Second Chance: A Military Football Romance

by Claire Adams

  I also felt nervous about my parents, and whether or not they’d be here. Rather, I knew my mother would go, but I didn’t know if my father would or not. Even if he did, what would he say? I was almost beginning to think it might be better if he just skipped it, because I didn’t know what he would think about the sculpture. It had come out better than I’d been expecting it to, but I knew that didn’t necessarily mean anything in regards to how my father would see it.

  The sculpture was set up right in the middle of the main room, on a display cube pedestal underneath a spotlight. I had stayed with the nautical theme, it being Cape Cod and all, but instead of a mermaid, I sculpted two separate things: a giant squid and a sperm whale, traditionally great enemies, but in my piece, I made it look as if the two were embracing, with the sperm whale gently twisting around the giant squid’s body, and the squid’s arms caressing the whale’s sides. The two, long tentacles I had formed into a heart.

  “Wow,” Graham said. He walked right over to it and stood there for several minutes, just looking. “Chloe. This is incredible.” He saw the price sticker on the cube. “And no,” he said, lowering his voice, “don’t think for a second that this isn’t worth what you’re asking. Twice that much, if you want my opinion.”

  “Thank you for saying that,” I said. I tried to see the sculpture with an impartial eye, but it was near impossible.

  “Is this yours?” a voice asked from behind me. I turned and saw Janice approaching, an impressed look on her face.

  I nodded. “This is it.”

  “I love it!” she exclaimed. “Now this is the kind of art that I’m talking about! It’s not some weird paint spatters on a canvas—this is real art. Chloe, I am so impressed!” She gave me a hug, and then gave one to Graham. “You’ve got a real artist here!”

  “I know,” he said with a smile.

  We spent some time walking around, looking at the other pieces, mingling with the crowd. We made our way over to the buffet table and I got a plate and put some grapes and cheese on it.

  “I still don’t see my mom or dad,” I whispered.

  “I’m sure they’ll be here,” Graham said. “It’s still early.” He sounded confident, but I saw a flash of uncertainty go across his face.

  Time did pass quickly, though. People kept coming up and congratulating me on the sculpture, or wanting to know what my inspiration was. Who were my influences? Also, what was I working on next? Did I work in other mediums? Did I do commissions? Where was my next show going to be? Graham took a step back and let me answer the questions, though I could see him out of the corner of my eye with a grin on his face.

  And then—there were my parents. Both of them, walking through the door.

  My mother reached me first. “Oh, it’s amazing, Chloe,” she said as she hugged me. “I’m so proud of you. It’s absolutely wonderful.” She let go and stepped back, looking first at my father then at me.

  “Hi, Dad,” I said, not quite able to read the expression on his face. He wasn’t smiling, but rather looking with concentration at the sculpture, as though he were really trying to figure it out.

  “That’s quite something,” he finally said. “It’s impressive that someone could render something so lifelike out of clay.” And then he looked at me. “Hi, Chloe.” He came over and hugged me, and I hugged him back.

  “Thanks so much for being here,” I said. “I wasn’t sure if you guys were going to show up or not.”

  “You did a good job,” he said. “I can tell that you really put some time and effort into this.” He looked over my shoulder at Graham. “Hi there, Graham,” he said.

  They shook hands. “It’s really something, isn’t it?” Graham said. The four of us stood there, looking at the sculpture.

  “I like the symbolism,” my mother said. “I like that you’ve got two creatures that are generally considered enemies, yet here they are, in love.”

  “Well, I don’t know if they’re in love,” my father said. He cleared his throat. “Regardless, it’s impressive work.”

  I could tell by his tone that he wasn’t just saying it, that he actually was impressed with what I had done. And that made me feel better than any of the other compliments I’d received so far.

  “That really means a lot to me, Dad.” There was an ache in my throat and I tried to swallow it away, not wanting to cry.

  My mom spied Claudia near the back of the gallery and wanted to go talk to her, so Graham and I stayed behind as my parents walked off.

  “They came,” I said. That feeling in my chest had started to unknot, and I realized how nervous I’d been that they wouldn’t come. I exhaled. “And I think my dad actually liked it.”

  “I’d say he did. And look,” Graham said, nodding.

  I looked, unsure of what he was gesturing at. I didn’t see anything at first, or nothing out of the ordinary; just my sculpture there, a few people looking at it.

  “What?” I asked.

  “On the display cube.”

  I looked again, squinting a little. And there, covering the price tag, was a sticker emblazoned with the word SOLD.

  *****

  We’d both gotten a little tipsy on the free champagne, but by the time we made it home late that night, the buzz had worn off and we were both mellow and happy. We undressed and climbed into bed. The art opening had gone successfully. In fact, it had been better than I even imagined.

  “You’d think we were like Romeo and Juliet or something,” I said, “the way our parents were acting.” I felt a heaviness in my chest, though. Summer was going to be over soon; I’d be going back to school, which meant I’d be leaving the Cape. I knew people did long distance relationships sometimes, but I had gotten so used to seeing Graham every day. I didn’t want that to suddenly stop. “I’m going to miss you,” I said. “I really wish I didn’t have to go back to school.”

  He stroked the side of my face. “Don’t say that. You’ve worked really hard to get where you are.”

  “Well, then, I wish that you could come with me.”

  He smiled. “Now that, that might be a bit more feasible.”

  “Wait—what? You’d come with me? How would you do that?”

  “I could open a shop in the city. On Point, the city version.”

  “But what about the one here? You’d sell it?”

  “Nah. Helena could run it, and it’s close enough I could come down a few times a month, even. Plus, it’s a lot slower here in the winter than it would be in the city.” He shrugged. “It was something I’d kind of been thinking about for a little while now. Expanding. I have been on the Cape here for most of my life, you know. I wouldn’t mind venturing to other parts of the world. Well, other parts of the state, as it would be in this case.”

  “Wow.”

  That was the last thing I’d been expecting him to say. Sure, the thought might have crossed my mind, but not as something I ever imagined would happen. But now that he’d said it, I started thinking how great that would be. And also crazy.

  “I would be so happy if that happened,” I said. “But is that crazy? I mean, will people think we’re insane for doing something like this? We haven’t been together that long.”

  “I don’t care,” he said. “It doesn’t matter to me what other people think.”

  “But what if it doesn’t work out? Then you’ll have uprooted your whole life and opened a new business and—”

  “Are you breaking up with me?”

  “No! No, of course I’m not!”

  “Do you not want it to work out?”

  “There is actually nothing I want more than for it to work out.”

  “Then don’t stress about it. Look, I know there’s some people out there that would say it’s a really shitty idea to move in together so soon. And you know what? Maybe it is. But we won’t know it till we try it. I’m willing to take that chance. And besides, we’ve already been living together for a little while this summer, and I don’t know about you, but I’ve re
ally enjoyed it.”

  I smiled. “I have, too. There was a part of me that was really dreading having to go back to school because I wouldn’t be able to see you as much.”

  “You’re not gonna get rid of me that easily,” he said. He pulled me close and kissed my cheek.

  “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear,” I said. “You know, I’m glad I decided to take a chance on you.”

  Epilogue

  Graham

  “Are you nervous?”

  I took my eyes off the road for a second to glance at Chloe over in the passenger seat. She was sitting with her back very straight, nibbling at her fingernails. She was wearing a red turtleneck sweater dress and she looked hot as hell.

  I looked back to the road. “Nah,” I said, “I think it’ll be fine. They’ll want to know how the new shop is doing and they’ll want to know how school is going. And both of those are going great, so I really don’t think you have anything to worry about. Oh, and the fact that we’re still happily living together also works in our favor.” I reached over and patted her knee. “Everyone will have a good time today.”

  “Okay,” she said, taking a deep breath. “I’ll try to think that way, too. I don’t know why I feel so nervous. I guess I just want them to see that everything really is working out.”

  “Well, it is, and I’m sure they’ll be happy to see that.”

  We were driving back to the Cape for Thanksgiving, which Chloe’s parents were hosting at their summer house.

  “I think this is the first time my parents have even been to the Cape when it wasn’t summer,” she said.

  “It sure is different, isn’t it?”

  And it was. Gone were the lush greens and the warm sun and the throngs of people in their swimsuits. Many of the businesses had shut down for the off-season, and there was a distinct chill in the air. It probably wouldn’t start snowing for another month, but weather in New England was notoriously fickle and late November snow was certainly not unheard of in these parts.

  “I talked to Tara,” Chloe said.

  “Oh yeah? Are she and Todd still getting along?”

  “It sounds like it.”

  “Where is it they’re at again?”

  “Barbados.”

  “Ah, okay. Never been.”

  “It’s nice. One of Tara’s favorite places. I’m glad they’re having fun. Though if they were around, they could be here today, too!”

  I chuckled. “That would certainly make things a little more interesting. Though I think they’re actually interesting enough as is.”

  And they were. It wasn’t just going to be Chloe’s parents at this Thanksgiving; my own mother was going, as well as my father and his family. My family. It was still so strange to think that I had this whole family that I didn’t even really know.

  “It’ll be good to see Parker,” Chloe said.

  “It will.” I’d gone through with the organ donation, and the procedure itself had been relatively simple. I was under general anesthetic, so of course didn’t remember anything about the actual surgery. I’d been sore after, but the pain certainly wasn’t that bad. I was back to doing everything I normally did after about two weeks. Recovery for Parker took longer, but that was to be expected. He and I had traded texts a few times, and Craig had kept me updated with his progress—Parker would have to be monitored by doctors and take medication for the rest of his life, but so far, so good; his body was not rejecting the kidney.

  *****

  She was quiet for the rest of the drive, even when I tried to make conversation. I stopped talking and just drove. Thanksgiving had never been a big holiday for me, so it did feel strange now to be heading to what would probably turn out to be a pretty big celebration. The past Thanksgivings of my adult life had always been with friends, not family, because the Thanksgivings of my childhood had been complete disasters. But now Chloe and I were heading to a house full of family.

  And it felt good to be in contact with my father, even though our relationship was more like friends than father-son. That was okay, though. There was no way we could ever go back in time and have the sort of dynamic that we might have had if he’d been there my entire life.

  *****

  “It looks like everyone’s here already,” she said. “I didn’t realize we were that late.”

  “I don’t think we are; maybe everyone else was just early.”

  I parked the car and turned the key in the ignition. “Hold on a second,” Chloe said, when she saw me reaching for the door handle. “I just ... I just want to sit here for a second.” She relaxed back into the seat and took a few deep breaths. “Tell me everything’s going to be all right.”

  I smiled. “It’s going to be okay. If I can go in there knowing my mother, and my father that I just reconnected with are in there, you will be more than fine.” She nodded as I spoke. I reached over and took her hand, gave it a squeeze. “We’re in this together, remember? We’ll go in there and have a nice time. It’ll be good to see everyone.”

  “I know.” She took another deep breath and then smiled that sweet grin of hers. “Okay, I’m ready.”

  “I love you, you know.”

  “I love you, too,” she said.

  We got out of the car and walked toward the house where our families were waiting.

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  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2017 Claire Adams