Chapter 13 #2
“Sup, C. Our boy is hooking up with Ashlyn’s friend.”
Christy stopped, shaking her head. “Who?”
“Josh,” Oscar said, hooking his thumb at me.
“I know Josh. Who is he hooking up with?”
“The hot brunette from Evie’s graduation party. Ashlyn’s friend. She was with Ashlyn and Sage at the party.”
Christy shook her head slowly. “I guess I didn’t notice. Clearly you did.”
Oscar grinned. “Three beautiful women sitting together? Yeah, I noticed. Did Ashlyn introduce you?”
I shook my head, accepting I was going to have to tell them everything. “Ashlyn doesn’t know yet. I don’t think.”
“How does that work?” Oscar asked.
Christy moved into the kitchen, pulling things out of the fridge as I told them about yelling at Reegan, then apologizing and getting to know her.
“You’re not going to try to make us believe it’s innocent, are you?” Coach challenged me.
I exhaled a laugh. “I don’t know what kind of ESP you have, old man, but it’s a little scary.”
“Why do you think I never got away with anything when we were kids?” Christy asked.
“Don’t get away with it now either, kid,” Coach said.
Christy rolled her eyes at him, but smiled. She turned away from us, and I knew she was fighting her emotions again.
“So?” Oscar asked, prompting me to continue.
“We have been getting to know each other,” I said, not giving away too much.
“She’s holding out on you,” Oscar said.
“No,” I blurted before I could stop it.
“She’s not then. Interesting.” Oscar rubbed his chin, smirking at me.
“Son of a bitch. Fine. Evie stayed with her mother last night, and Reegan and I had coffee in my kitchen this morning. After I showed her my bedroom.” My ears burned with my confession.
“Good for you,” Coach said.
“One of us should be getting laid. I might be a born-again virgin at this point,” Oscar said.
Christy snorted but did not comment. Neither of us asked about her status with her father around.
“She makes you happy. I can see it,” Coach said.
I nodded, admitting the truth to the people closest to me. “She does. We click. She’s easy to talk to, and fun to be around.”
“Why doesn’t Ashlyn know?” Christy asked.
“Reegan came here when Rob dumped Ashlyn, and she feels bad rubbing it in that we met. She said she’s going to tell her soon, though.
” My phone buzzed with a text from Evie, letting me know she was home and would come over to see Coach.
“Speaking of, Evie doesn’t know about Reegan.
She’ll be here soon, so don’t say anything. ”
“If Evie knows, Hannah will know,” Christy said.
“And we all know how that will end up,” Oscar snarled.
“Yeah.” I told Evie to let herself in as usual and that we were in the living room. She replied with a thumbs-up.
“How is Evie liking the hospital?” Oscar asked.
“I think pretty well. She’s exhausted. Said she doesn’t know how people work full-time.” I smirked at the laughter that followed.
“She’ll learn,” Coach said. “I worked full-time, coached almost full-time, and had a family. I loved every minute of all of it.”
“Not everyone can do all of that,” Oscar said, clapping Coach on the shoulder. “You’re a little bit of a nut.”
Coach laughed, sending himself into another coughing fit.
Christy dropped everything in the kitchen and rushed to her father’s side. She rubbed his back as he coughed, whispering to him until he calmed down.
“Thanks, Chris. I love you.” Coach smiled at her.
She kissed his cheek, then hurried back to the kitchen.
I shared a look with Oscar and followed her to the kitchen while he kept up the conversation with Coach.
“How long has he been this bad?” I asked.
“Every day is worse,” she whispered. “He’s fading fast. If he lasts another month, I’ll be surprised.”
“Fuck, Chris. I’m so sorry.”
She gave me a tight smile. “Thanks. I know there’s nothing that can be done, but it’s so hard watching him slip away.”
“He told me he’s ready. He wants to see your mom again.”
She nodded, wiping a tear from her lashes. “He told me the same thing.”
The door opened behind me, letting us know Evie was there.
Christy pulled herself together, wanting to put on a brave face for Evie. I took over chopping vegetables while she greeted my kid, waving with the knife when Evie walked into the room.
“Hi, Dad,” Evie said, waving back and making a beeline for Coach. “Hi, Uncle Oscar.” She hugged Oscar, then leaned down and hugged Coach. “Hi, Coach.”
“Oh, Evie. It’s so good to see you. I hear you’ve been working hard,” Coach said.
Evie chuckled and took the seat I’d vacated. “I’m trying. I really like what I’m doing, but it’s hard.”
“Life is hard. But you have a great dad who’s always going to be there for you.”
“Just like I had,” Christy said softly. She looked up at me. “You should be really proud of her.”
My chest swelled with emotion. “I am. She’s a damn good kid.”
“Despite her mother,” Christy said low enough that only I could hear her.
“Mm hm.”
Christy took the knife back from me and gave me another task. Before long, dinner was ready, and Evie asked if we could stay to eat instead of going out.
“Don’t let us keep you,” Coach said.
Evie shook her head. “I’m leaving in a month. I want to spend as much time with family as I can.”
The four adults in the room were speechless as we fought our emotions.
Coach recovered first, not bothering to hide his tears. “Well, damn. If that doesn’t make me the happiest old man ever, nothing will. I want that, too.”
“Dad?” Evie asked me.
I nodded. “What he said.”
Christy grabbed my hand and squeezed. I looked over and saw her eyes shut tight, her lips pressed together.
I pulled her into my arms and held her for a minute while she cried. She held onto me like I was the only thing keeping her upright.
She let go a minute later, drawing a shaky breath and busying herself with getting plates and glasses out for everyone. I helped her get things ready while Evie and Oscar kept Coach talking.
“Want to go outside for a minute?” I asked her.
She lifted sad eyes to me. “I don’t think even the water will help me today.”
I nodded. After her mom died, Christy spent a lot of time in the water.
She told me once that she felt like everything was okay when she was staring at the water.
There was no beginning or end to anything, just existence.
Water had a way of soothing all the rough edges, and she knew she could handle anything when she was around the water.
But this was different. There was no solving this. The end was inevitable. And it was going to hurt like fucking hell.