Chapter 5
Jason
My heart thumps faster as Mia’s phone rings. I’m nervous, but I don’t know why. We’re just talking. It’s not a big deal, or it shouldn’t be, so why am I nervous? I wasn’t this way last time we talked, but I think that’s because I was too shocked that she’d called to be nervous.
‘Jason,’ she answers, sounding out of breath. ‘Hi.’
‘Hey, are you busy? I should’ve texted first. Asked for a good time to call.’
‘Now is fine. I had a counseling appointment, but he cancelled. So how was your week?’
‘Good. Hey, sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I had a lot going on this week with work and baseball and getting ready for graduation.’
‘I understand. When I was teaching, it was always crazy this time of year, but I loved it, sending the seniors off to whatever adventures awaited them. There was so much hope and excitement in the air. Or maybe that was just me feeling that way.’ She laughs a little, and I feel myself smiling. I love her laugh. I’ve missed it.
‘It’s not just you. I feel that way too. It’s exciting to see kids I’ve watched grow up go on to graduate and start a new phase of their lives.’
I’d love to keep talking to her about teaching and all the other stuff we have in common, but that’s not why I called. I need to get an answer to the question that’s been on my mind all week. Just as I’m about to ask, Mia starts talking again.
‘So how’s the baseball team this year?’
‘Not great. We have a game tomorrow that I’m sure we’ll lose.’
‘Tomorrow? What time?’
‘In the afternoon, but we’re supposed to have rain so I’m guessing it’ll get delayed until later.’
‘Oh,’ she says, sounding disappointed.
‘Is something wrong?’
‘No, it’s just that we talked about having dinner and I thought maybe we could do it tomorrow, assuming you want to go. Did you make a decision?’
‘I wanted to talk to you about it first. I’m a little confused.’
‘About what?’
‘When we said goodbye in Chicago, we agreed we wouldn’t see each other again. I’m just wondering what changed your mind.’
‘Could we talk about this in person? It’s not something I want to do over the phone.’
‘So there’s a reason you want to meet. It isn’t just to catch up or say goodbye before you move?’
‘Actually, I’m not moving. Not yet. I’m staying here for the summer and helping one of the professors with his research.’
‘But you’re still moving, right? To Boston?’
‘Um, yes, at the end of the summer.’
The phone is silent as I think about what to do. Why would I see her again if she’s just going to leave? It’s taken months for me to get to a point where I’m not spending all day thinking about her. If I see her again, I’ll be back where I was in January, with her consuming my thoughts.
‘Mia, I don’t think—’
‘Jason, please. It’s just dinner, and I really need to talk to you.’
‘Talk to me now. What do you want to say?’
‘Can we please just meet for dinner? I could be there tomorrow night.’
‘Tomorrow won’t work. There’s a good chance the game will be moved back a few hours if it rains, and after the game I’m meeting up with my brothers to figure out a wedding gift to give Nick.’
‘That’s right. He’s getting married soon.’
‘May 15th. So anyway, tomorrow isn’t good. I could do Sunday.’
‘That won’t work. I have counseling appointments in the afternoon. How about next Friday?’
I quickly check my calendar. ‘I could do Friday. What time are you thinking?’
‘Six? I work that afternoon, but I could be there by six.’
‘Let’s plan on that and if it doesn’t work, just let me know.’
‘Great! Just text me where to meet you. Any place you want to go is fine with me. My next appointment just got here. She’s early, but I should probably go.’
‘Yeah, I’ll see you next Friday.’
‘Okay. Bye, Jason.’ She ends the call.
I stare at my phone, wondering what the hell just happened.
I agreed to see her again, having no idea what this is about.
Why wouldn’t she tell me? Is she just wanting an excuse to see me again?
Why would she want that when she’s leaving in a few months?
None of this makes sense, and now I have to wait another week to get answers.
I go home and change clothes, then head over to Sawyer’s to meet up with my brothers.
We’re going to have a beer before they go out with their girlfriends for the night.
Nick invited me to go to dinner with him and Lyndsay, but I told him no.
I’m not going to be a third wheel on their date.
My family thinks I’m a lonely bachelor in need of company, but the truth is, I’m totally fine on my own.
It’d be nice to have a girlfriend, but it has to be the right girl and I haven’t found her yet. Or I did, but she’s moving away.
* * *
‘What are you drinking?’ Sawyer asks as I go into the brewery. He’s standing by the long high-top table where Brody and Nick are sitting.
‘Give me the stout,’ I tell him.
He takes off for the bar. It’s awesome having a brother who owns a microbrewery and even better that he has a girlfriend who owns the one outside of town.
I get all the free beer I want. Personally, I think Gina’s beer is better, but I’d never tell Sawyer that.
His beer isn’t bad. He just needs more time to work on it.
‘You get a date for tonight?’ Nick asks as I sit across from him.
‘Yeah, a date with my TV,’ I kid. ‘There’s some good games on tonight.’
Brody laughs. ‘Couldn’t get a date, huh?’
‘I could get a date. I just didn’t want one. I need a break from dating. It’s exhausting.’
‘What about Brianna?’ Sawyer asks, setting my beer on the table. ‘Are you guys done?’
‘I hope so,’ Nick mutters before taking a drink of his beer.
I look at him. ‘Why are you so against Brianna? There’s nothing wrong with her.’
‘I didn’t say there was. I just think she’s too young for you. And too immature. Matt said she showed up drunk to work yesterday.’
‘And how would he know?’
‘Tessa took one of the kids to the dentist and there was nobody there to check them in. Apparently, Brianna showed up drunk and was sent home so they didn’t have anyone to run the front desk.’
‘Are you guys still going out or not?’ Brody asks me.
‘We’re not going out. She wants to see me again, but I told her we’re better off as friends.’
‘Did she get pissed?’ Brody asks.
‘No. It’s not like we were serious.’
‘I know someone you could go out with,’ Sawyer says, returning with my beer. ‘Liam’s sister is coming to town next weekend and she’ll need something to do when he’s working. She’s 25 and she’s hot. He showed me her picture.’
Liam is Sawyer’s new bar manager. He replaced Wade, the guy Sawyer fired last fall. Liam moved here from Milwaukee, so I’m guessing that’s where his sister lives.
‘Sawyer, you know I don’t do the long-distance thing.’
‘I didn’t say you had to marry her. Just take her out. She’s coming next Friday. You could meet her here for a drink, then take her to dinner.’
‘I’m busy next Friday.’
‘Doing what?’ Nick asks.
I don’t want to tell them. If I do, they’ll ask me a million questions.
Brody shoves my shoulder. ‘Hey, wake up. We’re waiting for an answer here.’
‘And I’m not giving you one. You guys don’t need to know everything. I’m allowed to have some privacy.’
Sawyer smiles at Nick. ‘Must be serious if he’s hiding her from us.’
‘Maybe it’s that librarian he went out with last week.’
‘It’s not her,’ I say, rolling my eyes.
‘Then who is it?’ Brody asks. ‘You know we’ll find out. You might as well tell us.’
I sigh in annoyance. ‘Okay, fine. It’s Mia. We’re having dinner next Friday. It’s not a big deal, but I know you idiots will make it one, which is why I didn’t tell you.’
‘Mia,’ Nick says, rubbing his jaw. ‘Do we know her?’
‘The girl from the wedding,’ Brody says. ‘She called him earlier this week saying she wants to see him. We haven’t met her.’
‘This is the girl you slept with?’ Sawyer asks.
I sigh again. ‘Do we really have to talk about this?’
‘Hell yeah.’ Sawyer sits down next to Nick. ‘Tell us about her. She’s going to school, right?’
‘Yes, in Madison. She graduates in a few weeks and then she’s moving back to Boston.’
‘So why does she want to see you?’ Nick asks.
‘I don’t know. She didn’t say. I’m guessing she just wants to tell me goodbye before she leaves, although she’s not actually moving until after the summer.’
‘Must’ve been a good night if she’s coming all this way to see you,’ Sawyer says, in a way that implies she’s only coming here to have sex. ‘Is she staying all weekend?’
‘No, and it’s just dinner. Nothing else.’
‘Did she get a hotel?’ Nick asks. ‘She’s not going to drive back that late. It’s too far and it’ll be dark and if she’s been drinking—’
‘Yeah, I’m sure she’ll get a hotel,’ I say, although she didn’t mention it.
I didn’t even think about that until Nick brought it up, but he’s right.
It’ll be too late for her to drive back to Madison.
Should I offer to let her stay with me? No, that’d be bad.
Really bad. We’d end up repeating the night of the wedding and I’d fall even harder for her.
‘Kate thinks this girl wants to get back together with you,’ Brody says. Kate is his girlfriend. They’re living together. Kate’s opening a store downtown and when I was there the other day, I mentioned Mia calling me, which prompted Brody to ask his girlfriend what it meant.
‘Mia and I never dated, so there is no getting back together.’
Brody turns to me. ‘I’m saying she wants to continue wherever you left off the night of the wedding. Like actually go out and see if it turns into something.’
‘I thought the night of the wedding was just sex,’ Sawyer says.
‘It was more than sex,’ I tell him, ‘but it doesn’t matter. She’s moving at the end of the summer.’
‘So date her for the summer,’ Nick says.
‘From an hour away?’ I roll my eyes. ‘Yeah, that’ll work. Can we stop talking about this? Nothing’s going to happen with Mia. We’ll go to dinner, and after that, I’ll probably never see her again. I don’t have a reason to.’ I look over at Sawyer. ‘Let’s talk about Nick’s bachelor party.’
‘I don’t want another bachelor party,’ Nick says. ‘One was enough.’
Nick’s bachelor party was in Chicago a few weeks ago, but Sawyer thinks we should have another one here, for people in town who couldn’t make it to Chicago.
‘How many strippers should we get?’ Brody asks.
‘No strippers,’ Nick says, looking at Brody, Sawyer, and me. ‘And there’s not going to be another party. I’m serious.’
‘We’re just joking,’ Sawyer says. ‘Lighten up, man.’
‘Hey, it took me a long damn time to get Lyndsay. I’m not letting you guys do something stupid to screw it up.’
‘She’s going to marry you no matter what,’ Brody says.
‘You’re still not getting me strippers. And I don’t want another party.’
‘Then we’ll save the strippers for my bachelor party,’ Sawyer says. ‘Jason, you’re in charge of getting them.’
‘Why him?’ Brody asks.
‘Because he’s single. If you or Nick do it, your girlfriends will get pissed.’
‘And Gina won’t get pissed?’ Brody asks. ‘She’s okay with you having strippers at your bachelor party?’
‘She hasn’t said she isn’t.’
‘You might want to run that past her,’ Nick says. ‘Why are you even talking about this? Are you guys getting engaged?’
‘Not right now, but we will eventually.’
‘What are you waiting for? You’re not getting any younger.’
‘Yeah, if you don’t hurry up, you’ll be old like Nick before you have kids,’ Brody jokes.
‘I’m not old,’ Nick says to Brody. ‘People have kids later now. It’s not like when Mom and Dad were our age.’
‘I always thought Jason would be the first to have kids,’ Brody says. ‘And now he’s the single one and we all have girlfriends.’
‘I thought you’d be first too,’ Sawyer says to me. ‘Ten years ago I would’ve guessed you’d be married with two or three kids by now.’
‘Yeah, well, I’m not,’ I say, getting annoyed. They say this shit all the time and I’m getting tired of it. If I’d found the right girl, they’re right, I’d be married by now and have a couple kids, but that’s not how it worked out. I don’t need to be reminded of that by my stupid brothers.
‘Kate’s all baby crazy now,’ Brody says. ‘It’s Nash’s fault. Bringing his baby here all the time.’
‘She is pretty damn cute,’ Sawyer says. ‘Even I think about having a kid when I’m around her. Then I come to my senses and realize it’s not the right time.’
‘It’s never the right time,’ Nick says. ‘Kids change your life. You’re never fully prepared for it, even if you think you are.’
‘Are you and Lyndsay still going to have them right away?’
Nick smiles. ‘We’re already trying. The wedding’s only a few weeks away. There’s really no need to wait.’
Sawyer looks at Brody and me. ‘We could be uncles by this time next year.’
Nick’s phone dings and he checks it. ‘That’s Lyndsay. I need to get home.’
‘To make a baby?’ Sawyer jokes.
Nick laughs. ‘That’s later. I’m taking her to dinner first.’
‘I need to go too,’ Brody says, getting up.
We say our goodbyes and they take off. Sawyer goes back behind the bar to fill orders as the place fills up. I remain at the table and finish my beer, my mind going back to Mia, wondering what she wants to talk about and why she couldn’t tell me over the phone.
I won’t see her until next Friday, which means I’ll be thinking about this all week. I wish she’d just told me.