Chapter 7 #2
“Dada,” she says in River’s direction and that’s the win he was going for. The look of satisfaction he has across his face is immediate. He snatches her from the ground and plants kisses across her cheek, telling her, “No, sweet girl, I’m your Uncle River. That’s Dada.” He points at his brother.
Then he runs her through the park, making her laugh and smile. When they come back, he puts her back down on her play mat, looking over at Clay again.
“You satisfied now?” Clay asks. “She still didn’t call you that first. She’s been saying that for a while now,” he says.
“Oh, I know. You really think I’d take that from you?” He smiles. “But I was on a mission to do it today at least.”
“Why? What did I do?” Clay throws his hands in the air.
“I spoke to Mom. And guess what she had to tell me?” He walks closer to his brother while all of us watch this interaction.
He bends over and scratches behind Lola’s ear.
“You told her that you think Lola loves her more than me—my Lola will always love me more.” He looks down at his golden retriever and blows her a kiss. Jesus.
The rest of us all groan. River is ridiculous.
He’s seriously obsessed with his dog. But I will agree, Lola loves his mom.
I’ve seen her interact with River’s mom and Lola is quite honestly over-the-moon when River’s mom is in the room.
She will sit with her and put her head on her lap.
I hate to admit, but Clay might have a point.
“So you did all that over my comment to Mom about Lola?” Clay says.
“Obviously,” River says.
“Seriously, Riv, you’re exhausting.” He throws his hands in the air. “Kennedy deserves an award for dealing with you.”
“Thank you,” Kennedy says, a look of satisfaction across her face.
River points toward Kennedy. “Watch it, babe. And Clay, most of the stuff you have, I have as well. You’re wearing a Boston F.D. shirt with shorts. It’s not hard to replicate this outfit.”
As much as I’m not one to usually care for this back and forth between the brothers, maybe the distraction will be enough to distract the group from asking me about my little marriage omission.
I sit back and allow them to carry on as if I’m not even here.
I continue to take in our surroundings, not even getting up to grab food, even though I’m hungry.
If I don’t move maybe they’ll forget I’m here.
Right when I think I’m out of the woods, Malloy says my name. Damn him and his memory.
“Hunter, what the hell was that about the other day? Care to fill us in?”
“Not particularly, no,” I answer.
“That’s not good enough,” River says on a laugh, already forgetting his little stunt with his brother and niece.
“Well, there isn’t much to say. Indiana and I are married,” I say, matter-of-factly.
“Really, that’s it? You’re not going to elaborate?” Kennedy says.
“I mean, what do you want me to say? We got married when we were eighteen right after we graduated high school. We didn’t tell anyone.
It was sort of a secret. We did it because she was in a bind due to health reasons.
She needed my health benefits and I had it to offer through the Army.
Some stuff went down with her parents right about that time, so I was someone she could lean on for support.
I wanted to make sure she was cared for before I was gone for boot camp. That’s it.”
When I look up, I see Kennedy and Abby swooning at my explanation, but before I’m able to ask why, I’m interrupted.
“Well, did you catch feelings? Have you seen her since? Why didn’t you get divorced?” Those questions are from Baylee.
“Umm…” I pull my hat off and scratch at the back of my head.
“You totally have feelings for her, don’t you?” Abby asks.
“It’s complicated,” I say.
“Dude, that means there’s so much more to say then,” Malloy adds.
“Okay, so it’s complicated and I don’t really know what to add.
It’s a bit hard to explain and process. It got a bit messy.
Lines were blurred in the end. Yes, I guess feelings were involved at one point.
But I have no idea if they were two-sided, we never talked about it.
After high school, we used to send letters while I was in the military, which is how we kept in touch,” I explain.
“That’s so romantic,” Abby says, putting her hand over her heart.
“Doesn’t that remind you of that book we read a few months back?
” She snaps her fingers as if she’s trying to remember the title while looking at Kennedy and Malloy.
“The guy had lost his memory though. It was second-chance and she has things he left behind for her. Oh, it was heartbreaking and beautiful.”
Shit, is she going to start tearing up?
Then I see all three women look at me, while Malloy’s mouth quirks. Fuck, I can anticipate the question before I hear it come out of Kennedy’s mouth.
“Hunter, you should join book club. You would love it. Maybe this is just what you need to connect with us and get your mind off all this.” I see Abby and Baylee nodding in unison, while Malloy is nearly toppling over in laughter. Motherfucker. He saw this coming from a mile away.
As if he could sense I need saving, River comes to my rescue, “When was the last time you saw her before last week?”
“About six years ago,” I answer, ignoring the book club topic.
“And things didn’t end well?” Kennedy asks, apparently already distracted.
“No, I sort of put an abrupt halt on everything. I was convinced she would have sent me divorce papers right after that. But she didn’t.
And I didn’t push for them either. I honestly don’t know why.
I just fell into this deep sorrow after suddenly losing my friend Georgie.
He and I were serving together in the Army and he was like a brother to me.
I didn’t really care about a lot of things after he died.
I realize now it was wrong to push Indy away, but it’s all I knew at the time. It was my way of coping.”
“Why don’t you try to get ahold of her now? Maybe you can try to mend things,” Baylee explains.
“Well, the guys and I saw her last week and she has a son now. I think it’s pretty clear she’s moved on. So I think that’s all the sign I need. Now the only thing left is to sign divorce papers.”
Just thinking of divorcing Indy feels like rocks settling in my stomach and it’s heartbreaking for me. I feel a love for her that is everlasting and I have no idea if I can close that door forever.