Chapter 37
After some investigation, I learned that the person who’d paid off my student loans was Clay! Since he was back in Palm Springs, I sent him a text to ask him about it, and more importantly to thank him and insist he take it back.
No thanks necessary. You’ve done an excellent job. And if you make me take the money back, I’m firing you. Do you really want to be fired, Ms. Bowman?
You can’t fire me. We had an agreement.
I can still fire you, but I don’t want to, so take the money.
Fine. I’ll keep the gift.
Wise choice.
With my month of hell nearly out of the way, I had to admit that things were looking up, especially with Wolseley coming for a visit. She was in town for three days, and I’d taken all of them off. Tangi had managed to get one of those days off and would be available in the evenings.
But before I could enjoy my vacation and meet my friend at the airport with Tangi—who would be driving since I’d still had no car—I had to finish work. And while I was doing that and getting ready to pack up, my phone rang, and I froze. My father. I’d programmed his number into my phone so I’d know when he called. I’d almost forgotten about him since he hadn’t bothered to call back for three weeks! I guess he was too busy to get around to me. I considered not answering and ridding him from my life forever, but part of me also wanted to get a lot off my chest.
“Hello,” I said tentatively.
“Is this Jill Bowman?”
Sad how he didn’t even know the sound of my voice, though I didn’t know his either. A voice that sounded older than it should have been, and a little coarse.
“Yes. Who is this?” I asked. Of course I knew, but he wasn’t getting off easy.
“Hi, Jill. This is Bill Rebchuk. I guess I’m your dad.”
What a tool. He guessed? “Hello, Bill,” I said rather cooly. The man didn’t deserve any warmth or to be called a dad.
“I know you called me back a few weeks ago, but I wasn’t sure if I should call you back. To be honest, I’m not sure why I called in the first place.”
How was I supposed to respond to that? I figured it was best to ask questions. “And why is that?”
“I haven’t been part of your life, and I’m sorry for that. I should have tried harder. I feel like an ass for calling after all these years. But I sure am happy you’ve made a good life for yourself.”
Part of me wanted to scream at him and tell him how hard it had been to make that good life. And that by his absence, he hadn’t made life any easier. But I held my tongue for now.
“You didn’t even send a birthday card.”
“I know I’m a coward. I should have fought your mother harder, but money was tight, and I had nothing to fight with.”
This was laughable. Fight my mother? She probably would have handed me over. “Do you want the cold, hard truth, Bill, or would you like me to sugarcoat what life was like growing up?”
He waited a breath before answering. “I think you should tell me the truth. I deserve it.”
I leaned back in my chair and looked out the window. I needed something peaceful to keep me centered when I unleashed on Bill Rebchuk. “You left me behind with a woman who didn’t want to be a mother. She did the bare minimum, Bill. Do you know how many times she forgot to sign me up for school field trips? Or how many times I went to school as a kid with a granola bar and whatever else I could scrounge up because she couldn’t bother with lunches? Or how teachers felt sorry for me because when it came time for school plays, I didn’t have a costume? Speaking of costumes, I think she forgot to get me a Halloween costume every single year. But that wasn’t the worst of it. I can count on one hand how many times she gave me a hug or told me she loved me. I was a nuisance to her, and she never let me forget it.”
“Oh god,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry, Jill.”
“The fact I’m successful now all comes down to me. I had to grow up on my own, and if it hadn’t been for my two best friends, who knows where I’d be. And I’m still messed up, but a lot of therapy and perseverance have helped. If you think you’re going to waltz back into my life after all these years, you can think again.”
“I don’t want you to think I want something. It’s not about that. And if you don’t want to hear from me again, I understand. But if it helps, I want you to know that I’m proud of you, and I want you to be happy. I’m so glad you have people who care about you, and that you’re getting married to a man who loves you.”
I wanted to yell at him that I wasn’t getting married, that I wasn’t even sure if Jeremy and I could be together again, but Bill didn’t deserve to know that. “And that’s all despite you.”
“I accept that. I just want you to be happy. The last thing in the world I expected was for Jeremy Vaughn to call me up and reconnect me with you. He seems like a decent man who would do anything for you, so at least he won’t let you down. And if you decide it’s the last time we talk, it was worth hearing from you, to know you are okay.”
I watched a sailboat out on the water and wished I was on it. I closed my eyes and imagined it for a second. How peaceful and serene it would be. I opened my eyes again and sighed. “I wish you nothing but the best, Bill, but I think this should be the last time we speak. Take care.”
I took an Uber to Tangi’s so that we could go to pick up Wolseley together. I hadn’t said much to Tangi about Jeremy other than some basics. I didn’t need or want to burden my friends with my problems, and she didn’t ask, but I sensed she knew something was up. Jeremy likely told Ethan, and Ethan told her. The best way to head off any questions was to talk about something else.
“Clay paid off my student loans,” I said as we drove to their airport. Wolseley was only staying a few days, but we had them packed with things to do, and we decided that it was best that Wolseley would stay with me since I was more centrally located. I think Wolseley liked the idea too. She wanted to check out as many downtown restaurants as possible.
“That’s great,” Tangi said, her face lighting up.
“I wasn’t exactly happy about it, but he said it was because I was doing a good job.”
“You have been. You’ve also been dealing with a lot of crap.”
We were veering dangerously close to the subject of Jeremy, so it was time to pivot. “We should take Wolseley to Stanley Park. I think she’d love it there.”
“I think there is a vegan restaurant nearby. She’ll want to check it out.”
We spent the rest of the drive coming up with other places, and before we knew it, we were pulling up to the airport. We parked and headed for her arrival gate, and when she came through the sliding doors, she squealed when she saw us.
Her hair was peach now, a longer bob that accentuated her roundish face. She’d always been the curvy one and complained that her boobs were an impediment to her work, but the guys sure seemed to like and stare at them. She had on a wool sweater that looked like someone’s grandmother had made it, and her brown corduroy pants had a hint of a bell bottom. The three of us were as different as could be, but we made an incredible trio.
Wolseley hugged us both, and the light scent of her familiar patchouli-scented oil greeted me. She made it herself with essential oils, and it reminded me of home, and for the first time, I missed it a bit.
“This place is gorgeous,” Wolseley said. “Even as the plane was coming in, I could see the beauty. Man, I’m not going to want to leave.”
“We’d love you to stay,” I said.
She laughed and hugged me again. “I have a restaurant to run.”
We drove back to the condo so Wolseley could get settled in the spare room. Chloe took a keen interest in her, and spent time sniffing everything Wolseley owned before jumping on her bed. Jeremy had dropped her off the day before, while I was at work. I wanted Chloe to meet my other best friend.
“Chloe is the sweetest,” Wolseley said, scratching Chloe behind the ears.
“She may want to sleep with you,” I said. “If you don’t want her to, you can kick her out.”
“Nah, I’d love it.”
Tangi pulled on my arm. “Let Wolseley get ready. We heard about a restaurant you need to try. It’s walking distance, so dress appropriately. If you don’t have an umbrella, I’m sure Jill has an extra.”
I’d made a reservation at Fig Leaf, a new place in town that was getting rave reviews and had a mouth-watering selection of desserts. I had a hard time believing they were all vegan. Wolseley wasn’t necessarily a vegan, but a huge part of her menu was. She’d been a vegetarian since I’d known her, but that didn’t come as a surprise because her parents were also vegetarians.
“It’s so nice not to have to deal with snow,” Wolseley said as we exited my building fifteen minutes later. “And the mountains and ocean? I’d kill for just one, and you guys have both!”
“You can always open a restaurant here,” I said.
She frowned a little, which was so unlike her. Of the three of us, Wolseley was always the happy and carefree one, looking at the positive side of things. A frown had me concerned.
“I still have to turn a profit on my restaurant. Things are looking good, and that should happen soon, but I’m working myself to the bone.”
“Please tell me you’re taking a salary,” Tangi said.
“A small one. Enough to survive.”
The restaurant had taken its toll on Wolseley. Her once wrinkle-free face now had a few microscopic lines around her eyes, not to mention the dark circles.
“You’ve got to take care of yourself,” I said.
“I just need a little more time. It will be fine. Enough about me. I want to hear everything about what’s going on here.”
Tangi told Wolseley that she’d gotten a raise at work and that Maddy had transitioned to solid foods. Wolseley wanted to know when she’d get to see the stinker, and Tangi assured her she’d be by in the morning with Maddy. The five of us were going for breakfast, then some sightseeing. Wolseley was going to then spend the afternoon with me before we had dinner with Tangi, Ethan, and Maddy. I think the plan was to spend the two and a half days eating.
We got to the restaurant and all Tangi did was talk about the foods that Maddy didn’t like. We had to get her off this subject or we’d all be lulled into a nap.
“The food looks great,” I said, looking for an opening between Tangi telling us that Maddy hated peas but loved beans.
“It does look good,” Wolseley said. “I’m definitely having the sticky-tofu bowl, but I’m going to start off with the squash soup.
That talk got Tangi off Maddy’s most hated foods, especially when we asked her what she planned to order. I went with the mushroom burger and a side of sesame fries. Tangi chose the pumpkin risotto and asked me if I’d share the vegan Ceasar salad with her. I said yes because it came with a side of focaccia, and I needed all the carbs I could get.
“How about you, Jilly,” Wolseley said. “How’s it going with Jeremy?”
Tangi grimaced, so I knew instantly that Jeremy had told Ethan and Ethan had told her. I could lie to my bestie, but what was the point?
“We are on a bit of a break.”
“Ah, crap. I’m sorry to hear that. Does it have to do with his ex-teammate’s wife?”
“Sort of. He lied to me about it. It’s not a big deal. We were sort of dating, and now we’re just going to wait and see. Work is busy, and right now I don’t have time for guys.”
“I won’t get to meet him?” Wolseley asked. “I was looking forward to that.”
“Why don’t we invite him to breakfast? It doesn’t have to be weird.”
Yes, it had to be weird. Why would Tangi even suggest it? Before I could protest, Wolseley was jumping in.
“That would be totally cool. I hear he’s fun and a decent guy when he’s not tapping his teammate’s wife.”
“I’m sure he’ll say yes,” Tangi added.
I waved both my hands in front of them since I seemed to have vanished. “Do I not have a say in this?”
“You said you’re on friendly terms.”
“I said no such thing! I said we were seeing how things go.”
Tangi’s hazel eyes zeroed in on me. “Then why can’t Wolseley meet him?”
“Why does she have to?”
Now Wolseley was waving her hands in front of me. “Did I just disappear? Don’t I have a say in this?”
I wanted to throttle both of my friends!
“I’ll invite him,” Tangi said. “It will be fun.”
Apparently, she was going to do it whether I liked it or not.