Dream Like Nothing's Impossible

by S. J. McCoy

  “He is; he’s a good kid.”

  Chase came in through the back door and made his way over to join them. He leaned across the bar to kiss Kenzie and then smiled at Eddie. “Where’ve you been? I went out to your place at lunchtime.”

  “Out and about. Why? What did you want?”

  Kenzie laughed. “He had lunch with April.”

  How the hell did she know that?

  She shrugged. “I stopped by to see Renée.”

  Chase grinned at him. “You should ask her to come out Friday night.”

  Eddie raised an eyebrow.

  “We’ve got the night off, remember? There’s that big reunion upstairs, and they’re bringing their own band.”

  “Oh, that’s this week? I forgot.”

  “You could bring her here or take her out on a real date.” He looked at Kenzie. “I’d like to take my wife out since we rarely get a Friday night off, but she claims she has to work.”

  Kenzie made a face at him. “I do! Ben’s going to be rushed off his feet with the reunion upstairs and the usual crowd down here with no band to distract them.”

  “But, Ben said…”

  Kenzie shook her head firmly. “You know I’d love to go out with you, but we can’t just leave him on his own like that.”

  Chase grinned at Eddie. “I’d swear she’s more concerned with Ben than she is with me. He wouldn’t exactly be on his own; he’s got the staff you’ve trained for him. They can handle it.”

  Kenzie shrugged. “I’m not talking about it anymore. If you really want to spend the evening with me, you can work the bar, too.”

  Eddie had to laugh at the look on Chase’s face. “I’ll probably end up doing that. But you should take April out while you’ve got the chance.”

  Eddie nodded. He’d love to, but it wouldn’t be a real date. She’d never go for that. It’d be as friends. If she even agreed to it. It would depend on Marcus anyway.

  Kenzie raised an eyebrow at him.

  He shrugged. “I’ll ask her.”

  “When are you seeing her again?” asked Chase.

  “I’m going over to her place tomorrow afternoon to give Marcus a guitar lesson.”

  Chase grinned. “That’s awesome. I had so much fun with Ethan when I taught him. I think he’ll be teaching me soon. He’s so damned smart.” He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Is Marcus smart? I haven’t figured him out. He’s so quiet whenever I see him, but he and Ethan are the best of buddies, so I figure he must be smart.”

  Eddie nodded. “I think he is. Like you say, he’s quiet, but he’s got a lot to get over. I hope he’s starting to.”

  “Has she told you much about what happened to them?” asked Kenzie.

  He shook his head. April hadn’t told him much, and he wasn’t about to share anything she had told him. It was her business, and no one else’s as far as he was concerned.

  “That’s all behind her,” said Chase with a laugh. “She’s got Eddie now. She doesn’t know how lucky she is!”

  Eddie rolled his eyes. “Yeah, like I’m some catch or something, and you seem to be forgetting that she doesn’t even want me. We’re just friends.”

  “Oh, for Christ’s sake! When are you going to quit with that shit and just ask her out?”

  “I’m not. She’s not interested!”

  “And how do you know that?” asked Kenzie. “Has she told you that?”

  “No, but she hasn’t given me any indication that she is interested.”

  “So, ask her out already!” Chase slapped him on the back. “I’ve never known you to be backward about coming forward with a woman before.”

  Kenzie smiled. “I’ll bet you’ve never seen it matter to him before either. You leave him alone; he’ll get there when he’s ready.”

  Chase looked at Kenzie then back at Eddie. “It matters?”

  “A lot,” said Kenzie. “Doesn’t it, Ed?”

  He nodded slowly. He couldn’t lie to them.

  ~ ~ ~

  “Will he be here soon?” asked Marcus.

  April nodded. “In about twenty minutes.”

  “Okay.” Marcus went to look out the front window.

  She laughed. “So there’s no point you standing there all that time.” He was so looking forward to his next guitar lesson with Eddie. Well, maybe he was just looking forward to seeing Eddie again. She hadn’t seen him this excited in, well, maybe ever. She needed to be careful. She didn’t want him getting too attached to Eddie. It wouldn’t be fair on either of them. Eddie didn’t need the obligation, and Marcus didn’t need any more disappointment in his life.

  He came away from the window. “Do you know how much I have in my savings now?”

  “We’ll have to go online and check.” If he wanted his money, she’d have to find a way to give it to him herself. They couldn’t exactly drive up to Montana to make a withdrawal, and his savings account didn’t have a debit card. The money that was in there was as good as lost. “Why?”

  He shrugged. “I just wondered.”

  That meant he had an idea that he didn’t want to tell her about. Her birthday was coming up, so maybe that was it. She didn’t push him.

  He ran back to the window at the sound of a car pulling up outside. “Did you know he has a Camaro?” he shouted excitedly.

  It couldn’t be Eddie. They’d ridden in his car. He drove a Ford. She went to stand beside Marcus at the window. It was Eddie. And he was getting out of what looked like a brand new Camaro.

  Marcus ran to the front door. April was amazed to see him running up the path to greet Eddie. Wow! He hadn’t stopped for permission before he dared to go outside this time! She smiled. It seemed Eddie was good for him. She watched as they stood admiring the car. She shouldn’t think too much about any of it; she should just be glad that, for now, Marcus had a guy in his life who was taking an interest in him.

  She was about to go outside to join them, but went into the kitchen instead. She could fix them all a cold drink and let them have a few minutes together, talking boy talk, about cars.

  She smiled when they came in to join her a good ten minutes later. They were each carrying a guitar. She cleared her throat before she spoke. She really needed to try to make her voice sound normal when she greeted him.

  “Hi.” Ooh, that sounded good! She sounded husky, not squeaky!

  Eddie smiled. “Hey, sorry that took us a while. I wanted to show Marcus the car.”

  “You wanted to show him, or he wanted you to?”

  He smiled. “I wanted to.” He winked at Marcus. “It’s a guy thing; we like our cars.”

  Marcus smiled up at him and nodded his agreement. “We do, and yours is awesome.”

  “Thanks.”

  April gave in to her curiosity. “It’s yours? I thought you drove a Ford.”

  “I do. That’s my everyday runaround. The Camaro is my play car. You know, just for fun.”

  April nodded, although she didn’t know. It must be nice to have a sports car just for fun, but it wasn’t a concept she was familiar with. “Well, I fixed you both a drink. I thought you’d want to get started.” She carried the tray through to living room and set it down on the coffee table. “I thought you’d be best in here; there’s not enough room anywhere else.”

  Eddie nodded. “This is great. Thanks.”

  She looked at Marcus and ruffled his hair. “You be good, and do as Eddie tells you.”

  “You’re leaving?” He looked nervous. So did Eddie, for that matter.

  She smiled at them. “I’ll only be in the kitchen. I thought I could make us some dinner for when you get finished.”

  They both looked relieved. “That’d be great, thanks,” said Eddie.

  She got busy in the kitchen and listened to them as she worked. It didn’t sound like Marcus was doing very well to her, but by the sounds of their laughter, they were enjoying themselves and that was what it was really about. As long as he was having fun, she was happy. And she was grateful to Eddie for
making it happen.

  Everything had been quiet for a few minutes when Eddie stuck his head around the kitchen door.

  “Is everything, okay?” she asked.

  “Yeah, he’s doing great. He had to go pee.”

  “Okay. How much longer are you going to need?”

  “Maybe fifteen minutes or so, if that’s okay?”

  “That’s perfect. I’ll have some dinner ready.”

  “I can get going if you like? Get out of the way, if he’s got homework to do or anything.”

  “No. I’d like you to stay and eat with us.” There, she’d said it! “And I know Marcus would.”

  Marcus came back to join them. “Please stay?”

  Eddie smiled at him. “Sure thing.”

  When they did sit down to eat, it gave April the chills. It was so weird, but so nice. This was the kind of life she might have imagined for herself before she ever got involved with Guy. Here she was sitting at the kitchen table with her son and, well, it was Eddie, but in the little fantasy he was her husband, and Marcus was their son, and they were all having dinner together, chatting and laughing. It was so relaxed and fun!

  Eddie caught her eye. “So, what are we doing this weekend?”

  “Four-wheeling!” cried Marcus.

  It was wonderful that he was excited enough to speak up, and even more wonderful that he wasn’t afraid to do so.

  She nodded. “If you still want to?” she asked Eddie.

  “Of course, I do! And I wondered if you both still want to go to the big mall down Route Twenty?”

  Marcus looked up at her hopefully. “Can we?”

  She nodded. She’d love to. “That’d be great.”

  She couldn’t even imagine that Eddie was doing any of it out of some sense of obligation. He looked just about as happy as Marcus. “How do you want to work it?” she asked. “We’ve got the four-wheelers booked for Saturday morning, so do you want to go to the mall on Sunday? I know you’ll have to go and get ready for work on Saturday evening.”

  Eddie shrugged. “I don’t mind, whatever suits you. I have to be at the Boathouse by six to get everything set up, but other than that I’m yours for the whole weekend if you want me.”

  Oh, she wanted him! But she knew that wasn’t what he meant.

  “And on Friday night…” He stopped, looking uncertain.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. I’m not sure yet.”

  She wondered what he’d been about to say, but then she remembered. “Marcus is staying at Ethan’s again on Friday night, aren’t you? So I guess that’s out.”

  Marcus smiled up at her. “You two should do something.”

  “You’re right, Marcus, we should.” Eddie grinned at her. “How about it?”

  “Something like what?” She wasn’t sure she wanted to watch him sing at the resort. Well, she’d love to watch him sing, but not to watch the girls who flocked around him!

  “We should go out. We’re not playing the Boathouse. I have a rare Friday night off, and I’d love to take you out.”

  She felt her cheeks flush as Marcus nodded at her enthusiastically.

  She looked back at Eddie. Did he mean, take her out, like, on a date? It sounded that way, but he couldn’t mean that, could he?

  His smile was fading. “What do you say?”

  She took a deep breath and nodded. “I’d love to. Thank you!”

  A little while later, she looked at her watch. It was nearly Marcus’s bedtime. She didn’t want to kick Eddie out, but she couldn’t let Marcus stay up too late, given the time they had to be up in the morning.

  Eddie caught her eye. “I should get going. I bet somebody has to get to bed.”

  “Aww. Do you have to go?” April was surprised again that Marcus spoke up. She was more used to him quietly accepting whatever was said.

  “I’m afraid so, but I’ll see you again on Saturday. I had a great time.”

  “Me too. Thank you. I’ll help you pack up the guitars.”

  “Just mine,” said Eddie. “You can hang on to yours in case you want to practice what we learned.”

  “For real?”

  “For real. I know you’ll take good care of it.” Eddie stopped and frowned. “And besides, it doesn’t matter if anything does happen to that one, it’s just a practice one.”

  April smiled at him gratefully. He understood from the incident with the fishing pole that Marcus would be devastated if the guitar got damaged accidentally.

  “I’ll take good care of it. I promise.”

  Eddie ruffled his hair. “I know.”

  They walked him out to his car. April wished everything were different, wished that he wasn’t going home but staying here with them.

  He smiled at Marcus. “Have I kept you up past your bedtime?”

  “Yeah, but it’s okay. If I had to go, Mom would have made me.”

  “Do you ever do things before she makes you? Just to make life a bit easier for her?”

  Marcus thought that one over then smiled up at him. “Sometimes. See you Saturday.” He wrapped his arms around Eddie’s waist and gave him a quick hug before running back down the path to the house. “I’m going to brush my teeth, Mom,” he called as he went.

  April laughed. “Wow! You certainly have some sway with him.”

  Eddie shrugged. “He cares about you; he wants to make you happy. I just pointed out a way that he could.”

  She nodded.

  “And besides, I wanted to ask you again if you’d like to go out with me on Friday night. I wasn’t sure if you just said yes because he obviously wanted you to.”

  She shook her head. “I meant what I said. I’d love to.” She still wasn’t sure if he meant as friends or as a date, but she was hoping.

  The way he smiled at her fueled that hope. “Great.” He leaned toward her. Was he going to kiss her? Her eyelids drooped, and she felt herself lean toward him.

  “Mom! The sink’s plugged again.”

  Her eyes flew open, and when they did, Eddie was standing a good foot away from her. She must have imagined it! Thank goodness Marcus had saved her from making a fool of herself!

  “I’d better go and sort him out,” she said.

  Eddie nodded and opened the car door. “See you Friday then, yeah?”

  “Yep.”

  Chapter Eight

  Eddie stopped back into the Boathouse on his way home. He felt too upbeat to go sit at home. He’d asked her out—and she’d said yes!

  Ben grinned at him when he got to the bar. “You look like you’re celebrating. Want to tell me what the big grin’s all about?”

  Eddie wasn’t sure he did, but it was Ben. It wasn’t like telling just anyone. Anything you told Ben stayed with Ben. It didn’t go any further. “Yeah. I asked April to go out with me on Friday night, and she said yes.”

  Ben reached across the bar and punched his arm. “That’s awesome. Good for you.”

  Eddie nodded. He couldn’t stop smiling.

  “Where are you going to go?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess we’ll come in here. It’s not like we have many options, is it?”

  “No, we’re about your only option unless you want to take her to eat at Giuseppe’s?”

  “We had lunch there the other day and besides, going there for dinner isn’t the same as coming out where we can dance and have fun.”

  “True. Well, if you like, I’ll keep a table for you if you want to eat?”

  “Thanks, Ben.” He was such a good guy.

  “No worries. It’s the only way you’ll get one. It’s going to be crazy in here. We’ve got the reunion upstairs. We’ve got an entire busload of cheerleaders staying at the resort this weekend, and as if that weren’t enough, Smoke is bringing all his new student pilots on Friday night. They’re all coming in early so they can spend the weekend getting to know the area before they start flight training on Monday.”

  “Wow! Maybe I should take her somewhere else. It sounds
like it’s going to be a zoo in here.”

  “I won’t be offended if you do, just thought I’d better warn you. I’ll keep a table for you anyway; it’s not like we won’t be able to fill it if you don’t show.”

  “Thanks. I’ll let you know as soon as I can if we decide to do something else.”

  Ben turned away to serve a lady who had just taken a seat at the bar. She looked familiar, but Eddie couldn’t quite place her.

  “Hi, Chris!” said Ben. “It’s good to see you. How are you settling in?”

  She smiled. “I’m finding my feet. And I’m loving it here, thank you. Plus, don’t tell them I said so, but I love living in the same town as my boys for the first time in far too many years.”

  That was it! She was Jack and Dan’s mom. She’d been in Vegas, too. Eddie smiled at her. She seemed nice, and he admired that she’d just come out by herself like this. He couldn’t imagine his mom ever doing that.

  She smiled back. “I’m sorry. I don’t remember your name, but I know you’re the very talented musician who played at my son’s wedding. Thank you. You helped make their day so special.”

  “Eddie,” he said as he held out his hand to shake with her. “It’s good to see you here, Chris.”

  She looked a little surprised that he remembered her name. “It’s good to be here, like I was just telling Ben. My only regret is that I didn’t move here sooner. When Jack and then Dan kept telling me what a great place it was, I thought they were just reassuring me that they were okay. Now I’m here, I understand—it really is a great place, isn’t it?”

  Eddie laughed. “It really is. It’s the best place I’ve ever lived, and I don’t ever plan to leave.”

  Ben grinned at him. “That’s good to know. I thought you were just passing through.”

  “So did I when we first came here, but the place has grown on me. I love it.”

  Chris smiled and raised her glass to him. “Me too!”

  “Mom?” They both turned around at the sound of Jack’s voice. “What are you doing here?” He gave Eddie an odd look.

  Chris laughed. “Don’t look at me like that! I can come out for a drink if I want to.”

  “You should have called. I would have come to get you. I’m meeting Emma here.”

  “I’m fine. I don’t need to impose on the two of you every time I want to go out. I’m perfectly capable of taking myself.” She grinned at Eddie. “And making my own friends.”