by L. B. Dunbar
“What about your boyfriend?” I ask. Doesn’t the guy even take her out, especially to the town’s big event? He should be wooing her with a Ferris Wheel ride, kissing her at the top of the turn. He should be winning her a stuffed animal at those overpriced games and buying her a giant, sticky, cinnamon elephant ear that they share.
“Mom doesn’t have a boyfriend,” Gee confesses, and my head swivels to his mother.
“Oh, really? She told me she had a man in her life,” I tease, suddenly feeling guilty at exposing her if she wanted to keep her guy a secret, potentially protecting the feelings of her son.
“She tells me all the time I’m the only man in her life,” he states with confidence, and I glare at Britton, who looks down at her bare feet, rubbing the toes of one foot over the other.
“Is that true, Britton?”
Her face lifts, bright red and guilty as sin. Busted.
“Coach needs to be going. Now,” Britton says to Gee.
“I’ll be sending you the invite to dinner as my plus one with directions to the restaurant, so you can attend with me tomorrow night.” Gotcha.
“You don’t have my number,” Britton states.
“I can send it to you,” Gee says to me, falling back into line as my pal and sending me his mother’s number from the phone in his hand. I smile, crooking one side of my lip higher than the other in victory. Britton smirks at me, but it’s not as fierce as she can be.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” I state.
“I’m undecided.”
I chuckle at her answer. I used to have ways to make her decide, but I can’t remind her of those moments with her son before us.
“Okay, Gee. Sunday, buddy.” I reach out a fist for him to bump.
“Hey, Coach, why couldn’t the team manager drink the water?”
Britton shakes her head, a faint smile curling her lips. I glance from her to her kid.
“I don’t know. Why?”
“He didn’t have a pitcher.”
I laugh. I like this kid. And if he helps me win over his mom, who isn’t dating someone, I might grow to love him.
Take 13
Scene: A Balcony
[Britton]
“What you’re saying is, he could be waiting for you right now?” Jenna is on her second margarita as we sit outside on the balcony of her apartment. She’s moved into the space over the pharmacy as it was vacated in June. The spot provides me a view of the carnival, which stands on the public parking lot between town and the local marina. The fireworks will be going off over the lake later.
After closing TeasMe! at four and running through some last-minute business, I met Jenna and Henry here and poured out my history with Gavin. Well, most of my history.
“I have no idea.” It isn’t the whole truth, though. Gavin did send me the invite, with a code as his plus one, for entry to the private dinner at a restaurant in Traverse City. The invitation read semi-formal, and I didn’t have anything I could wear. I couldn’t remember the last time I wore a fancy dress as I typically wear casual T-shirt ones or sweater dresses in the winter.
“Are you standing him up?” Henry questions before taking another sip of his beer. He’s here only to humor Jenna and me, who begged him to join us in a little Harbor Day celebration of our own. He’ll dump us soon enough to meet up with his real friends, as he refers to others in his life.
“I’m not standing him up. I’m just not going.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?” Henry asks, and I take another sip of my margarita. I’m not much of a drinker, but the icy lime flavor is going down smoothly while the guilt is slowly choking me.
“Again. He could be waiting for you.” Jenna pauses, then snaps her fingers, while excitement fills her voice when she says, “Oh my gosh, it’s like something in the movies. Like that one where the girl is supposed to meet the man at the top of the Empire State Building on Valentine’s Day.”
“Sleepless in Seattle,” Henry drones the title of the romantic comedy.
“No, the other one, where she’s struck by a car and doesn’t make it.” Jenna clarifies.
“An Affair to Remember,” Henry mutters, and my brows lift at his knowledge of classic movies.
“Yes!” Jenna cheers. “Or there’s that moment in some holiday movie when the single mom is supposed to meet the dashing stranger from a hot one-night stand at Times Square on New Year’s.”
“You mean, New Year’s Eve?” Henry tips up a brow, and I laugh again at his knowledge of another romantic comedy.
“How did you know that one?” Jenna asks, and Henry looks over at me like, is she serious?
“Lucky guess, since he had to meet her on New Year’s Eve where the ball drops.”
Jenna giggles, taking another long sip of her margarita while Henry eyes me. Sometimes it’s like he sees into me, knows my secrets when there’s no way he could know them. One secret is the main reason I shouldn’t get involved with Gavin, even on a temporary basis.
That secret is also one I should be telling Gavin.
“I love when he’s all disappointed, thinking she wasn’t going to show, and the street clears, and she’s there in the gold gown.” Jenna sits taller, swiping a hand along her body like it’s an elegant dress.
“That would suck to be standing there, waiting on a woman.” Henry’s eyes shift to Jenna, and he tips back his beer to take another pull as he drives the guilt deeper.
When Gavin sent me the invitation, a text accompanied it.
In case you’re no longer undecided.
“Imagine if that happened to you,” Henry defends, and I want to snap that it had happened. I’d woken alone in a hotel room. But did Gavin really leave you? It’d all been a misunderstanding, but I had no proof of what he said. Out to get us breakfast seemed like a likely story. However, Gavin has never lied to me.
“That would suck,” Jenna admits. “Standing there, hoping someone would show, then suddenly realizing they aren’t coming. It’s like that other movie, the one where the undercover reporter stands on the baseball mound waiting for her first real kiss.”
“How can you know all these movies but not remember their titles?” Henry mumbles before adding, “And that one’s Never Been Kissed.”
“Jesus, you’re like a walking encyclopedia of romantic chick flicks.” Jenna laughs but sobers a little. “I’m just saying, that would hurt, right? What’s the big deal? He’s an old friend. It’s a dinner party. It’s free food, and you said he told Gee it wouldn’t be a date.”
Maybe I am making a bigger deal of things once again. The kiss was nothing. Gavin even said so himself. It didn’t matter that I thought it was something. It didn’t matter that it happened again. Or that I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about how his tongue slipped into my mouth, and instantly, I was twenty-three, not able to get my fill of him. How his lips tasted exactly the same, and I can’t explain how I remembered the flavor of them. How his body pressed to mine sent currents of electricity to places I’d thought were dead circuits.
“Yeah, free food is exactly how I want a woman to think of going out with me,” Henry scoffs.
“That’s why you don’t date,” Jenna tells him, and I see the hurt in Henry’s face. He sticks out his tongue at her to deflect the pain, and she playfully responds the same way.
As we sit on the balcony, we see a couple climb the stairs to this second-floor location. Instantly, I recognize Gavin’s brother, Ethan, and his fiancée, Ella, the owner of the clothing store Fabulously Flawed. She uses the second-story apartment as her office.
“Hey guys,” Jenna calls out.
“Hey,” Ethan responds and does a double take at me when he sees me sitting here. “I thought you were having dinner with my brother tonight.” The accusation in his tone is sharp, but his expression doesn’t match. He smiles as if he knows something I don’t, and I’m reminded Gavin said he was spending the day with family at the beach.
“E,” Ella groans, looking nerv
ously from him to me and back. It’s a warning not to be involved.
“I couldn’t make it,” I guiltily state, looking over at Jenna and Henry, who lowers his head. He’s disappointed in me, not so much that I won’t date, but that I’m legitimately standing up Gavin. I don’t really have a decent excuse not to have dinner with him as an old friend, and the guilt eats at me.
“I’d be too late if I tried to go now,” I whisper to Henry. He nods as though he agrees, but he’s still upset.
Shiitake. While I have my reasons not to be around Gavin, some of them seem less threatening. Gavin isn’t interested in a relationship. He isn’t proposing marriage. It’s only dinner.
Suddenly, I feel no better than Zoey, his ex-girlfriend, who wouldn’t support him. The entire film festival is important to him and his future, and I can’t even be there as an old friend. I’m not that kind of a bitch, and I hate myself for acting the way I am.
Just tell him the truth, and he’ll run away on his own anyway.
“Fine.” I stand, my chair scraping back. Glancing down at my phone, I send a quick text to Gavin.
Running late.
“I’ve got to go.” I slam back the remainder of my margarita, needing the liquid courage. Next, I’m passing Ethan and Ella on the stairs and racing down them, intent on getting to the alley behind the tea shop for my car. I don’t have time to go home and change as it will take me thirty minutes to get to the city. The summer dress I’m wearing will just have to do.
My heart hammers as I cross Main Street and nearly run down the block. Rounding the corner for the alley, I’m lightly jogging toward my car when I see a man in a suit leaning against a closed convertible parked next to mine. With his ankles crossed and arms linked over his chest, he holds a phone in one hand. His head is lowered, but he looks up at the crunch of gravel under my feet.
Gavin.
As if he heard me call his name, he straightens at my approach. My feet carry me quicker than I expect, and I race right up to him, throwing my arms around his neck. He catches me, and when I lean back about to apologize for the unrestrained greeting, his mouth crushes mine.
This time, I don’t pull back.
His mouth is heaven against mine, lighting me up like stars pinpricking the dark sky. As I’m clinging to his neck, he grips me under my thighs and picks me up, spinning me so my back is pinned to the side of his car. His mouth continues to devour mine, hungry for me, and I didn’t realize how starving I was for a kiss like this. Eager. Tempting. So good. Slowly, he pulls back, tugging my lower lip with his before breaking free from my mouth.
“You taste sweet. Has my Candy been drinking?” Gavin teases, while one hand comes to the roof of his car. The other curls around the side of my head, fingers digging into my hair.
“Just one margarita with Jenna and Henry.”
He nods at my answer. “And you owe me one dinner.” His brow arches, wondering what happened to me. Perhaps even what happened in this greeting, and I’d like to explain myself, but I don’t know how.
“I should have been there for you. I’m sorry.” I panicked, I want to add, but I don’t, and Gavin nods again as if he understands. He glances down at my mouth.
“Good thing I haven’t eaten yet. You can make it up to me by going to Town Tavern for a burger.”
“What if I’ve already eaten?” I tease, no bark in my bite as my eyes fixate on his mouth as well.
“Then you’ll watch me eat.” He snaps his teeth together, and I chuckle. After pressing off the roof of his car, he steps back, but I step forward, grabbing the lapel of his jacket.
“Wait. I didn’t mean to spoil your night or make you leave the dinner early.”
Gavin looks at the edge of my hairline, then strokes strands of hair behind my ear, watching his fingers as they move. “My date ditched me, so I didn’t feel like sticking around.” He doesn’t sound hurt, but I can’t be forgiven so easily.
“I thought you said it wasn’t a date,” I joke. “But I will make it up to you.”
Gavin’s lips crook up on one side, popping out that singular dimple. “Oh, I’m counting on it, but first, dinner.” He winks.
“Not like that,” I gasp.
“We’ll see. I’m undecided on how I’ll seek retribution.” He steps back and shrugs out of his suit jacket before tossing it into his car. Next, he rolls up his sleeves to his elbows, meticulously folding over the material, and I swear I could watch this action on repeat. He has the sexiest forearms. Once he’s set, he holds out his hand for mine, and I slip my fingers into his. This has all kinds of rumor starting written on it. I’m a single mother and business owner in this small-town, and Gavin is one of their own, returned like a hero. For one night, though, I want to give in to the heat of the evening. I want to remember what it was like to be young and carefree.
Only, I lose my courage by the time we reach the back entrance to the bar and gently tug my hand free. He glances down as my fingers slip from his, and then his gaze jumps to my eyes. His forehead furrows, but he doesn’t ask for clarification. He opens the door and motions for me to step forward.
Inside the bar, Gavin is recognized by a few locals even I don’t know. He grew up in this town while I’d only been a visitor until years ago. Even then, while I might be a local business owner, not everyone loves tea and thus knows of me.
We take a booth, and Gavin sits across from me. The bar is loud even though it’s not crowded. Most people are out and about with the anticipation of fireworks later this evening. Gavin orders a local beer, and I order another margarita, sticking to the alcohol I started drinking earlier. He orders a burger, and I opt for the fish tacos, keeping to a Mexican theme.
“So what’s next? Now that the film festival is over,” I ask.
“I’m here for another week. Jess Carter—do you remember him?—he’s getting married next weekend, and he’s asked me to stand up with him.”
“I know who Jess is,” I state, both remembering him from when we were young and recently meeting him as his future wife is a regular at TeasMe!.
“You should come with me,” Gavin states, taking a sip of his beer. His eyes focus on me over the rim of his glass.
“To the wedding? I don’t know about that.” I swipe a section of hair over my ear and glance away from him.
“I know about that. You should attend with me. Consider it interest for ditching me this evening.”
“We’re having dinner right now,” I remind him, although I know it’s not the same thing as his important, more formal dinner closing out the film festival. “Besides, you can’t randomly take a date to a wedding.”
“I had a plus one included on my invite.” For some reason, I don’t like the idea that he could have brought someone else with him to the wedding. He could have brought another woman to Elk Lake City, taken her to the film festival dinner. He could be in this town right now with someone else, and I’d never have seen him. Or worse, I’d see him with someone else.
“You’d be a good buffer as I spend more time near my parents.”
“What’s wrong with your parents?”
He fiddles with the coaster under his beer. “Besides the fact Mum has breast cancer, and I think she’s sick right now, or my dad disapproves of my filmmaking ventures.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. I know you were at odds on occasion when you left here. I had hoped you’d patched things up.” While Gavin was estranged from Elk Lake City, I didn’t realize he still wasn’t getting along with his dad.
“He thought I quit baseball instead of it being the injury that held me back. I’d lost the range of motion necessary to really throw a ball.” He rolls his wrist to prove it to me.
“How can you pitch to Gee, then?” He’s made plans for batting practice tomorrow afternoon.
“It’s not the same as tossing a ball eighty miles an hour.”
I nod in understanding. “I’m sorry again about your dad, then. That must be rough.” As I have no relationship with m
y father, it was another reason I wanted Gee to have Patrick. He needed a good solid man in his life. He needed someone who would be there for him, and Patrick was in his own right. He didn’t make every game or school event as he traveled often, but he provided for us in other means.
“Mind if we don’t talk about my dad? Even if this isn’t a date, it’s depressing.”
“Sure.” I smile. “When I asked what’s next, I really meant with your career in filmmaking. You mentioned at the showing that you have another production to work on.”
Gavin’s face breaks into a genuine smile, his interest heightened.
“Yeah, Joe and I immediately started another project once we wrapped on Brant’s. We plan to follow this kid, Juan Sanchez, through the immigrant farmworker seasons. We’ll finish up next November when he circles back to California. It’s been a really interesting process, and I’ve become more appreciative of where my food comes from and who works to get it on my table.”
Gavin beams with pride.
“You made it sound like you’re going into business or partnership with the director. What was his name again?”
“Joe. Joe Scanlon, and yes, we’ve decided to start our own production company for small scale and indie films. I could have used my connections with Zoey and went to her father, going big production with Steinmann Studios, but I wouldn’t have the creative decision-making power I want, and I don’t really know anything about filming fiction. I want to capture things in real-time, as they happen, and educate others. Immigration is more a passion project of mine, and I see Joe and I eventually returning to sports as that’s what brought us together. We’re hoping to form a relationship with Bigflixs.”
“Wow. That’s all so impressive.” Gavin has been a success already in one manner, and he’s on his way to being a success in another. It’s all a reminder that he’s too big for this town in his dreams, his life goals, and his future plans, and as his future is planned, he’ll be leaving once again. I swallow around the lump in my throat and the false tinge of hope I had that Gavin might stick around. I thought spending time with his family might glue him back together with them and keep him more vested here. It was silly to think such a thing.
