. But lately my go-to-choice is Goose Island. And I always stop at one.”

  “Any special reason for that?”

  “I just don’t chance having alcohol in my system when I know I’ll be driving. Which is almost always when I go to get-togethers like tonight. The Navy’s pretty strict on those kinds of things. And my job’s too important to me.”

  “I admire that.” She waited but when he didn’t continue, she said, “I’ve heard of Goose Island. It’s a Craft Beer, right?” Alison filed away his commitment to sobriety and his comment about not wanting to go to the party tonight, hoping for another chance to bring it up.

  “Yeah, it’s brewed in Chicago, and it’s one of those that’s not so hard to find.”

  “Is beer what everyone will be drinking tonight?”

  “Probably. That okay with you?”

  “Sure. I can handle beer.” Alison turned to look out the window, refusing to remember the debacle that had occurred the last time she had beer. Passing out in front of her new friends was not going to happen this time.

  The sky changed from gray to black as they alternately chatted and listened to music. Snuggled against the passenger side door, with her shoes off and her knees tucked up to her chest, she openly studied the SWCC instructor and CrossFit enthusiast. If she’d been interested before, her level of curiosity had now soared off the chart. The guy simply wowed her. A perfect combination of humility and confidence. The way he casually draped his hand over the top of the steering wheel sparked a memory.

  “Do you like driving at night?” Alison asked.

  “I don’t mind it.” He glanced at her, looked back at the road, and back at her again. “Sounds sort-of like a loaded question, though. You have a destination in mind?”

  Alison smiled. “No, no. Not really. What do you think? I’m going to ask you to drive me to Mexico?” She laughed. “The way you let your hand drape over the steering wheel reminded me of how my dad drives. That’s all. And brought back the memory of a trip he took me on once, at night in the car, for my birthday.”

  “Where’d you go?” Nick asked.

  “We drove up the Pacific Coast Highway from L.A. to Santa Barbara. For my thirteenth birthday.”

  “That’s a gorgeous drive, especially at sunset.”

  “Yeah, it was. But the best part was having my dad all to myself. At least for the two hours in the car. It was great. Really special.” She shrugged. “Most of the time his work kept him pretty busy, so time together was kind of rare. And that year, at the last minute, he had to schedule a business meeting. So instead of cancelling our time together, he parked me in the hotel lobby with my birthday present—a new book—while he had his meeting. But afterwards we had cake and ice cream. At least, I did. I only remember a little bit of the ride home. I fell asleep. That was actually the last time we took a car ride like that together.”

  “Did something happen? Is he still alive?”

  Alison laughed. “Oh, yeah, sorry. He’s alive and kicking. He just got incredibly busy with his company after that, and as a teenager, I had my own issues and interests.” She shrugged and turned to stare out the window.

  ~ ~ ~

  Fifteen minutes later, Nick changed lanes and exited onto Sea World Drive, but Alison’s story wouldn’t get out of his head. It somehow didn’t quite jive with his gut instincts. She made it seem as if it was no big deal to be left on her own with a book, but something about her upbeat voice and the actual details of the story told Nick it hadn’t been as special a trip as she made it seem. What kind of dad ‘parked’ his daughter in a hotel lobby on her birthday? And never took her out for a car ride again?

  Shoving his thoughts aside, Nick glanced at Alison. “We’re about ten minutes from Tony’s. We’re crossing the bridge over the San Diego River.”

  “Oh, good.” Alison unfolded herself and reached for her shoes. “I don’t want to put my foot in my mouth, so, can you tell me, do Tony and Kayla live together?”

  “No, Kayla and Ashley are roommates. They live in Escondido. Even though Tony and Kayla have known each other for about a year, they only started dating a couple of months ago, and they don’t live together. Don’t plan to, unless they get marrie
d. Right now, Joe lives with Tony.”

  “What about Spitz. And you? Any girlfriends in the picture?”

  “Spitz is married and has a three-month-old daughter. It was just too wet and rainy for them to come to the competition, but they’ll be at Tony’s. Spitz went home to get them.” He fell silent.

  “And that leaves you.”

  Nick glanced at Alison and back at the road. He inhaled a long, slow breath and let it out. His jaw clenched slightly before he finally answered. “No girlfriend.”

  ~ ~ ~

  They hit stop-and-go traffic on Nimitz Boulevard in Ocean Beach. Typical for a Saturday night, with the sidewalks and parks loaded with young people, and every parking slot filled. But in less than five minutes, he turned down a side street that dead-ended at a white rail fence and stopped in front of a small, ranch bungalow. “This is Tony’s place, but I guess we beat everyone.”

  “Tony and Kayla were getting groceries, remember?”

  “That’s right, salmon. The others should be here though.” He pointed out the front window of the truck. “Since we have a few minutes, there’s a set of stairs that leads down to the ocean over there beyond that fence. Want to take a look?”

  “Sure.” She got out of the truck and met him in the middle of the street.

  A cold wind off the ocean whipped Alison’s hair around her face. She pulled up her hood, stuffed her hands in the front pouch of her hoodie, and hunched her shoulders. At the fence, she gasped at the beauty of the scene before her. Scattered clouds dotted the inky black sky. The ocean surface shimmered in the starlight, stretching to the horizon. Below, cliffs and inlets formed channels for the surf. The music of the waves crashing against the rocks mesmerized her. Longings, lodged deep in her soul for so long, unfulfilled and unanswered, wanted to erupt and give away her darkest secrets. Her fiercest dreams.