by Claire Adams
“I’m glad, too. I sure did love coming over to your house when Tyler and I were younger. You always had the best snacks, and no one could beat your basement.”
“Yeah, we always loved having all of you teenagers over. So, tell me about you, how are things going with that boy of yours?”
“You know about Clyde?” I asked as I found a picture on my phone to show him.
“Of course. I might be sick, but I know all the news of the town.”
Mr. Pace had always been one of those guys who knew what was going on with everyone in the city. He wasn’t a gossip, but he listened really well while other people gossiped.
“He’s five now,” I said as I held my phone out for Mr. Pace to look at it. “He looks mostly like me and a little like his father.”
“I heard what that no-good son of a jerk did to you and that boy. It was horrible. I’m really proud of you for staying tough and raising that boy on your own. That took a lot of guts.”
“Thank you,” I said as I noticed Tyler was standing at the doorway with the nurse.
“Mr. Pace, I hear you might want to go outside today?” the nurse said with a huge smile on her face.
“It wasn’t my idea,” he responded grumpily.
“If you two will give us about 15 minutes, that should be enough time to get him ready.”
“Sure,” Tyler said. “Do you want me to stay and help?”
“No, he’s got some good energy today. I don’t think he will need any heavy lifting. Why don’t you two take a little tour of the facility and come back in a few minutes?”
“You do know I can hear you when you’re talking to them, right?” Mr. Pace said as Tyler and I were leaving the room.
“He looked pretty good to me; it’s hard to think that he’s dying. Are you sure he won’t get better? Aren’t there any other treatments he can do?”
“I thought the same thing,” Tyler said as we sat down in the sitting room. “I did all my research and was prepared to fight for more treatments and send him to the best of the best. But I talked to his doctors, I looked at the scans and all his tests, there is nothing more they can do for him. The cancer has spread throughout his chest, and he even has a spot on his brain. It won’t be much longer now.”
“Oh, I’m sorry I brought it up.”
I felt horrible for even suggesting that they hadn’t gone through every possible treatment. Of course they had; Tyler was a billionaire and I knew he wouldn’t just let his father get sick without making sure he had the best treatment. It was a stupid question, and I felt horrible for asking it.
“It’s all right. I said the same thing to my mother and sister when I found out. And I went to all the trouble of asking his doctor the same questions my whole family had already asked him. I think it’s reasonable to ask if someone has tried everything.”
“He looks good today,” I said softly as I tried to change the subject a little. “You are so good with him. I bet you want to be here all the time.”
“I do. But after a few visits, he forced me to leave. He doesn’t want anyone wasting their time sitting next to him while he’s sleeping. He even forced my mother to leave and come home and sleep in her own bed at night.”
We waited patiently on the couch as the nurse helped Mr. Pace get ready. I imagined he needed to use the restroom and change his clothes and how hard that all must have been when he was so weak. As we waited, I realized Tyler had a hold of my hand and I smiled. It felt so natural to hold hands with him, like we had picked up exactly where we had left off 15 years before.
Tyler must have noticed I was looking at our hands because he pulled my hand up to his lips and kissed it gently. With a small smile, he mouthed, “It’s a good day,” to me before putting my hand and his into his lap. It was a good day, that was for sure.
“Okay, you two, don’t go taking me on any joy rides,” Mr. Pace said as his nurse wheeled him out to us.
He had an oxygen piece of plastic around his nose and a small tank attached to his wheelchair. The nurse had dressed him in a comfortable pair of sweatpants, and he had on a large sweater. Although it wasn’t very cold outside, I imagined Mr. Pace might feel chilly since he had been spending most of his time in his bed.
“I’ll drive,” Tyler said as he joyously jumped up.
“Men, they always want to drive.” I laughed and nodded to the nurse. “Thank you.”
“Sure thing. You all have fun; don’t go too far.”
Her final warning was met with eye contact between her and I. I wasn’t exactly sure why we shouldn’t go too far, but I was going to make sure we abided by her rules. The last thing I wanted to do was be part of some sort of accident that happened while I was there with Tyler and his father.
“First things first,” Mr. Pace said as we rolled outside. “Are you two getting married? Because I had a dream you were getting married.”
“You had a dream about me and Kelsi?” Tyler asked.
“Yep.”
“Recently?”
“Yes, last night. I dreamt that you and Kelsi were getting married. She had on a long gown with lots of lace on it.”
Tyler looked at me with a raised eyebrow and shrugged the story off. He rolled his eyes like his father was losing his mind or something like that, but I just smiled at the two of them. It was fun to watch how they interacted with each other.
“So, you’re saying after not seeing Kelsi for 15 years, you randomly had a dream about her and I getting married last night?”
“No.”
“Okay, so when was the dream?”
“Oh, the dream was last night, but you didn’t get married then. Kelsi’s son was in the dream, and he was older than he is now. I’d guess maybe seven or eight in my dream.”
“Dad, you’re just making this up,” Tyler protested.
“Yep,” Mr. Pace said with a huge smile on his face. “Gotcha!”
“Mr. Pace, you had me going there.” I laughed with him.
It was a pretty good prank, and I had to admit it was a little better than the one Tyler had pulled on me. I was a fan of good pranks, but only when no one got hurt. If someone got hurt because of a prank, it automatically made it a bad prank.
“Dad, that was terrible,” Tyler protested as he pushed his father through the paved path and we found a spot in the sun near the trees.
“I thought it was pretty funny,” I said as I winked at Mr. Pace.
“I can’t believe I fell for that.”
“Kelsi, can you believe he fell for it?” Mr. Pace asked me.
“Yep, Tyler falls for everything.” I laughed. “Remember that time you told him he was getting that old broken truck as his vehicle? But he was going to have to climb in the back window because the door didn’t work.”
“Oh, yeah. That was hilarious. He didn’t even check to see if the door worked for a month. Kept climbing in and out of that back window.”
“That wasn’t funny at all,” Tyler said as he tried not to laugh.
“Liar, it was hilarious,” Mr. Pace said.
For the next 30 minutes, the three of us had an absolutely amazing visit out in the garden of the hospice building. I took in every second of it, and I could tell Tyler was, too. We would remember this day, no matter what else happened in either of our lives; we would always remember this day we spent with his father.
Chapter Thirteen
Tyler
“Thank you for today,” I said to Kelsi as we drove back to her place. “That was the best visit I’ve had with my father since I’ve been home.”
“Yeah, that was a beautiful afternoon.”
“Would you be free to come to an art studio with me tomorrow?”
“An art studio? What are you doing there?” Kelsi asked.
“Oh, it’s just a cute place that I did some marketing for. Not this particular studio, but the chain that owns it. I promised the owner I’d stop into one sometime and I’ve never followed through. I noticed it was in Fort Worth near the
restaurant and thought I’d make some time for it.”
“I wouldn’t be able to go until after dinner. Would that be too late?” Kelsi asked.
“No, I think that will work. I’ll call them tonight and I’ll get back with you in the morning if that’s all right?”
“Yep, sounds good.”
As I pulled into her driveway, it dawned on me that meeting Kelsi at the reunion had been one of the best things to happen to me in a very long time. There wasn’t another person in my life who I could have shared such an intimate moment with as my father was nearing the end of his life.
“You know, I haven’t actually painted since that time you and I stayed late to finish our art projects.”
“Wow, I remember that night like it was yesterday,” Kelsi said as her eyes glazed over with the memory. “You were insatiable that night.”
“Insatiable?” I laughed. “From what I remember, it was you who started the kissing that night.”
“Me? No way. I was just minding my business and finishing my painting. You were the one who spilled paint on your shirt and just had to take it off,” she said as she climbed out of the car. “I expect your clothes will stay on at this art studio we are going to?”
“You can assume anything you’d like,” I teased.
“I’ll talk to you later, thanks for a great day.”
“Thanks for coming with me to see my dad. Have a great night,” I said as she shut the door.
I sat in the driveway to her house and watched as she climbed the steps and looked back at me just before going into the house. I couldn’t help but flash back to the many times I had dropped her off in that very spot when we were teenagers.
I didn’t really have to go visit the art studio, but I needed another reason to get together with Kelsi. When she was next to me, it felt like the old days. I felt like the man I used to be, the one who was excited by each day and had plans that wouldn’t stop running through my mind.
When I pulled into my driveway, I knew right away that Mike was in town. There was no other reason Bryce would be at my house unless there was some sort of emergency with my father. But even if there had been an emergency, Bryce wouldn’t have been called. I walked up the steps, nervous about what was going on and why Bryce was in my house.
Relief washed over me when I walked through the door and saw Mike, Bryce, and Maryann all drinking and playing cards at the kitchen table. It was a rare sight that Maryanne was actually smiling and enjoying herself; she was so sad about losing our father that the sadness had taken over her normal personality. I didn’t blame her for being grumpy, though. I knew how sweet her soul was and how much it was hurting at the idea of going on with life and not having Dad around. Maryanne and Dad were inseparable, they had a different kind of bond than my father and I had. With Maryanne, Dad was soft, kind, loving, and not at all like he was with me. My father loved me, but he wasn’t overtly affectionate toward me like he was with Maryanne; the two of them had their own special bond.
“Did I miss the memo on poker night?” I laughed as I joined the group at the table.
“Yeah, I CC’d you on it last week,” Maryanne said playfully. She was drunk, which I also hadn’t seen for a while.
“So, you decided to come back home, old boy,” I said as I patted Mike on the back. “You missed us and just couldn’t stay away?”
“He thought you and I were partying without him,” Bryce added. “I tried to explain to him that there was no partying going on, but he didn’t believe me.”
“How was your date?” Maryanne asked.
“It wasn’t a date. I just took Kelsi out to visit with Dad. He was doing really well, though. We got him up and took him for a roll out through the gardens. I haven’t seen him that happy in a really long time.”
“Aww, I’m sorry I missed it. I would have loved to see Dad happy,” Maryanne said nostalgically as she sipped on her drink.
“So, what’s going on here? A little poker?” I asked.
“Did you poke her?” Mike said crudely.
“Mike, come on, man. We gave up the bet, remember? You win, I’m letting you use the jet for a vacation. Drop it, please,” I said as I looked from him to Maryanne.
The last thing I needed was Maryanne finding out about that stupid bet and telling Kelsi. I was the first to admit it was a stupid bet and I never should have made it, but it would like awful if Kelsi found out about it. I wasn’t hanging out with her because of the bet; it had absolutely nothing to do with the time I was spending with her. Only harm could come from her finding out.
“What bet?” Maryanne asked as she continued to play her cards.
“Oh, nothing. Just a stupid thing between Mike and I. Are you guys going to deal me in? I just need to make a quick call and I’ll play with you.”
“Yep, next hand we will add you,” Bryce said as he went along with my distraction.
I went to the other room and dialed Kelsi to let her know I had made the final arrangements about the art studio. Of course, there were no actual arrangements that needed to be made because I already knew the owner and had already reserved the place for the evening, but I went along with my story.
“Hey, we are good to go to the studio after six. Does that work for you?” I asked as I walked further away from the noisy crew at my kitchen table.
“Yep, that will work,” she said just as everyone burst out laughing in my dining room.
I wasn’t exactly sure why they were laughing so much, but I was sure that Kelsi had heard them. There was no way to deny I had them all over at my house.
“Sorry for the noise; Bryce and Mike are over and they are drunk. I feel a slumber party coming.” I laughed.
“Oh, that sounds like fun. Hopefully, Mike doesn’t puke all over your couch like he did at homecoming.”
“Man, that was horrible. My dad had to throw the couch out because it never stopped smelling of pizza and beer. It was nasty.”
“Okay, I’ll let you go. I’ll see you tomorrow. What time will you be picking me up? Are we staying at the hotel?”
My heart literally flipped over in my chest at the idea she was considering staying with me at the hotel. I could certainly reserve a room there again if she wanted me to.
“The hotel?” I asked.
“I’m kidding,” she said as she crushed my dreams. “I’ll be ready at five-thirty, how does that sound?”
“Not as good as the hotel, but I think that works just fine. Talk to you tomorrow, and enjoy your night.”
I immediately called the hotel and reserved a room for the following night. Even though I was perfectly fine with bringing Kelsi back home after our evening together, I still held out hope that she had made her comment with a little bit of hope of her own. She and I had a connection, there was no denying it. And I didn’t see a reason why we shouldn’t enjoy each other while we were both available. Life was short; we needed to enjoy every moment of it.
“So, how was Kelsi?” Maryanne asked. “Does she know about the bet you made to sleep with her?”
“Mike!” I yelled as I slapped him on the head.
“What? She asked me, and I couldn’t lie. Look at those beautiful brown eyes. How could I lie to those?”
“It was a joke and before I had even talked to her since coming home. We canceled it. Please don’t tell Kelsi; it has nothing to do with her now. It was stupid.”
“I know, you big jerk. I wouldn’t tell her. But you are right, that was a stupid bet. How old are you guys anyway?”
“It was Mike’s idea,” I said as if I was still the teenager she was accusing me of being.
“Sorry,” he said as he looked sweetly over at Maryanne. “Sometimes I do stupid things. I just can’t help myself, I think it’s because of all the hits I took while playing professional football. Did you know I was a football player?” he asked as he overtly flirted with my sister.
“Yes, Mike. I’ve known you since you had pimples covering your forehead,” she replied, totall
y uninterested in his advances.
I sat with Bryce across the table and rolled my eyes at what I was observing. How was it even possible that Mike was flirting with my little sister? After knowing her for almost 20 years, he decides now is a good time to make a move?
“So, Mike is in love with your sister,” Bryce said. “And you’re in love with your old high school girlfriend. Then there’s me, boring me with a wife and children and no excitement at all.”
“Hey, I’d kill to have a wife who loved me as much as Ashley loves you. That’s what we are all looking for, you know?”
“You’re looking for love?” He snickered.
“I didn’t know I was looking for it, but being around Kelsi is bringing up all sorts of things for me.”
“Dude, it’s the unknown that’s getting to you. As men, we always want what we can’t have, and she’s made it clear you couldn’t have her. Now, she’s giving you a tiny glimpse at the possibilities, and your mind is mesmerized by the idea of her.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
“You need to bang her. It’s the only way to see clearly again. Just close the deal and then you’ll be free.”
“Maybe,” I said as I pondered what he was saying.
Bryce was a little crude in his delivery, but maybe he was right. Maybe I was feeling all these emotions for Kelsi because I had wanted her so badly when we were younger. Now, even though we were older, I still hadn’t had her, and it was a primal urge that I couldn’t let go of. It was a clear possibility.
“When do you see her again?”
“Tomorrow. I’m taking her painting.”
“Shit, you are all romantic and stuff. Man, Ashley would wet herself with pleasure if I pulled some of this shit. Dude, you’re giving guys a bad name.”
“Perhaps you should do something special for Ashley for that very reason? Wouldn’t it be nice to see her wanting you so badly that she couldn’t contain herself?”
“Don’t go all romantic commando on me, Tyler. I’m married; I already closed the deal.”
“Suit yourself. I’m just saying you might want to keep your game a little warm so she doesn’t wander off. Ashley’s one fine woman, and I bet when she goes to the gym, the guys are always hitting on her.”
