Chapter 28 #2
“Anyway,” Davis continued, plowing on before the Major said anything else, “I don’t know how much you know about how I wound up here, but long story short, I came to Cloverfield to scope things out for a big-ass resort, figured out I was on the wrong side of things and that I can do more good from the other side, jumped ship, and now I’m working on protecting the town. ”
“Okay.” Carson remembered Liz mentioned something along those lines.
“There was a ship?” The Major asked.
Ignoring the confused ghost, Davis continued.
“Now instead of having heartburn and angst over ‘Will I kill Cloverfield with this proposal?’ I have heartburn and angst over whether or not my grants will come through and how much longer it’ll take the government to set up protections on Etta May’s property. ”
Carson was impressed. “You’ve been busy.”
Davis shrugged. “It’s worth it. I love it here.”
Huh. Weirdly enough, Carson knew how he felt.
Had someone asked him how he felt about Cloverfield a couple of weeks ago, he’d have growled and told them to fuck off.
Now, however, was a whole different feeling.
Something that seemed a lot more like warm fuzzies and a lot less like wanting to stab someone.
Even knowing a whole bunch of someones were messing around in his life.
Still…
“What if I mess up again?” The question was out of Carson’s mouth before his brain even knew it was there.
“What do you mean, ‘again’?” Davis asked.
Carson rolled it around in his head. Tried to figure out what he meant. Wasn’t sure about letting it into the light. Then let it out anyway. “With Liz. And leaving. It wasn’t good. I hurt her a lot.” He rubbed his chest again at the phantom ache he still felt.
“Well, you two seem pretty good now,” Davis said.
“Yeah.” So far.
Davis gave him a long look. “I don’t know all of your history, but as someone who almost screwed things up on a moronic level, all I can say is to get your shit together, listen to each other, then pray she forgives you when you inevitably do something asinine to mess things up again.”
The Major raised his hand. “As someone of the male persuasion, I second the fact that you will definitely mess things up. Repeatedly.”
Great. Carson didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“But,” the Major continued, “love isn’t about not messing up.
It is about messing up and admitting to the mistakes.
It’s about trying to become the better version of yourself for the benefit of not only you but for your soul mate.
It’s about growing and supporting each other through dreams and nightmares.
And it is the highest form of energy we can ever wish to attain. ”
Shit. For someone who was apparently routinely confused by the English language, the dude sure knew how to wax eloquent when he wanted to.
Davis jerked his thumb toward the ghost. “What he said.”
Silence blanketed the room, each of them apparently soaking in the Major’s words, before Carson sighed. “So, what do I do?”
Davis huffed a laugh. “Well, definitely don’t threaten Liz’s business and then have her find out about it and then leave town when she yells at you.”
Carson raised an eyebrow in question.
With a wince, Davis added, “That may or may not have happened with me and Maya.”
Raising a hand to his mouth to shield it from Davis’s view, the Major loudly whispered, “It definitely did. It was horrible.” Lowering his hand, he shook his head. “It made me seriously second-guess my whole reason for being.”
Wow. The poor guy looked like he’d lost his best friend.
It hit Carson that maybe he had.
“But then I figured my shit out, made a big-ass grand gesture, and voila—here we are,” Davis added, waving his arms with a maniacal grin on his face.
“Okay.” Carson nodded, carefully cultivating his thoughts. While very informative, he wasn’t sure Davis’s words were all that relevant to his own situation. “I will be sure not to follow in your footsteps.”
Davis flashed him a thumbs up.
“I’m still not sure where that leaves me, though,” Carson added.
The Major straightened and took hold of his coat lapels. “It leaves you at a very important crossroads. In one direction lies safety. A repeat of the recent years. And in the other, the unknown. Much like skydiving—is there a functioning parachute? Or will the parachute malfunction?”
“Were you and Clem watching those how to survive a disaster shows again?” Davis asked.
“Yes. Very informative,” the Major replied. “And FYI, always pack your own chute.”
“Or just don’t go skydiving,” Carson said.
Davis eyed the Major. “I don’t think you’re making the case for falling in love and choosing the unknown that you think you’re making.”
The Major’s face crinkled in concentration before understanding dawned. “Ah. Yes. I can see how crashing in a field and slowly dying while tangled in one’s parachute might not be the best image to persuade one to choose the second path.”
Carson stared at the ghost. “You think?”
The Major pursed his lips, his brow furrowed as if in thought before he finally sighed.
“All I know is that I have seen the soul mate thread between you and Liz. While I cannot make you choose one path over the other, I can tell you that not everyone gets the same opportunity to follow their thread once, let alone twice.”
And that right there was the crux of it all.
He and Liz had something once. Sure, it was when they were young and naive.
Was what they had now anything substantial?
Or was it something that would burn out again at the first sign of trouble?
Was it worth whatever detour his life might take to figure it out?
“I think I’m more confused now than before you two showed up,” Carson muttered.
Davis’s grin was apologetic. “Yeah. Welcome to bro time.”