31. When You’re Wrong, You’re Wrong…
31
When You’re Wrong, You’re Wrong…
Mac - Three Days Later
List of Replacement Items:
Oats
Rice
Pancake Mix
Powdered Milk
Iced Tea Mix
Syrup
Spaghetti
Pasta Sauce
Shampoo/Conditioner
Soap
Toilet Paper
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Gas for Generato r
Charcoal Briquettes
Lighter
New Set of Sheets
Extra Sheet
Tarp
Thank you gifts:
Rum
Vodka
Gin
Scotch
SodaStream machine with tank refills/drink syrups
HAM radio
Thank you card
Venmo Payment from Gamble Air to Paige Chadwick — $1
Note: Spent last night on the island. Dismantled the ad campaign, replaced all the food, the sheets, and left hostess gifts. Your finishing school headmistress would be proud.
Venmo Payment from Paige Chadwick to Gamble Air — $200
Note: For my portion of the supplies. Thank you so much for taking care of that for me. You really are one of the good ones.
Venmo Payment from Paige Chadwick to Gamble Air Rejected—$200
Note: It’s on me. Turns out you were right about who owns the cottage. I met them last night. Two women—a married couple who don’t own a plane or boat. They get dropped off by a friend for two weeks at a time.
Venmo Payment from Paige Chadwick to Gamble Air—$200
Note: Are you serious?! I can’t believe I was right! What were they like?
Venmo Payment from Paige Chadwick to Gamble Air Rejected—$200
Note: Happy. And very gracious about us using their place. Turns out they were following the news story the entire time and were shocked to find out we were on their island.
Venmo Payment from Paige Chadwick to Gamble Air—$200
Note: Seriously, take the money! I owe you. Also, how’s Tweety ?
Venmo Payment from Paige Chadwick to Gamble Air Rejected—$200
Note: Not going to take your money, if for no other reason than I’m a man. Tweety is dead. I’m heading to my grandpa’s for the wake.
Venmo Payment from Paige Chadwick to Gamble Air—$200
Note: Stubborn. The word is stubborn. And I’m sorry about Tweety. Take the cash. I’d like to contribute to your refreshment fund for the wake.
Venmo Payment from Paige Chadwick to Gamble Air Rejected—$200
Note: Thanks. I appreciate the gesture, but if you try to send the money again, I’m going to block you on Venmo.
I arrive at Grandpa Jack’s just in time for poker night, having run late at the mechanic’s. Cal, Murray, and Darnell are already here as I walk in carrying a six-pack of Coronas, a lime, and pizza from the Turtle’s Head Pub (where they make the best pizza in the Caribbean, bar none).
“What’s all this about?” Jack asks, taking the Coronas from me.
“We’re having a wake for Tweety,” I answer .
“Aww, shit. I’m sorry, kid,” he says. “She was a good plane.”
“That she was.”
“Really bright yellow too,” Cal adds.
“That too,” I say, my shoulders dropping. “If it was just the pontoons and the propeller, it would’ve been worth it, but with the dashboard getting fried like that, the cost to repair her is more than the cost to replace her.”
We dish up the pizza, then settle ourselves around the table. “So, how’d it go on the island?” Jack asks, shuffling the cards.
“Good. I got everything cleaned up and repaid what I owed,” I answer, not bothering to mention I spent the night holding Paige’s pillow because it smelled like her.
“So?” Darnell asks me.
“So what?” I answer.
“So, what happened between you two?”
Cal answers for me. “We know what happened between them. We all saw the news footage.”
They all laugh while my cheeks warm up from embarrassment. “Yeah, yeah. I’m never going to live that down, am I?”
“Nope,” Darnell says. “Now, answer my question otherwise Rosy’ll be pounding down your door for the gossip.”
“I’m a gentleman,” I tell him. “I’m not going to talk about what happened.”
“All right, leave the kid alone,” Jack says, shuffling again. “He’s been through a lot.”
“Thanks, Grandpa.”
Taking a sip of his beer, he says, “I’m a little worried about you, to be honest. You seem … different. Like you just woke up from a long nap and don’t know what day it is. ”
I snort. “That may be the best way possible to describe what I’m feeling.”
The three of them exchange a glance, and I roll my eyes at them. “Don’t start getting ideas. It’s over. Which is fine. I’ll be back to my normal self in a few days.”
“You sure you want that?” Darnell asks.
“Yup,” I answer, feeling irritated. “Are we going to play cards or what?”
“Nah, I don’t think so,” Jack says, setting the cards down instead of dealing them. “We’ve got more important matters to attend to.”
“Agreed,” Cal adds. “Now, clearly you’re in love with her. It’s written all over your face. So what’s stopping you from going to get her?”
“I can’t just show up, throw her over my shoulder, and drag her back here,” I answer, my mind immediately flashing to her lecturing me on how men can’t just pick a woman up without asking. “It’s not the caveman days anymore.”
Darnell shakes his head at me. “No one is suggesting you do that. But why don’t you pick up the phone and call her? Ask her how she feels.”
“Yeah, women love that,” Cal says.
“I disagree. I wouldn’t call her,” Murray says, taking a bite of pizza. With a full mouth, he adds, “You need to see her face when you tell her.”
Cal nods. “He’s right. I’d show up if I were you. I wouldn’t throw her over my shoulder though. Not with my bad knees. I’d just tell her the truth.”
Those alarms go off in my head again, and I say, “The truth is—and there’s really no getting around this—what we had would only work out there on that island.”
Jack freezes for a second. “That makes no sense at all.”
“None whatsoever,” Cal adds .
I stare at them, totally confused until Jack says, “Do you know how perfect you have to be for someone to get along day after day, alone, with no distractions?”
“Well, yeah, I suppose so, but…”
“No. No ‘but.’ You have to be absolutely perfect for each other,” Cal says.
“Especially to fall in love out on some deserted island,” Darnell adds. “Away from things like air conditioning. Rosy would be an absolute nightmare.”
“She would,” Murray says, wiping his mouth. “Not to mention all the things people do when they’re dating, like eating at nice restaurants or going to movies. Those things give you stuff to talk about.”
Darnell nods. “That’s true. And you get to see how the other person treats the wait staff.”
“Very important,” Cal says.
“It is. You learn more about a person the first time a server walks up to your table than you will in a hundred hours of talking.”
“Although a plane crash scenario would definitely let you see who someone really is,” Jack says. “And you would’ve seen her at her worst, after she missed her sister’s wedding.”
“Poor girl,” Darnell says, putting his hand on his chest. “Our hearts just went out to her.”
Murray shakes his head, looking forlorn. “You can’t get those moments back.”
“No, you can’t,” I answer. “And honestly, Paige handled the whole thing like a champ. I mean, she was upset, sure, but brave too. Tough. A total survivor.”
“Pretty too,” Darnell says.
“Yeah, beautiful,” I add, having a sip of my drink. Letting out a sigh, I say, “A very beautiful way to complicate the hell out of my life. ”
Jack reaches out and pats me on the arm. “Life is supposed to be messy, kid. That’s all there is to it. Now, if you had what it takes to be in love out there, you can make it in ‘real life,’” he says, doing air quotes.
My heart pounds in my chest. Somehow, everything they’re saying makes perfect sense. Of course it should work. We’re a great team. As soon as I let that thought in, all my fears come rushing back in. “What if she doesn’t want to try?”
Murray takes another bite, his words muffled as he says, “What if she does?”
I swallow hard, all my fears bubbling to the surface again. “Do you know what would be involved in trying to make it work with her? One of us would have to move, and I don’t think it’ll be her, which means I’m going to end up two thousand miles away.” Looking at Jack, I say, “So, if you need me, I’ll be way the hell in New York, in some tiny apartment, breathing in smog and freezing my balls off.”
Jack’s face softens. “None of that matters if you love her. Do you love her?”
“Yeah, I do. I love her fiercely. In a way I never loved Lisa.”
Darnell shakes his head. “That’s because Lisa wasn’t all that lovable.”
“Hey,” Cal says. “That’s the mother of my grandchild you’re talking about.”
“And it’s not even true,” I answer. “Lisa’s a good person.”
Darnell glances at Cal, then mutters, “She left you when the chips were down. I don’t exactly call that a good person.”
“That’s not why she left,” I answer, taking a pull of my beer. “She left because I spent our entire marriage keeping her at arm’s length. ”
The three of them all sit back in their chairs, and for about thirty seconds, I hear “Huh,” “Is that so?” and, “That makes sense, actually.”
Nodding, I say, “Yeah, it makes a lot of sense, actually. I’ve been giving it a lot of thought these last few days.”
Jack nods. “You have always had a wall up.”
Darnell gestures at me with his Corona. “But you let this girl get close to you?”
Letting out a frustrated sigh, I say, “Yup. Stupid, right? I’ve gone and complicated everything when I didn’t have to.”
“You know, Mac, the best years of my life were with your grandma, raising your mom. We lost them both far too soon,” Grandpa says, sniffing and looking choked up.
“Far too soon,” Murray says, gesturing with his slice of pizza.
“But I wouldn’t trade those years for anything,” Grandpa adds. “And I would hate like hell to see you miss out on that just because you’ve had bad luck in the past.”
“Bad luck—that’s one way to put it,” I answer. “I don’t know. What if I’m not meant to have all of that? It seems like everyone I love winds up leaving.”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” he asks, his voice coming out gravelly.
I stare at him for a second, a lump forming in my throat. “Yeah, you are.”
“So, maybe this one’ll stick. Maybe she won’t,” he says. “But it’s true what they say about it being better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. I’m grateful every day that I had your grandma in my life for as long as I did, and that we had your mom. Because if I didn’t have them, I wouldn’t have you.”
“Well, when you put it that way, there’s no way I can move to New York. ”
“Of course you can,” he says with a wink. “We’re rich now. We can fly back and forth whenever we want.”
I chuckle. “You’re rich. I’m not rich.”
He shrugs, finally dealing the cards. “You should snoop around in your own bank account for once.”