That’s better.
I took a deep breath and got out of the car. My legs felt weak and wobbly. I willed them to start moving.
When I reached the front walkway, I paused to admire the house. It was quite pretty, very typical New England, with two stories, white wood and green trim, and a well-manicured front yard with wide steps leading up to the front door. There was a Radio Flyer wagon next to a swing on the porch. Several lights were on inside, but it was quiet.
I started toward the front door. When I realized I’d made it all the way across the yard and up the steps without tripping even once, I hoped that meant good things were on the horizon. I hesitated for a moment, then rang the bell.
I tried to remember to breathe.
After a few moments I heard footsteps. The door opened to reveal an attractive woman with shoulder-length brown hair. She was about five-six and had bright blue eyes like Jake’s. I recognized her from the photos in his house.
“May I help you?”
I smiled. “Yes, hi, I’m looking for…Jake?” Again with the unnecessary question mark. Ugh.
“Jake?”
“Yes, I’m a friend of his. My name is Waverly Bryson.”
Her face softened, and she opened the door wide. “Oh, of course, please come in. I’m Natalie, Jake’s sister.”
I took a step inside the foyer.
“We saw you on The Today Show.”
I froze.
“You did?”
She smiled. “It was very entertaining. So what brings you to Waltham? Are you in town for work?”
Suddenly I wished I knew the name of that conference everyone at the Hyatt was attending. Throwing it out now seemed like a smart idea. Throwing out any reason for why I was standing there, other than the truth, seemed like a smart idea.
I bit my lip. “Not really. Is Jake here?”
She kept smiling, but her eyes showed pity. “Oh, Waverly, I’m so sorry, but no, he’s not.”
I hoped she meant he’d gone out for ice cream, but I doubted it.
“He went back to Atlanta last week.”
What? I’d just called the Hawks office, and they’d said he was still on leave.
“Come in, please sit down.” She gestured toward the living room. “Tim’s upstairs putting the girls to bed. He’ll be down soon though. Please, take off your coat. Can I get you something to drink?”
“Oh no, thanks, I’m fine.” I carefully sat down on a pale green couch with thick white stripes, wishing I could disappear into its folds and reappear on my own couch in San Francisco. What had I done?
Natalie sat down on a love seat across from me. “How long have you lived in San Francisco?” The look on her face was kind, and I hoped she couldn’t see how foolish I felt.
I forced a smile. “I grew up in Sacramento, then went to college at Berkeley. I’ve lived in the city since I graduated.”
“I just love San Francisco. You went to visit Jake in Atlanta once, didn’t you?”
I wondered how much she knew about that. “Yes, he’s been a good…friend to me. I’m…I’m really sorry about your baby,” I added softly.
“Thanks.” For a brief moment her expression turned solemn, and I thought she might cry. Then she snapped out of it and smiled. I was impressed by her strength. “Are you sure I can’t get you something to drink? Some water? Or maybe a glass of wine?”
Wine? Hmm…maybe you could insert an IV into my arm and drain the whole thing right here. That would certainly have eased my anxiety.
“Thanks, but I’m fine. I should probably get going anyway. My…my friends will be wondering where I am.” I knew I was stretching the truth, but my friends were wondering where I was. She just didn’t know the friends I was talking about were Andie and McKenna, 2,712 flight miles away.
Just then I heard someone coming down the stairs. Even though Natalie had already said Jake wasn’t there, for a second I hoped to see his face. I turned to look, but the face that appeared was bearded, and its owner was probably wondering what a total stranger was doing on his couch at eight thirty on a Monday night. Bounding down the stairs with him was a huge golden retriever.
“Well, hello there.” He held out his hand. “I’m Tim O’Connell.”
I stood up to shake his hand, but before I could speak, the dog ran right at me. With its enormous snout leading the way, it beelined…for my crotch.
Nice.
I tried to push the dog away, but it wasn’t having any of it. All I could do was laugh.
“Cooper!” Natalie jumped up to grab the dog, apparently a male, thus making our encounter even more awkward. She yanked him away by the collar and scolded him. “Cooper, that’s terrible. Terrible!” She said I’m so sorry with her eyes as she led him into another room and shut the door.
Tim was clearly trying not to laugh. “Sorry about that. Cooper’s quite a curious fellow.” There was something in his demeanor that made me like him immediately. He didn’t take things too seriously, so how could I?
I smiled and held out my hand. “I’m Waverly, a friend of Jake’s. I like to make an entrance. How did I do?”
His handshake was firm. “Not bad, not bad at all.”
Natalie rejoined us and put her hand on Tim’s back for a moment, then gestured toward me. “Waverly was in town and thought she’d stop by to see Jake, but she didn’t know he’d already gone back to Atlanta.” I exhaled as I realized how plausible the story sounded as she told it. Apparently I was a better actor than I thought.
Tim motioned me back to the couch. “Please, sit back down. Let me get you a drink. How does a glass of wine sound? Maybe a scotch and soda to calm the nerves? You’ve just survived a vicious dog attack, after all.”
I laughed. “You’re so kind, but I should get going. I’m so sorry to just show up like this. I really…I really thought Jake would be here.”
Natalie stood up and put her hand on my arm. “Don’t worry about it for a minute. It was lovely to meet you, Waverly. Jake’s spoken very highly of you.”
“He has?”
She sensed the surprise in my voice. “I hope you realize it’s nothing personal that he didn’t tell you he was going back to Atlanta. That’s his way sometimes.”
“It is?”
“Definitely. You know how men can be when they’re stressed. They clam up, and Jake is textbook like that. I’m sure he’ll be sorry to hear he missed you.”
I stiffened. “Please don’t tell him I was here. He didn’t know I was going to be in town, so I really would rather he didn’t know.”
“You don’t want me to tell him?”
“If you don’t mind. I…I don’t want him to feel bad.”
She smiled. “Okay then, we won’t say a word.”
“Scout’s honor,” Tim said.
I hoped they would keep their word, however odd the request.
I waved goodbye to Tim as Natalie showed me to the front door and handed me my coat. “Thanks for coming by, Waverly. I’m so sorry you missed him.”
I smiled and put my coat on. “He is a popular guy.”
“Always has been.”
“It was so nice meeting you. Again, I apologize for stopping by unannounced. And I’m…I’m so sorry about the baby.”
“Thank you.” She took my hand and squeezed it gently. “Maybe we’ll see you again sometime.”
I hope so, I thought.
The second I sat down in the PT Cruiser, I pulled out my phone and called Andie. She answered immediately.
“You’re calling me already? What happened?”
“You’re not going to believe it.”
“I don’t think I want to know. Was he there with another girl? Did he make you cry? Did he kick you to the curb? Do I need to fly out there and kick his ass?”
“He didn’t do anything.”
“What?”
“He wasn’t there.”
“Where was he?”
I sighed. “In Atlanta.”
“What? I tho
ught you were sure he was in Boston.”
“I really thought he was, but his sister said he went back to Atlanta last week.”
“Oh lordy. So where are you now?”
“Sitting in the rental car, half a block down from her house.”
“So you spoke to her?”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
“She was nice. Really nice, actually. So was her husband. They said he went home last week, and that was about it.”
“Did they know who you are?”
“Yes. They saw me on The Today Show.”
She laughed. “As did the whole world, apparently. So what are you going to do now?”
“I don’t know. What do you think I should do?”
“You tell me. You’re the famous advice columnist.”
“Not helpful, Andie.”
“Hey now, I’m just speaking the truth. What would you tell your readers?”
I sighed. “I think…I think…”
“Well?”
I waited a moment before finishing the thought.
“I think…I think I need to go to Atlanta,” I finally said.
“That’s my girl.”
“Am I crazy?”
“Yes,” she said immediately.
“Thanks for that. It’s just what I needed to hear right now.”
She laughed again. “You’re welcome. Now get yourself on a midnight plane to Georgia.”
Now I was laughing too. “A midnight plane to Georgia? How long have you been waiting to use that?”
“A while. I wasn’t sure when I’d get a chance, but that was pretty sweet, wasn’t it?”
“Definitely good timing, I’ll give you that. Although I doubt I could actually get on a midnight plane to Georgia at this point.”
“I imagine you can take a morning plane to Georgia too.”
“Ha. Okay then, I guess I’m headed south. I’ll keep you posted.”
“Good luck.”
“I thought you said I didn’t need luck?”
“Oops, you’re right. Then go get ’em, cowgirl!”
“Go get ’em, cowgirl? Have you been drinking?”
“Just a glass of wine. Okay, maybe three. I’m hanging out at my place with CJ.”
“I could use a glass of wine myself right now. Hey, Andie, why do you call him CJ?”
“Everyone does. It’s his initials.”
I was about to ask what his initials stood for, but I didn’t get a chance. “Listen, speaking of CJ, I’m being rude to him by yapping on the phone, so I’m gonna hang up, okay? Call me from Atlanta?” she said.
“Will do. Bye.”
I called McKenna but got her voicemail. I left a long, rambling message that included all the relevant details, plus the unfortunate snout-to-the-crotch incident. I sighed and leaned my forehead against the steering wheel for a long moment, then fired up the PT Cruiser and drove back to the corporate park.
Back in the hotel, I changed into my pajamas and sat cross-legged on the bed. I booted up my laptop, planning to work on the first of my two columns for the week. As I read through e-mail after e-mail from readers wondering why it’s so hard to find love, one in particular caught my eye. It was from a woman named Tamara, whose latest crush had just texted her to cancel their first date. Her note said that was the last straw, she’d been hurt so many times she was ready to cash in her chips and walk away from the table. I closed my eyes and leaned back against the headboard, thinking about Tamara and her chips. Gambling was the perfect analogy for what I was doing at the moment.
After I finished the column, I called United Airlines. The customer service representative said there’d be no fee to move the date up for my direct flight back to San Francisco if I was willing to fly standby, but she put me on hold to check on how much it would cost to reroute me through Atlanta. As I waited for her to throw out a number, I wondered if I’d have to sell my car to pay for the ticket.
“Ms. Bryson? Are you still there?”
I held my breath.
“Still here.”
“We can get you on a flight leaving Boston at two forty-five tomorrow afternoon, arriving in Atlanta at five thirty-three.”
Then she told me the change fee, and I flinched.
“Do you want me to make the change, Ms. Bryson?”
I studied my reflection in the mirror, thinking about what Andie had said.
You can do this. You’re already doing it.
Then I thought about the roses Jake had sent me.
He wanted to be your Valentine. Remember that.
Suddenly I heard my voice saying the opposite of what I was thinking.
“I think I’ll just fly directly to San Francisco,” the voice said. “You think I can get on that flight tomorrow?”
“It shouldn’t be a problem, Ms. Bryson.”
I shut my phone and looked at my reflection again.
“I’m sorry,” I said to the mirror.
I still had loads of time after I checked in the next morning, so I decided to do something I’d never done at an airport: have a real sit-down meal. Usually I raced my way through airports, always on the verge of missing my flight, but today I wasn’t in the mood to spend any more time in the greater Boston Area than absolutely necessary.
I sat down at a table in Legal Seafoods. While I was scanning the menu, I heard a familiar voice behind me.
“Waverly?”
I turned around.
No way.
“Scotty? What are you doing here?”
He kissed me on the cheek. “I should be the one asking, my love. I’m the one who lives on the East Coast and travels all the time for work.”
I laughed. “This is true.”
He picked up his coffee mug. “Shall I join you? Or are you still mad at me?”
“Of course you should join me. And no, I’m not still mad at you. I could never stay mad at you. You’re too pretty.”
He moved his bag to my table and sat down. “So talk to me, princess. Why on earth are you in Boston?”
“You don’t want to know.”
He raised his eyebrows. “I don’t want to know?”
“It’s a little embarrassing.”
“Oh now you have to tell me. Come on, sweetheart, talk to me.”
I grimaced.
“Waverly…”
“Okay, fine, I’ll tell you.”
And I did.
As I finished the story, Scotty finished his lobster omelet.
“So that’s it.” I shrugged and dug into my French toast. “You may proceed to heckle.”
“Oh kitten, I’m not going to heckle you.”
I pointed my fork at him. “I already told you I’m not mad at you anymore, so you don’t have to suck up. It’s okay, really, heckle away. I deserve it.”
“I can’t believe you came all the way to Boston and he wasn’t even here.”
I sighed. “I really thought he would be. I called the Hawks the day before I left, and they said he was still on leave.”
“Did you think about flying down to Atlanta?”
I poured more syrup on my plate. “I did, briefly, but I just couldn’t pull the trigger. Plus it was crazy expensive to change my flight, so that made my decision a lot easier.”
“So that’s it? You flew all the way across the country, and now you’re just turning around and going back to San Francisco?”
“So it seems.”
“You sure you want to do that?”
“What can I do, Scotty? I mean, am I supposed to just go show up at Jake’s house in Atlanta? Who does that?”
“Maybe you do.”
“But isn’t that, like, insane?”
“Maybe, maybe not.”
“But won’t it just scare him away?”
“Maybe, maybe not.”
“You’re not being very helpful.” I took a sip of my coffee. “Besides, I already showed up at his sister’s house, remember? Even though I’m pretty sure she th
ought I was in town visiting friends, I already feel enough like a stalker.”
“What would you tell a reader who was in the same situation?”
I put my coffee mug down. “Again with the What would you tell your readers? question. Like my readers actually care what I have to say.”
“Hey now, don’t sell yourself short. You’re really good at what you do. Everyone thought you did a great job on the show.”
“They told you that?”
He nodded. “You were refreshing and honest and different, Waverly. People like different.”
Ha. Different was one way to put it. A polite way.
“So what happened with that horrible Wendy Davenport anyway? Did she get her own show?”
He nodded. “Sad to say, but she did. It’s starting pretty soon, actually.”
I stuck my tongue out. “Blech. She’s gross.”
“My dear, there’s no accounting for taste where big advertising dollars are concerned.”
“I know, I know. I just hate to see her rewarded for being such a…bitch. It doesn’t seem fair.”
He opened his mouth to say something, but I interrupted him. “And please don’t say life isn’t fair. I don’t feel like hearing that right now, okay?”
He smiled. “That’s not what I was going to say.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Fine, don’t believe me. All you need to do is listen to me.”
“Listen to you?”
“Yes, listen to me.”
I narrowed my eyes as he pulled out his phone.
“You, my dear, are going to Atlanta. Today.”
“I am?”
“You are. You need to go see Jake. Tell him how you feel.”
“I do?”
“You do. And I’m paying for the flight change and upgrading you.”
“You are?”
“I am. And I won’t take no for answer. Think of it as my way of paying you back for the Today Show incident, okay? Now hang on a minute.”
He dialed the in-house travel agent for NBC, and before I knew it, I was on the two forty-five flight to Atlanta.
In first class.
Several hours later I found myself in another rental car, this one a scary teal Pontiac. I had Jake’s address displayed on my phone, as well as directions to his house. I drove by all the T.G.I. Friday’s again, this time with even more butterflies fluttering around in my stomach. As I headed toward the burbs, I adjusted the radio and listened to the latest Kelly Clarkson song, which was followed by a Scotty McCreery song, then a Carrie Underwood song. I put my hand on my heart and gave a mental shout-out to some of my favorite American Idol alums, out there tearing up radioland and making one of their biggest fans proud.
It's a Waverly Life Page 14
