“I heard he was in town for a couple of weeks, so I found a way to get a hold of him again. After the message I left for him, I guess he decided to call back.”
“What was the message you left?”
“Just reminded him that I was the one that suggested Benny’s. I know he ate there because I called Charles—the owner—to make sure, and he said that Bob loved it. And then I just added that I would love to try the phone interview again.”
“And he called and said he’d come in instead?”
“Yep. That was my hope.”
“Wow, you’re good,” she smiled.
“Behind the scenes… I guess that’s where I belong.”
“For now,” she frowned.
With a shrug I said, “Anyway… I’m gonna have lunch at my desk.”
“Did Tyse bring that for you?” she smiled. “What is it?”
“Uh, I think it’s a sandwich and a salad.”
“Ah, he’s so sweet. He didn’t kiss you. I was waiting for him to kiss you.”
I stared at her with disbelief. “You were watching us?”
“What else am I supposed to do?”
“Answer phones and stuff.”
“I did. Bob called. And I think Tyse is just really shy. You should have made the first move, Ellie.”
“Wh—? I don’t—” I sighed. “Tyse is just a friend of mine. I already have a boyfriend. Well, kind of,” I added quietly.
“Gage? Gage doesn’t come visit you at work. And he’s never brought you lunch before.”
“He’s been here before.”
“Once.”
I shrugged. “He had stuff to do during the day.”
“Didn’t you say that Gage and Tyse were on the same team? Didn’t they have the same schedule?”
“Well, Gage has family around here. He’s got people he knows and other things he could do. I never expected him to bring me lunch at work.”
“But Tyse did, and that was really sweet. I mean Gage was nice, that one time he came in,” she emphasized.
I rolled my eyes.
“But if you’re not seeing Gage on a regular basis anymore, I don’t understand why you don’t consider Tyse. He obviously really likes you.”
“We’re good friends.”
“Sure, whatever.”
“What?”
She shrugged. “What else can he be with you when you’ve got Gage you always talk about? I’m sure if Gage were out of the picture, Tyse would jump at the chance to make you his girlfriend.”
I shook my head in disagreement, but Beth was just like Dawn, and she was very stubborn with her opinions. “I guess it doesn’t matter anyway,” I decided to say. “He’s headed home to California and I’m sure I won’t see him for a long time.”
“And now you’re heartbroken,” Beth stated. I fumbled for a reply but she added, “Just look at you. You’re staring at a bag of food like you want to hold it tight or something.”
I chuckled. “I am not. I’m just tired today. I feel like I’m in a daze.”
“Well go eat then. Go enjoy your Tyse Special.”
She motioned me out of the lobby so I just smiled and left for my desk. When I pulled out the sandwich roll and a container of Greek salad, I noticed a note at the bottom of the bag. It read: I’m not sure if you’ve reviewed this restaurant, but it’s a little shop near the baseball fields. I liked it, so I thought you might, too. –Tyse
It hadn’t been a restaurant I’d been to, so I was pretty pleased with the surprise. But as I enjoyed my lunch, I didn’t enjoy the feelings of emptiness that I felt otherwise.
Chapter Twenty-Three
I loved fall in the northwest. There’s something about all of the evergreen being drastically complimented by the deciduous trees turning yellow and orange. When the weather starts cooling down, a bright sunny day is one of my favorite parts of the year. Besides, to me fall signified that snowboarding season was right around the corner.
Before Gage went back to Eastern, he decided that our relationship meant more to him than he thought, and he pretty much begged for me to forgive him for being such a jerk. We did talk about it quite a lot—that Wednesday night he arrived in town—and I felt like he’d finally opened up completely about the struggles he was going through with his family. The death of his father really had changed a part of him, as did his difficulties with his mom, and I told myself to accept the fact that he might not ever be the same guy I fell in love with. For the most part he was, but every now and then I could tell that he was still affected by the changes in his life. And even though there were a few moments where I felt really frustrated with something that he would say or do, he still treated me as well as he always had. We ended up having a great week together, and it was really hard when he left for school.
For most of September we talked on the phone every day. I spent a weekend with him, and he came back for a weekend with me. It was partly a long distance relationship, but we were committed to making it work.
October seemed to be a different story. I got tied up with work the first weekend that I was supposed to visit Gage. I planned on making the trip the next weekend to make up for it, but Gage had a fall baseball clinic that he was attending, and he said he’d be pretty busy. When his weekend to visit me came around, he got sick with the flu. I volunteered to drive all the way to Eastern, just to bring him some chicken noodle soup, but he said he didn’t feel like seeing anybody, not even me. He did come the next weekend though, for Halloween, and we had a really great time at a party a friend of mine was hosting.
Dawn was living with me. Well, living back in her old house I guess I could say. She and Wyatt separated at the beginning of September—when I finally had enough proof that Wyatt was cheating on her. It really sucked seeing her fall apart like that, and I was even there in the house when it all came to blows. I was actually shocked that she packed a bag right then and there and left him. Wyatt was also visibly stunned that she had the guts to do it. With Dawn I wasn’t always sure because she had such a big heart, but I guess she had a breaking point just like the rest of us.
The biggest downside was that she was pregnant. I mean she was really excited to be expecting a baby, but the timing couldn’t have been worse. By mid-November she was three months along, she still wouldn’t even speak to Wyatt, and she was still living with me. The only good thing about that month was that my mom knew not to make a big fuss over the situation. If Dawn wanted to discuss things with her then she was willing to listen, but other than that, we tried not to forget that Dawn’s hormones could easily light the house on fire.
The other not-so-awesome part of Thanksgiving that year was that Gage and I were no longer exclusive. He’d decided to go back to the “see other people” plan, and he was even spending Thanksgiving with a girl that he’d met at school. My emotional rollercoaster with him never seemed to end, and I decided that I just couldn’t deal with it anymore. I ended up calling him (and leaving a message because he didn’t answer), and I told him we were done. We were either together or we weren’t, but I wasn’t going to put up with the in-between stuff anymore.
I have no idea what he thought of it—obviously he never called me back—so I decided to start picking up the pieces and move on. Of course it wasn’t as easy as it sounds. I had a really hard time with it, even to the point where I was curled up against my dad on the couch one day, bawling like a baby. I think the hardest part was that Gage made no effort to get back together with me, or even speak to me after that. He just let our relationship end, making me feel like I was the one at fault. I did have quite a lot going on at work, and I spent a lot of time with Dawn and her problems, so I used those distractions to the best of my ability.
Tyse was still on my speed dial. We didn’t talk as much as I wanted to—maybe once or twice a week and a few texts in between. While Gage and I were together Tyse backed off quite a bit, and we pretty much only communicated if I was the one that initiated it. When I’d finally called i
t quits with Gage I kind of thought Tyse would be more willing to call me, but still nothing changed. I hardly spoke of Gage whenever I talked to Tyse except on occasion, and when I told him that I’d broken up with Gage, he barely had a response. I was kind of confused over the situation, but I had to ask myself what Tyse could really say about it anyway. What did I expect him to say?
Dawn and I were out grocery shopping the day before Thanksgiving when Tyse actually called me. I was pretty ecstatic and I couldn’t bear to put the conversation on hold, so I continued to talk to him while I was in the checkout line. I hated having phone conversations in public, and both the cashier and the woman behind us seemed annoyed, so after a minute Dawn just shoved me along and said she’d meet me at the car. I was very grateful to be gifted the privacy.
“I think we’re going to have way too much food, Tyse. You need to come for Thanksgiving.” It wasn’t the first time I’d invited him, but it was the second time since Gage and I were split up, and I thought he might actually consider it.
“I would love to,” he replied. “Probably couldn’t get a flight, though. Plus I’ve got this Turkey Bowl with the guys…”
“They can’t do without you? Or better yet, you can’t do without them? Come on, you’re missing out on my mom’s cooking. And I’m making pies. About six of them.”
“That sounds awesome, and yeah I would skip the football games for it, but the flight… I doubt I could get one.”
“Hmm, and a ticket this late would probably cost you six hundred bucks… What if I found you a flight and paid for the ticket?”
“I wouldn’t let you do that.”
“Oh, quit being so prideful. I’d be doing it for myself because I want to see you so bad. Why won’t you consider it?”
“I just… I don’t know, Ellie. I guess I’d feel kind of weird.”
“Weird how?”
“Weird about spending Thanksgiving with your family.”
“You had dinner with us once… Were we really that bad?”
“No,” he chuckled. “But put yourself in my shoes. Wouldn’t it feel weird to you?”
“If I were you visiting my family? No. You’ve already met them all. What is it about them that makes you feel uncomfortable?”
He was silent on the other end for several seconds. Finally he said, “Nothing. I just didn’t want to feel like a burden.”
“You definitely wouldn’t be.”
We talked about it for a few more minutes and he ultimately decided he wasn’t going to make the trip. I was just pestering him about Christmas instead when Dawn arrived and began loading the groceries into the trunk. I jumped out to help her, even though she packed the bags into the car twice as fast as me as I continued to speak on the phone.
“Well I think I’m just going to book you a flight for Christmas,” I said as I returned the cart to the store. “If you decide not to come then you’d really be wasting my money.”
“Wow, way to make it hurt.”
“I know, so you might as well cooperate.”
He paused for a few seconds, but when he said, “I don’t think so Ellie,” I was very surprised.
“I don’t understand, Tyse.”
“What do you mean?”
“Is it work? Family? Money? …Why can’t you come see me?”
He sighed. “It’s not any of those things.”
“Do you want me to come there instead? I will because I’m on vacation right now, and I will for Christmas too, because I’m on vacation then as well—”
“No, I don’t want you to spend the holidays here, Ellie. Thanksgiving is just a little last minute for me—“
“I invited you two weeks ago.”
“I know, and I still didn’t want to come. And Christmas is a month away… Who knows what could happen by then.”
“What are you talking about? What do you expect is going to happen?”
“Well, you and Gage could be back together again, and I’d kind of be left on my ass if you were. There’s no way I want to travel to see you and have it be—”
“That wouldn’t happen, Tyse,” I replied, totally stunned by his admittance. “For one I’m not getting back together with Gage, and if I did—which I won’t because of reason number one—I would not do that to you.”
“I kind of have a hard time believing that. You tend to roll over whenever he says so.”
I scoffed. “You are being unfair.”
“Why? Because I’m being honest? I mean I can’t even call you because I’m not sure if you’re back together again. It’s getting to be annoying. One week we talk everyday and it’s awesome—oh wait, Gage took you back; I guess it’s a one text week again… I’m sorry, Ellie, but history tends to repeat itself.”
“And I’ve learned from it. I finally couldn’t put up with his indecisiveness anymore, and I put a stop to it. Isn’t that what you’ve been suggesting all along? That Gage wasn’t the right guy for me and that I was letting him walk all over me?” He didn’t reply so I added, “Isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“And? That’s not good enough? Breaking up with him wasn’t good enough?”
“I don’t know.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t speak for quite a while. I was standing next to my sister’s car while she sat inside of it, probably toasty warm while I froze my butt off outside in the wind.
“Tyse, I don’t understand,” I said quietly. “Tell me what you want from me because I really don’t know what to say.”
He sighed. “I don’t know what to say either, Ellie. I’m sorry for saying all that, I just… I just wish he didn’t know how to manipulate you. I almost wish I could be there all the time to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“You’d be my emotional bodyguard?” I joked, hoping for a lighter conversation.
“If you let me be, yeah.”
I chose to think about that for a second, hoping he would expound. But he didn’t so I decided to make one more plea. “So why can’t you just come for Thanksgiving? I will honestly pay for your flight, and I’ll just find a different way you can pay me back since you’re going to be a baby about it.”
There was silence again and I just knew he was going to say yes. So when he turned me down again, I really didn’t know what to say. He added that he had a few things to take care of that weekend and it would be easier to just take care of them instead of having to make other plans. But even when I offered up Christmas again, he still turned me down.
“Please, Tyse,” I found myself begging. “Will you please come for Christmas? Even if it’s just a few days?” I waited for a few seconds before adding, “If you’re not able to come up here, then I’d love to come down and see you. Probably not on Christmas day because we have family coming from out of town and I’d like to see them, but maybe the days following.”
Waiting for an answer was killing me, but I guess it was worth it when he said, “Okay, I’ll come for Christmas.”
I literally squealed as I jumped up and down, and I might have scared the elderly couple that was entering their car across from me.
“Really, Tyse? You’re not just saying that to humor me?”
“Are your teeth chattering?” he asked. “What are you doing?”
“I’m freezing my butt off outside of the store. But now that I can’t feel my fingers, I think I’ll get in the car.”
“You’re a goof,” he chuckled as I did get into Dawn’s car. “Don’t you guys bundle up in snow gear up there at this time of the year?”
Dawn gave me a funny look as I buckled my seatbelt, and she pulled out of the parking space.
“So should I book your flight? What days do you think you can make it?”
Dawn cast me another strange look at that question, but I didn’t care.
“Uh, let me check the calendar and I’ll get back to you on that. And no, I can book my own flight.”
“Are you sure? Because I don’t mind—”
“Y
es I’m sure. Easy does it, tiger. I’ll book the flight. I promise.”
I took a deep breath. “Okay, I guess I have to believe you if you’ve promised me.”
“Well what do you expect when you make me say these things out loud.”
I laughed. “I expect this is going to be an amazing Christmas.”
He paused and then said, “Yeah, I think so, too. I gotta get back to work, though. I’ll call you later tonight, okay?”
“Okay. Bye, Tyse.”
“Later, Ellie.”
I hung up, hoping I could be alone with my thoughts for a few seconds, but Dawn began right away with, “Tyse is coming here for Christmas?” She seemed completely shocked by it, but all I could do was happily nod my head. “Sheesh, Ellie. I just don’t understand you.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“You still talk to him all the time?”
I shrugged. “Well not all the time, but we keep in touch.”
She didn’t say anything for a few seconds as she made a right turn. “Does Gage know that?”
“What do you mean? I don’t even want to talk about Gage, so why would you bring him up?”
“Okay, sorry. So does this mean you’re completely done with him?”
“What do you mean by ‘this’? Inviting Tyse for Christmas? Dawn, Gage and I aren’t together anymore. I haven’t even talked to him for almost two weeks.”
“I know that, but I kind of just thought…maybe you wanted him to want you back or something.”
“What?”
“Okay, I don’t really think that, I just… All right, this has nothing to do with Gage. I get that you grew tired of his games and all that, and yeah I’m not really all that stoked about him anymore because of the whole thing with Wyatt. I mean I was really excited that you and Gage were so close because he was Wyatt’s cousin and—”
“Okay, okay, I get it. You said this has nothing to do with Gage. What’s ‘this,’ and what does it have to do with?”
She sighed as she stopped at a stop sign. “Come on, Ellie… Tyse?”
I raised my eyebrows at her. “Excuse me?”
“Well…I mean are you just, like, acting out or something? Are you trying to make Gage mad? Or freak Mom and Dad out?”
Summer Swing Page 26
