Chapter 13 #2
Beachbash is the major Elite Wrestling Entertainment event taking place in Boston at the end of next month.
You’d have to be living under a rock not to know that.
It’s been all over the news and radio, not to mention the billboards plastered all across the city.
But first they have to get through July’s equivalent… What did Sophia call it? Paradise City?
“Enough about all of that, tell me more about you. I want to know everything. Wolf said you’re from the Barrington area, right? What brought you to Boston? What do you do for work? Wolf said you were back in town for business, but that could mean anything.”
Logging each question she hurdles at me, I decide to avoid the business one for as long as possible. “My friends are from that area. I’m actually from Kentucky. I moved here almost ten years ago for college.”
“What part of Kentucky?”
“Right outside Louisville.”
“You know, we’re not originally from here, either. We used to live in Texas a long, long time ago. So funny how people come to live in various places for one reason or another,” she says. “Do you get home to see your parents much?”
The question stops me, and I count to seven before I force myself to breathe again.
I can’t remember the last time someone asked me that question, or about my parents, in general.
“No,” I finally say. Esther’s head tilts to the right in careful observation, but she doesn’t pry.
Not with words, anyway. Do I tell her the truth?
I could easily make up some excuse, but adding another lie to the mix sounds excruciating. “M-My parents died a few years ago.”
“Oh, Sloane. I’m so sorry.” Her hand reaches across the table to cover mine, giving it a gentle squeeze.
“I don’t go home much anymore. I don’t have any siblings, and my extended family isn’t very close. After they passed, I decided to…stay here.”
“How did they pass?” Esther asks, and the dull ache in my chest begins to give way to something much stronger and sharper. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to pry. You probably don’t want to talk about it—”
“A work accident.” That’s only half true, but I don’t think it would be appropriate to tell this woman my uncle murdered my parents over an inheritance dispute, framing it to look like a freak accident.
Unfortunately for him, but fortunately for my sanity, my father had installed a camera in his workshop, capturing the whole thing on video.
My uncle entered a “not guilty by reason of insanity” plea, but after evaluation, the judge determined he was of sound mind, and he was sentenced to life in prison.
“My dad was a welder, and unfortunately, there was a gas leak. They didn’t catch it in time. ”
Esther’s face falls even further, and she squeezes my hand a little harder. “I’m so, so sorry, Sloane. I unfortunately can relate. My late husband, Wolf’s biological father, worked on an oil rig in Texas. There was an explosion, and…I’ll never forget opening the door that day.”
“I—I had no idea.”
“Most people don’t. Stewart adopted Wolf when he was almost six, and he’s been the only father that Wolf’s ever really known.
Randy died when he was three, maybe. I don’t think he remembers much about his father; he was too young.
After Randy passed, I had to work for the first time since I was a teenager, but that didn’t last long.
Stewart came into the restaurant for dinner one night, and I had never been much of a romantic or believed in love at first sight until then.
” She laughs, biting down on her bottom lip.
“We moved across the country six months later, got married a year after that, and the rest—as they say—is history.” When Esther lifts her gaze from the tabletop, there’s a softness there, an untouched pain that only people who’ve lost loved ones in such a tragic way can understand.
I can’t help but offer her a soft smile, fighting back the sting in the corner of my eyes.
“They might be gone, Sloane, but they’re always with you.
And I have no doubt they are very proud of the woman you’ve become. ”
Her words sober me up with a heavy dose of reality. If my parents knew the truth, they would be anything but proud of the woman sitting across from Esther James.
Dabbing at her eyes, Esther clears her throat. “So, tell me, how did you and Wolf meet?”
“At a show last year,” I say.
Her eyes widen. “You’ve been dating for a year?”
“No.” I laugh softly. “No, nothing like that. We, uh…We went on a date last year, and it was good, but we went our separate ways at the end of the night. I think it was probably my fault. I may have been a little biased towards him, because I am not the biggest EWE fan.”
“Oh, sweetie. Me either.” She waves her hand in front of her face with a laugh.
Her confession shocks me; I would have never guessed.
I saw photos and memorabilia from what I assumed were EWE events in the Wexley Hollow house.
“But it’s what he loves, and what he’s always wanted to do.
He tried the whole college thing. That didn’t work.
I knew it wouldn’t—he was only going for his girlfriend at the time—but we let him try, anyway.
A year later, he dropped it, moved to Texas, and enrolled in wrestling school. ”
“Really?”
“How could we not support him? It’s his passion.
It’s what he loves. And now look, he’s made a name for himself, that’s for sure.
I think the company could be a little more conscientious with the schedule, but at least he gets two or three weeks off around the holidays.
” Esther adjusts in her seat, swirling the wine in her glass.
“Oh, don’t let me scare you, Sloane. Besides, being best friends with the face of the company has its perks. ”
“Brooks, you mean?” I ask, and she hums in response. “He and Savannah have been together a while.”
“You couldn’t find a better pair, if you ask me. They were built for those roles, and Amos hasn’t been able to make another Brooks Taylor or Savvy Skye, yet.”
“Bennett and Brody—”
“They are amazing wrestlers, but my son doesn’t want to step into that role. He never has. If you think the schedule is crazy now, try being those two.”
“What do you think of Amos?”
Who better to give me an honest answer (or at least a different perspective) than the mother of one of his wrestlers?
“He’s nice,” Esther says with a shrug. “I’ve only met him a few times, but he sends Christmas gifts and a pie every Thanksgiving.
Calls or handwrites a note whenever big things happen in the family.
Whether he does that for every wrestler, I can’t say, but ever since Wolf moved up to the main roster, that’s how it’s always been.
Take, for example, when he and Harper got married, they didn’t invite anyone but me, Stewart, and her parents.
Well, somehow Amos found out where it was and had a beautiful bouquet delivered, along with a gift waiting for them when they got home. ”
That seems…extravagant. Nice, but extravagant.
“I look at it like this: his wrestlers take care of his baby, and Amos takes care of his wrestlers. That man might have two other children, but EWE comes first. It always has.”
My next question comes out before I can stop myself. “This might be inappropriate, but I have to ask. What in the hell was Bennett thinking when he married Harper?”
It’s completely out of line, but after what I saw backstage in Phoenix, I’m curious how Harper ever fit into this family.
Esther laughs. “You know, I asked myself the same question.” She shakes her head, plucking a piece of frosting from the honey-lemon cake she’d made for dessert and sticking it in her mouth.
“Harper knew how to put on a good show, but once you got to know her…She’s an acquired taste, and it was obvious to me that she was never in love with him, not like he was with her. ”
“She cheated, right?” I ask, remembering what Sophia said last Monday.
She nods, taking a sip. “He only caught her once, but I doubt that was the only time. She strung him along for so long in the beginning, never wanting to commit, but not wanting him to wander, either. I didn’t like her well before they ever ‘officially’ got together.”
“Didn’t anyone try to stop him?”
“Of course. His father tried to talk him out of proposing, but he wouldn’t listen. He didn’t even tell Brooks and Brody until after the ring was on her finger, because he knew they would do the same. And God forbid he tell Savannah beforehand. She would’ve snatched the ring straight from his hand.”
“She’s very protective of him,” I say, wondering how far I can push.
His mom smiles, a knowing gleam in her eye.
“Savannah comes from a very close-knit family, and that translates into a lot of her relationships. Don’t take it personally if she’s a little cold towards you in the beginning.
The divorce was hard on Wolf, and I know all of them would hate for him to go through something like that again.
Once she gets to know you, and you her, I have a feeling you’ll be good friends. ”